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Tennessee's win saved Butch Jones, but he and the Vols still haven't proven anything
You can’t argue with 31 unanswered points.
You can’t argue with snapping an 11-year losing streak in a massive rivalry.
You can’t argue with having control of the SEC East.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones can breathe easy for the time being -- his job is safe following a 38-28 win over Florida.
But that doesn’t mean that he or his team proved anything significant Saturday.
The Volunteers have always possessed the talent under Jones, and that talent was on display at Neyland Stadium. The question about the Vols was if they had the coaching to win at the highest level.
You can’t argue with the result -- Jones’ team bounced back from a wickedly slow start to win big. The Vols took their licks and bounced back. That’s good coaching.
But you can’t argue the fact that it’s only one game.
It’s going to take a lot more than one game -- even if that game's a big one -- for Tennessee to truly establish itself as a power in the SEC and for Jones to prove himself as an elite coach in the league.
Maybe this is the game that gets Tennessee over the hump, but putting too much stock into beating a Florida team that folded in incredible fashion under the pressure of the moment -- fair catches on the 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter kind of folding -- isn’t the strongest idea.
Tennessee’s issue is consistency, and knowing what we know about Jones, it’s hard to envision Tennessee establishing a bedrock of performance following this game.
Teams take after their head coach -- his personality is their personality. Jones, a 48-year-old man, isn’t going to change his personality now --when the going gets tough, he responds with fire and guile. He’s a walking advertisement for hypertension. His bright-red face is his trademark. When the times are good, he’s the loosest guy on the sideline, talking smack and pumping his fists.
He's an emotional roller coaster in a profession where being collected and direct is vital to success.
The Vols flipped the normal script Saturday -- they responded to an adverse situation with stellar play. For that, Jones will be rewarded with adoration and accolades -- maybe a new contract.
Tennessee proved it could beat Florida -- something Georgia Southern has done since Jones reached Rocky Top -- but that’s all the Vols proved. Jones might be off the hot seat, but he’s not out of the spotlight, and how his team handles next week’s game against Georgia will tell us far more about the UT program than the monumental win over Florida.
