KNOXVILLE - Fired Tennessee football coach Butch Jones is not gone from Neyland Stadium just yet.
He remains on the back of the stadium video board, a photo of him with arms crossed next to photos of program legends Robert Neyland and Reggie White.
It's a grimace-worthy reminder of a once-promising era gone awry.
When Tennessee (4-6, 0-6 Southeastern Conference) hosts 20th-ranked LSU (7-3, 4-2) tonight in Neyland Stadium, one of the philosophies Jones repeated seemingly every week to the chagrin of many Tennessee fans will be part of the game plan.
"I think we truly want to play - and you heard the words, they're not shallow - we want to play complementary football any chance we get," interim coach Brady Hoke said this week.
Jones espoused the need for "complementary football" during his nearly five years as Tennessee's coach. This week, Hoke expressed that the concept will require the offense to take care of the football and "grind out" some first downs while special teams must provide the Volunteers with an edge.
If Tennessee can do those things, it would alleviate the pressure from a defense that folded against Missouri in the second half of a 50-17 loss last week. The Vols turned the football over four times against Missouri, which hastened the demise of the defense in a game that had been tied at 17 with just more than a minute to play before halftime.
Hoke, who joined the Tennessee staff as defensive line coach after the 2016 season, did not absolve the defense of blame for the Missouri blowout.
"Defensively, we've got to play better," he said. "We've got to coach better."
Hoke switched some things up this week. Monday's practice was canceled partially because of a long team meeting that was held. Hoke met with everyone on the team over the age of 21 - "the 21 Club," as he called it.
"Those guys have been here," Hoke said. "They know the experience, have invested themselves. As we have met and as we have gotten through the week, the only thing I can judge is their attention in the meetings, their intensity on the field and their focus on the field. I think they've done a really good job to this point."
A Tennessee athletics official confirmed Friday that the university is "in the process" of switching the image of Jones out on the video board at Neyland Stadium. The job requires heavy equipment and safety protocols, so it won't be made in time for tonight's game.
The image of Jones was placed on the video board in October 2014, replacing an iconic photo of former coach Phillip Fulmer hoisting the 1998 national championship trophy. Jones' record at Tennessee was 7-9 when the switch was made.
Jones is gone, but the program he left behind will continue its pursuit of complementary football one more time in the presence of his image.
"I'll go back to our practice and what we did yesterday," Hoke said Wednesday. "I thought our guys understood that."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.