Butch Jones got a new head coaching gig this offseason, taking over the Arkansas State program.

He’s spent the past 3 seasons as a special assistant to Alabama coach Nick Saban, and he has been full of praise for the 7-time national champion since landing the Arkansas State job.

Recently, Jones spoke with TideSports.com, explaining what it meant to be Saban’s special assistant, adding that he always asks himself “What would Coach Saban do?” when making important decisions:

“First of all, the last year, being in the role of a special assistant, the day-to-day interactions. When you’re able to be around Coach Saban on a daily basis, the overall balance that he displays in terms of being a leader of a great football program: alumni relations, donors, the media, handling the players, handling the coaching staff, setting forth the direction, setting for the energy,” Jones said. “Coach Saban sets the tone on a daily basis with his energy, with his work ethic, with his competitive drive to make everyone in the organization better.”

Jones said having Saban run things by him forced him to stay sharp and have a certain level of knowledge about everything:

“Running the program, building a mentality, a certain player, thoughts schematically, but really, you have to be on your toes because he would call me in on a number of occasions and ask me my opinion,” Jones said. “What it forces you to do is, you better be ready, you better bring something substantial to the table, it better be well thought out, it better be detailed and it better be authentic. When you get called in and asked your opinion, it really forces you to do your research, it really forces you to do your due diligence and it challenges your conviction and what you believe in.”

Can Jones become successful at Arkansas State? Former Saban assistants have a mixed record when it comes to running their own programs. We’ll see if Jones becomes a success story or not.