Another Rumor is Out There…This Time Butch Jones
A Cincinnati Bearcats website, “Bearcat Lair” (the Cincy 247Sports.com site) is reporting that UK has offered its head coaching job to Butch Jones. The site is apparently citing sources close to the Coach. No word on any more about this development except the sentence above.
We are looking into it and will let you know what we find out. I know that Butch Jones is a candidate for the job but I do not know if it has advanced to a potential offer stage.
63 Comments for Another Rumor is Out There…This Time Butch Jones
I really like this if true. Not a big name home run but a very very good coach.
I will take him. I believe that he can work good with Mitch. A good man that will be better than UK has had.
Should recruit the Cincinnati area.
Bet Mitch won’t like the news leaking out though.
I guess that means Bobby Petrino told Mitch he wasn’t interested and wouldn’t interview for the job…..otherwise awful news….
3- This leak is most likely “Barnhart initiated and approved”
How about we wait awhile longer to see how things work out with the big name NFL coach Barnhart has been in contact with? Rex Ryan is also floating out there for the taking at the end of the season.
I been saying this all week. UK can still do better.
Don’t think Butch Jones can repeat what he is doing now if he joins the SEC. Pass on him!
i keep telling people,he wanted joker to get his final game out before he announce the new coach.
Why is Rex Ryans name being mentioned in the comments? First of all hes not going to be let go by the Jets and 2nd he wouldn’t be coming to KY I’d bet my pay check. Is there something I don’t know about him?
Not great news if true. Fan base will not, as a whole, be enthused about this. As an example, Cincy scored a whopping 3 points at home against Rutgers. They are 3 and 2 in the Big Least. Impressive. Where do I buy 20 season tickets? Not.
I’ll take Butch. He plays exciting and is a good coach. C’mon down Butch!!!
I really believe a big issue with finding a coach is Barnhart’s insistence on hiring a guy who will not complain about taking the majority of football revenue and using it for the Olympic sports programs. Barnhart wants to hire a guy who will go along with his continued scheme to starve the football program of funds while making fringe investments here and there. Even if they approve a stadium renovation plan, Barnhart wants to continue bleeding the majority of football revenue.
Seriously? This is terrible news. Might as well give Joker another year.
Talkin to some friends at the local watering hole yesterday, I mentioned that the UC/Rutgers game may be a heavy factor if Mitch would hire Jones or not. He lost, I hope he doesn’t hire him!
Barnhart’s had one good hire(Calipari) in the two major sports, If Petrino had stayed at UofL Brooks would have been fired! I wonder when the AD job will need filled? If it is Butch Jones I hope it’s because 4 or 5 turned the job down.
@12: if by exciting, you mean 56th in the nation in offense….oh, while playing in the Big East, then sure, that’s exciting.
He is every bit the coach that Charlie Strong is. Probably better. We should be so lucky.
Would be a pretty average hire… not exciting, but not a Fulmer or Cutcliffe retread hire. Jones coached under Brian Kelly of ND at Cent. Mich and Rich Rod. @ WVU. I think he may have been the head coach at Cent. Mich when we played them several years ago.
Hiring butch jones is like finding out that you got an 82 on a test that you thought you would ace. It’s not a bad result and Mitch could do worse( cough, Phil fulmer, cough), but there are better candidates available with better resumes as well. He would open up the southern Ohio recruiting lanes but this is a hire that would be underwhelming for fans and potential recruits as well.
This Would be a typical boring move for KY football. A coach that will go 4-8, 5-7, 4-8, 3-9 and then get fired. We will be doing the same thing in 3-4 years. Might as well give joker another few years or bring back Bill Curry and the I Bone offense.
And yes I am for Petrine because he is the best coach available.
I would be surprised if this happens, go to Google and type in Butch Jones salary, and you will find his contract details. There you can see he would owe the university nearly 2 million dollars if he leaves for another BCS conference Job, more than a million in a contract buyout and nearly 500k in a loan he has with uc. I doubt UK would be wanting to put that kind of money up for a buy out given how much they still owe Joker Phillips. Nearly 4 million just to get Butch Jones here and that is before UK starts paying his salary. I do not know but sounds like a reach for me that UK will be willing to spend that kind of cash on a coach.
not a good hire if true he’s lost to two top 25 teams and lost to LOUISVILLE this year good going mitch if this is true
prob cant get a better “established coach”. highly doubt doeren would interview. if dykes cant bring his OC than not sure he would want to come here. highly unlikely petrino would do more than interview here.
jones was 67.5% at CMU & 60% at UC.
but, CMU & UC had already been turned around by brian kelly at CMU & dantonio/kelly at UC.
He’s been a head coach for 2 years. This isn’t like making an 82 on a test, this is like taking a hot date to an expensive restaurant, spending ungodly amounts on good booze, and getting a pat on the back at the end of the night. At best, she lets you touch her while you rub one out. Way to keep the bar high, UK football.
Great idea, hire a guy that can’t even win in the AWFUL Big east…please Mitch, just leave and torture another fan base.
This is a neutral to lateral move.
I have mixed feelings. I think he is a much better coach than Joker. But I already see a mixed reaction on the comments. Not a landmark hire that will generate a lot of buzz and excitement for next season. Watch Tennessee land Petrino or some other big name coach. Pretty typical “safe hire” I expected from Mitch Barnhart. We will never get a big name coach. We strive for mediocrity.
Since when did we become a desired job? What else do we have working for us other than SEC? Butch Jones would be a very solid hire. Amazing the short term goals people have for this program, take a step back and be realistic.
This guy has zero on his resume. If Barnhart offered this guy then we will just get what we deserve.
What about all that “swinging for the fences” that was planted in the media outlets???
What a damn joke. It took 1 AD to destroy our program. No fans = no program.
