Following a long and exhaustive search process, Tennessee finally found a successor to Dave Hart in February by hiring Kansas State Athletic Director John Currie. Now with nearly 100 days of on the job experience in Knoxville, the new UT AD has had plenty of time to evaluate the school’s athletic programs with his own eyes.

With many outside observers speculating that head football coach Butch Jones may be coaching for his job this season, the man in charge of actually making that determination has made no such declarations since arriving on Rocky Top. In fact, nothing Currie has said publicly would even suggest Jones should be concerned heading into the season.

While serving as a guest caller on The Drive with Russell Smith on FOX Sports Radio Knoxville WKGN-AM 1340, Currie was asked about the state of the Tennessee football program. Based on his answers, Currie sees the progress the program has made under Jones.

“First of all, I think Coach Jones has done a remarkable job of rebuilding our program, and I couldn’t be more proud to be affiliated with him and his wife Barb,” Currie said on the air. “In terms of winning, another 9-win season last year, three bowl wins in a row, all those kinds of things are all a testament to the work that they’ve done and certainly from a momentum standpoint. Every time I pick up a paper, I’m reading about some new recruit or commitment, we seem to have great momentum in that regard as well.”

Tennessee’s AD went a step further in praising his inherited coach, noting the attention to detail Jones’ program operates with in Knoxville.

“I daresay there’s not another coach in college football that works as hard or as smartly as he and his staff do from a recruiting standpoint,” Currie continued. “I’m really excited about where we are.”

While Currie had plenty of positive things to say regarding Jones, he balked at the opportunity to discuss any upcoming changes to Jones’ contract with Tennessee. Jones is signed with Tennessee thru the 2020 season and ranks as the SEC’s seventh-highest paid coach with a current salary of $4.1 million.

“Well, candidly, I’ve been here for about 96 days, and I’ve been doing my thing getting the (athletic) department… attacking the areas of most critical need and he’s been working hard in recruiting and getting his team ready to play,” Currie said. “That’s the primary thing we are focused on right now and looking forward to an exciting year.”

As for the opener in Atlanta against Georgia Tech, while he didn’t make a prediction on the outcome of the game, Currie did make one slight prediction regarding the crowd for the Monday night showdown.

“It’s a neutral site game, Vol Nation will be there in force. I bet you Orange will be the predominant shade, but we are still the team that’s got to get on the bus for three hours,” Currie said.

Currie’s full interview with Russell Smith can be heard below: