As the media, fans and even coaches grasp for straws in hopes of righting Tennessee’s offense, no one is addressing the elephant in the corner of the room.
And, yes, I’m sorry for the Alabama pun.
The Vols are horrible on offense because of their head coach. The Vols can change quarterbacks, other personnel, play callers or even their offensive coordinator. None of that will help. UT’s offense is Butch Jones’ offense. When UT’s offense struggles, it’s Jones’ fault – pure and simple.
The Vols rank 117th in the nation in scoring offense and last in the SEC. The Vols rank 126th in the nation and, yes, last in the SEC in yards gained per game. Keep in mind that there are only 130 FBS schools. Rice, Georgia Southern and Texas State have better offenses than the Vols. That’s simply painful.
The Vols weren’t always this bad on offense under Jones, but they were never much better than average. The Vols ranked 40th in total offense last season, 52nd in 2015 and 93rd in 2014. Those are seasons in which Jones should have had his players in place.
Jones’ offense was only acceptable in recent seasons because he had a special talent at quarterback. Knock Joshua Dobbs for his occasional errant passes, but he was one of the best runners in the SEC no matter the position. That made up for UT’s offensive deficiencies.
Statistics alone don’t illustrate how average to awful Jones’ offense has been. Look at all the offensive coaches that have left Jones’ staff during his tenure. Mike DeBord was the most telling. He left UT to make a lateral move to become the offensive coordinator at Indiana. Why would he make a move to a lessor program? My guess is he either didn’t have as much input into UT’s offense as he would have liked, didn’t believe in Jones’ offense or both.
Then there are the offensive players that have left UT’s program. Running back Jalen Hurd was the most startling. Hurd was just 440 yards from becoming UT’s all-time leading rusher, yet he still left midseason.
Here is what Hurd’s father, Arthur Smotherman, had to say about Jones’ offense: “Easiest offense to read…Kick Rocks Butch!” That would be easy to write off as sour grapes if not for the fact that Jones’ offense has been so bad.
Tennessee’s offense has also been hampered by a handful of receivers that left the program to enter the NFL despite not being completely ready for the professional level. Think UT’s offense would have had a bit more pop with a dedicated Marquez North or Josh Malone? We’ll never know.
Jones’ quarterback isn’t the problem. Neither is the offensive coordinator nor whoever is calling the offensive plays. The offense is Jones’ and he’s the problem.
