Report: Butch Jones has interest in potential Power 5 job opening

Former Tennessee coach Butch Jones is entering his second year as an analyst/intern on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama.

It’s probably pretty telling that he didn’t work his way into an on-field role this offseason, but there has still been some buzz for him running a program again in the near future. After all, Jones has proven he can recruit talent. He did that at Tennessee, but perhaps the Vols job was a little too big for him. Nonetheless, Jones can get talent on campus and could surround himself with good coaches to boost his staff.

On Monday, a report surfaced from Rutgers’ Rivals site that said Jones would be interested in the head coaching job there if it came open:

TKR has learned that former #Tennessee head coach / current #Alabama off. analyst Butch Jones has interest in the #Rutgers job should it open this offseason ($)@Volquest_Rivals @bamainsider https://t.co/iDRjejKzbR

— Rutgers Scarlet Knights | TheKnightReport.Net (@RutgersRivals) September 23, 2019

Obviously, at this point, it seems the interest is one-sided. After all, the Rutgers job isn’t even officially open yet. Chris Ash is currently the head coach, and there’s been no reports of the university moving in a different direction. However, his record isn’t good. He’s a combined 8-31 overall in four seasons so far, and that’s not going to get it done, especially at a Big Ten program.

While Jones probably couldn’t land any elite job right now, the Rutgers job would help him rehab his image and rebuild the program to a respectable level.