On Tuesday, ESPN reported that Butch Jones was making a change at the quarterback position, benching Quinten Dormady in favor of redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano.
This news comes after a bye week that followed a 41-0 defeat at the hands of the Georgia Bulldogs, another in a long line of big-game disappointments from the Tennessee football program. While this is likely the right move, it remains unlikely that this freshman can be the savior of his coach’s employment.
Guarantano has exciting potential. The 4-star prospect out of New Jersey was ranked first in his class of dual-threat quarterbacks, ahead of names like Jalen Hurts and Shane Buechele. However, as we’ve seen with Buechele, a quarterback alone can’t fix a program. Texas still has its problems, and Tennessee will continue to have theirs.
At quarterback, Guarantano can’t do anything about a defense that ranks 115th against the run and just gave up 41 points against Georgia. This Vol defense is the same one that botched an obvious Hail Mary situation and gave up a game-winning touchdown against Florida.
The quarterback is also unable to change the fact that Jones has grossly mismanaged several late game situations. The most blatant of examples took place in 2015. Within three weeks, Tennessee both blew a 17-point lead at home to Oklahoma, and botched their management of the clock against Florida, forcing them to settle for a 55-yard missed field goal as time expired.
Against the Gators in 2017, Jones’ failure came on the goal line. Despite having one of the most dynamic backs in the SEC in John Kelly, the Vols elected to throw the ball four times, coming out of the possession with no points.
Surrounding Guarantano when he makes his first start on Saturday? An offense that ranks 101st in rushing. Kelly has been the only dynamic player on that side of the ball, leading the team in both rushing and receiving.
Most notably, Guarantano can’t change the tired message coming from Jones. The cliches have been prevalent from the start. “Brick by brick”, “Champions of life”, and “five-star hearts” have been some of the most viral. However, they continue even today:
Butch: “You don’t have to get a physical rep to get a rep. You can get a leadership rep.”#LeadershipRep
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) October 9, 2017
A change at quarterback can excite a locker room, but the Tennessee locker room is too far gone to be saved. That is completely manifested in the Twitter activity of Volunteer players.
“Liking” a tweet is 100 percent public. When you “like” a tweet, it pops up in your followers’ timelines, and your “likes” can be accessed by anyone at anytime. Yet, this didn’t stop Tennessee wideout Marquez Callaway from “liking” a tweet disparaging his head coach.
Vols WR Marquez Callaway... pic.twitter.com/a53ItS0ZKv
— Brett DeLawyer A Deñial Correlatioñ (Proud 5.8%er) (@_birdsofwar) October 6, 2017
Next: What we learned from Week 6
The Tennessee football program is in a fragile place right now. Fans will fold on a head coach. The media will fold on a head coach. But the true sign of trouble is when players fold on a head coach. When it reaches that point publicly, it becomes inevitable that Jones’ days are numbered.