Since officially taking over as Tennessee’s new athletic director over the weekend, it seems as if John Currie has faced nothing but questions about the football program — specifically, head coach Butch Jones and his job security.

Currie, who joins the Volunteers after serving in the same position at Kansas State, has repeatedly said that he is excited to work with Jones, a point he reiterated on Tuesday in an interview with Associated Press reporter Steve Megargee.

As you can see in the video above, Currie compliments Jones and his reputation throughout the college football world.

“The thing I would say about football is how excited I am to work with Coach Jones,” he said. “I’ve known him kind of here and there for years and have known people who worked with him and respected him greatly at the University of Cincinnati and also at Central Michigan.”

Currie continued by lauding the effort Jones and his assistants have made on the recruiting trail, bringing in more professional-caliber players to the program.

“From a results standpoint, we’ve won a bunch of games and some bowl games, but as you continue to get better in this league, you’d better have great players,” he said. “It’s all about great players in this league. The progress toward that is really epitomized by the pro day last week… On Friday morning, there were a heck of a lot of Tennessee Volunteers running sprints and doing agility drills and all that for the scouts. A number of people commented to me that it didn’t look like that four or five years ago.”

The 2017 season will be a big one for Jones, who led the Vols to a second-straight 9-4 record last season. If Tennessee doesn’t take a step forward this fall, Currie could soon have a coaching search on his hands.