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Every Friday of the offseason, a member of the RTI team will post a top-10 list. Many will be directly related to UT athletics, but some will veer off course a bit. Obviously these will all be subjective in nature, a bit ridiculous at times and subject to a lot opinion and discussion.
We’ve kicked around several coaching rankings this week on the site and RTI Radio, as we discuss where Butch Jones sits in those ranking. It’s certainly an interesting debate. On one hand, Jones has done an admirable job of taking Tennessee in the right direction after inheriting a mess in 2013. Recruiting has exceeded expectations, the culture has shifted, academics have been steered out of dangerous waters and optimism is through the roof for 2015 and beyond as a young roster is set to get better and batter.
At the same time, results on par with many of his peer haven’t been there yet. The Vols took a nice step in 2014, getting to a bowl game for the first time since 2010, but Jones doesn’t have the body of work overall that most of his SEC counterparts do.
But for this ranking, we’re looking at the coaches like we’re building for an expansion draft. Steve Spurrier, for example, is one of the most accomplished coaches in the league, but he wouldn’t be as high on a draft board if a new team could pick a coach due to his age and recent downturn at SC. So with that context, these would be my top 10 SEC coaches on a draft board that takes into account overall success, recruiting, the situation he’s in and upside for the future.
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