By Jimmy Hyams

Tennessee men’s basketball coach Rick Barnes said he was `sick’’ to learn Sunday that Butch Jones had been fired as Tennessee’s football coach.

“The one thing I can tell you about Butch is that no one put his heart into it more — nobody,’’ Barnes said Monday as he spoke to the Knoxville Quarterback Club.

“You step back as a coach and you ask the question, `Where did it get away from him?’’’

Barnes didn’t have an answer, but he did add this:

“I’m not sure people appreciated those nine-win seasons because I will tell you Dave Hart … told me when he came here as AD (athletic director) that this football program was in shambles. He told Butch it would take him a long time to get it going. And I think he got it (turned around) quicker than maybe he thought.

“All I can say is, he left it better than he found it, and the other thing is, he gave his all.’’

Jones left it better in terms of academics and culture. Record-wise, that is debatable.

Tennessee is 0-6 in the SEC, 4-6 overall. Derek Dooley’s last season, Tennessee was 1-7 in the SEC, 5-7 overall. Tennessee has never gone winless in the SEC or lost eight games in a season.

Barnes said he prayed Sunday for Jones and his family.

“He’s going to be fine,’’ Barnes said. “He’ll end up coaching again because he’s good at what he does. He was successful.’’

“I know it bothered him that he couldn’t do more. I know he wanted to do more. He really did respect and love the people here. … He wanted to do it be cause he felt like Tennessee deserved it.’’

Barnes described Jones as a “good man’’ who “worked hard.’’

Barnes then took a shot at those that took shots at Jones.

“What I don’t understand is why people want to beat people up all the time. I don’t get that,’’ Barnes said.

“I’m not into social media. If I saw people (that are), I’d say to them, `What are you angry about?’ We all want to win. I understand that. …

“I’d really like to say to people sometimes, `What are you angry about? If you have to beat other people down to make yourself feel good, there’s a problem.’’’

 Barnes said if he were a football coaching coming to Tennessee, he’d ask this question: “What’s expected of me? Is nine wins not enough? Going to a bowl (not enough)?

 “Do I have to be in the Final Four every year, like college football (playoff)?

 “It’s like someone saying to me, `You’ve got to be in the Sweet 16 or Elite Eight every year.’ If somebody told me that, I’d say. `Well I don’t think I want to work for you.’

 “I want to be there every year but I’ve been doing it long enough to know there are 350 other schools that want to be there too. We can’t all get there.’’

Barnes applauded the way athletic director John Currie handled the Jones situation, although others felt Currie should have fired Jones sooner.

“I thought John was tremendous the way he’s been with Butch,’’ Barnes said. “If you knew what I know, you’d be proud that he’s our AD. He has done some great things. He supported Butch all the way and Butch would tell you he really did. He (Currie) let the players know (about that support).

“We’ve got great leadership going on at UT that we should all be proud of.’’

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By Jimmy Hyams

Butch Jones has laid his last brick at Tennessee.

UT athletic director John Currie fired Jones on Sunday morning, hours after the Vols were routed 50-17 at Missouri, according to multiple sources.

The loss dropped UT’s record to 0-6 in the SEC, 4-6 overall. The Vols have never gone winless in SEC play. League games remain against LSU and Vanderbilt. The Vols have also never lost eight games in a season, a possibility this year.

Jones informed his coaches Sunday morning. Jones was offered a chance to coach the last two games but declined, a source said.

Currie named Brady Hoke as interim coach. He is in his first year as defensive line coach at Tennessee. He was formerly head coach at Michigan, San Diego State and Ball State.

Jones did a good job helping Tennessee climb out of the depths of the Derek Dooley disaster; Dooley had back-to-back 1-7 SEC records.

Jones won nine games two years in a row, won three straight bowl games and had two top 25 teams. Jones upgraded the talent as six Vols were taken in the first four rounds of the most recent NFL draft. Jones’ first two years, no UT players were selected.

Paid attendance climbed back to nearly 100,000 per game for three years in a row and an average of over 70,000 season tickets were sold the past two years.

But the Vols blew a chance to win the East last year with a loss to South Carolina, then frittered away a likely Sugar Bowl berth with a loss to Vanderbilt.

With this team out of the East chase early this year and with an offense that ranks last in the SEC, Currie obviously decided Jones wasn’t the coach to get the Vols where they want to go – and that is back to Atlanta to play for an SEC championship.

Jones was 34-27 at UT, 14-24 in the SEC. Tennessee has lost its most recent game to each of the 13 teams in the SEC.

While Jones shouldn’t be completely held accountable for his overall SEC record since he inherited such a mess, he was 0-9 against SEC West teams and 14-15 against the East, which hasn’t been very strong in recent years.

Several coaching moves by Jones did not pan out. Jones hired the acclaimed Shoop from Penn State, but UT’s defense was horrific last year (due in part to injuries) and the run defense this year is allowing 256.9 yards per game, worst in school history. Five of the last 17 opponents have rushed for at least 400 yards.

Jones promoted tight ends coach Larry Scott to offensive coordinator, and the offense took a nose dive, struggling even more than the Clawson attack over the past four games.

Jones was hired Dec. 7, 2012 after winning or sharing four conference titles in six years at Central Michigan (27-13) and Cincinnati (23-14). He had an 11-win season at Central Michigan and a 10-win season at Cincinnati.

Jones was 12-13 his first two seasons at Tennessee before posting back-to-back 9-4 records.

Jones’ buyout is about $8.1 million. He gets $2.5 million for each of the three years left on his contract, which runs through Feb. 28, 2021. That’s $7.5 million plus momre than three months of a pro rated salary.

The buyout for the assistants is just over $6 million, counting the strength and conditioning coach. Each assistant’s deal runs through Feb. 28, 2019.

Each coach – including Jones – has offset language which means UT can subtract what if owes a coach if that coach gets another job.

UT’s next head coach will be its fifth in 10 years

Some potential candidates: Dan Mullen at Misssissippi State, Scott Frost at Central Florida, Mike Norvell at Memphis, Chad Morris at SMU, Matt Campbell at Iowa State, Justin Fuente at Virginia Tech and two defensive coordinators: Brent Venables at Clemson and Jeremy Pruitt at Alabama.

While many have mentioned Jon Gruden as a candidate, that is highly unlikely. Sources have told me if he returns to coaching, it would be in the NFL.

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