Former Tennessee coach Butch Jones has been named the next head coach at Arkansas State.
Jones is currently a special assistant to Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Jones was an offensive analyst on Alabama’s staff the previous two seasons.
“It is truly an honor and privilege to be the head football coach at Arkansas State University,” Jones said in a statement. “It is a position that I take great pride in, and I look forward to connecting with our student-athletes to build upon the strong tradition of excellence both on and off the field of play.”
As head coach at Tennessee, Jones led the Vols to consecutive nine-win seasons in 2015 and 2016, but was fired at the end of the 2017 season, a season that saw Tennessee go 0-8 in SEC play.
Prior to his stint at Tennessee, Jones was the head coach at Cincinnati and led the Bearcats to a Big East conference championship in 2011.
“Butch Jones’ outstanding record of success at both the [Group of 5] and [Power 5] levels is evident, and we’re excited to having him leading our football program into the future,” Arkansas State athletic director Terry Mohajir said in a statement. “He is the only coach over the last 12 years to lead Tennessee to back-to-back nine win seasons, and he led Cincinnati and Central Michigan to four conference championships over a six-year period.
“Butch has also worked with one of the most-well-respected coaches in history in Nick Saban the last three years at Alabama. Our candidate pool was fantastic, but following extensive and positive conversations with Butch, while also looking at his winning history, coaching and leadership abilities and vision for our program, we became confident he was the clear choice to be our next head coach.”
Jones replaces Blake Anderson at Arkansas State. Anderson left to take the Utah State head-coaching job.