WE’LL be talking about the same thing in three years
#21 I agree Petrino is the best coach out there, UK may not get him but at least we have to let Petrino weed us out if the equation. I don’t care if a coach has a bad personality or not as long as he wins and keeps us off NCAA probation. I believe Petrino is that guy!
If he would leave Cinci for us, how long would it be before he leaves us for anyone else?
If true….fire Mitch!!! Can’t stand Jurich but would take him in a heartbeat….
It’s all over the internet so it appears to have legs. My prediction, i 3-4 years Barnhardt will be firing Jones and looking for the next guy. Terrible hire. This is very below average. Jones is 7-3 in a really bad Big East conference, just lost 10-3 to RUTGERS? Wow, I’m excited. IF this is the path we might as well give Joker another year.
KSR is determined to repress my #GeneChizik movement. HE’S A LEGITIMATE COACH.
Someone please go punch Barnhart in the crease in his forehead.
Butch isn’t a bad hire, he’s in that group of guys that had NCAA violations but like Tressle, I think he made a mistake, I don’t think he’s a bad human being like at least one of the coaches people are clamoring for. We’ll keep Sandy Bell hopping if we had Butch Davis and Calipari, lol. I would still rather see Dykes or an up and coming coordinator like Pease but they will run into the same problems Joker did early trying to adjust to the SEC = not sure they will get enough time here to succeed. Butch would have to learn to recruit here too, everywhere else he’s been he had solid recruiting bases there or very close by BUT I think he could get us into the OH recruiting area which we’ve struggled to do. I think a guy with solid Florida or Texas ties would have quicker success though.
Great move if Mitch can pull this off. I thought it was a stretch that Jones would even consider UK. No school wants Petrino. This will soon be obvious.
@38, not Butch Davis, it is Butch Jones
12} Exciting? yeah that 10-3 loss yesterday was exciting for you I guess. Hell hire the Toledo coach, he beat Cincy this year. This is not the guy we need.
28} Tenn will hire Gruden
If there are NCAA violations in Jones’ past we definitely don’t want him, can’t win in the Big East while cheating? That’s bad!
Where did all the idiots come from who know nothing about football?
Butch must have called his buddies and told them to pound the pavementGreat move based on what?
This is a 3 star hire.
All of the names mentioned: Dykes, MacIntyre, Jones, etc. are all gambles. Yes, they’ve all had relatively good success at smaller conf WAC and Big East schools, but can they do it at the SEC level? It then comes down to the vetting and interview process, and I’m just not confident that Barnhart has good judgement in that area. So who knows, maybe he goes 7-5 in a couple of years, maybe we’re 3-9.
Can I start this thread off like it should be done…
WHO?????
There, I better.
Miss me yet?
46- No.
Brooks is on record as saying that things won’t improve without a greater commitment to the program. Mitch won’t be able to land a big fish without being able to prove to the new hire that this will happen.
really hope it’s not this joker (intended)……
#22) Mitch would pay it, he would rather make a safe hire instead of showing some ballz, UT went the safe route, now there firing Dooley and starting over, you can bet they will not make that mistake again, #21 nailed it, what will happen with a possibly Jones hire.
When you are the dorkiest and poorest guy in the class, why would you expect any of the hotties to go out with you? If Butch Jones is interested in the UK job you’d better job on him before he changes his mind. We can and have done a lot worse.
How about Chad Morris?
unrelated but R. Cobb had a big day, 9 catches, including catching game winning td late in game. also our volleyball team beat uga in 4 sets…go cats
haha poor UC fans!
Matt you have been all over the place with info,,,,,,,and not accurate either,,the frontrunner at this point is Mike Gundy from OK State
13 – Agree BBN….when we hired Rich Brooks several years ago, he was reportedly the 8th or 9th guy that was offered the job. I’m afraid it will be a similar situation again and the UK job will be declined by multiple candidates again.
The #1 problem with the UK coaching search is that it is not an attractive position and it is a very hard sell. I think most fans have no idea the actual restrictions that are put on the football program by the UK administration. They not only don’t want a guy like “CAL” as the leader of the program, but they want a coach who will accept the restrictions that are handed down by the athletic dept. I think this is why Mike Leach wouldn’t have been a candidate last year either.
Mitch blowing the hire that will decide the entire fate of UK’s football program… shocking.
Only had one recruiting class ranked slightly better than UK. Has this “recruiting hotbed” of Cincinnati and brings in ordinary talent. Wins marginally in a really bad Big East. Will do no better than Joker. This is a big mistake.
Mitch, if this hire is true you need to start looking for a new job, and soon!! The MONEY and TONS of U of K alum have told you HOW we feel and WHO WE WANT!!
Petrino!!!
Your future is in OUR hands FEEL LUCKY???
If you people ever have to hire someone for an important job, find the person who you know committed embezzlement at their last job and hire them. That is Bobby Petrino in a nutshell.
wow. way to swing for the fences there, mitch.
I dont understand why everyone keeps saying UK is not an appealing job…..its a very appealing job. In the SEC…..make us an 8-4 team again then move on to a serious top 20 school…..We probably will never be a destination……..but for a petrino/tressel somebody with baggage or a strong up and coming coach such as Dykes it would be an awesome opportunity…….
The more I look and read…..I think I like Dykes if no Petrino.
A. we would be fun to watch again
B. He is an up and coming name that offensive players would want to play for
C. We will never beat bama/lsu/florida/ etc…..in a pro style offense…..we must become a baylor/A&M type offense that can spread the field and get athletes in space which is what La Tech does if you have not seen them play
He’s a good coach – but he’s the wrong guy. We need someone who has built something from nothing. He has taken over already made program. Maintained them well, but in neither case moved them forward.