Mark WiedmerNASHVILLE - Saturday night having turned to Sunday morning, the football field at Vanderbilt Stadium still filled with deliriously happy Commodores and their fans following a 45-34 victory over Tennessee, a member of the latter's official traveling party momentarily studied the celebration from a vantage point high above the Black-and-Gold fun.
"Do you think Butch Jones has any idea what's about to happen to him?" the person then asked.
No matter which answer the Volunteers coach chooses, more than a few of his beloved metaphorical bricks may be added to a wall that's increasingly separating him from the support of the Big Orange Nation.
You just can't finish the regular season 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the Southeastern Conference after starting the year ranked in the top 10 and not expect a lot of questions and complaints to be aimed at Jones, fair or not.
This is the fourth season on the job for Coach Cliché. Until Saturday's shocking loss to a surging Commodores squad, every previous season under Jones had been better than the one before it.
Not this time. The overall record was the same. Of greater concern, given the perceived weakness of the SEC this season, especially in the East, Tennessee's league mark dropped from 5-3 in 2015 to .500.
And unlike so many past autumns, the Vols didn't close with a bang so much as a bust.
After starting 5-0, they lost four of their last seven, including two of their final five, falling at South Carolina and Vanderbilt despite being heavily favored in both games. Beyond that, they faltered late and appeared to mismanage the clock and the score in each contest.
The departure of running back Jalen Hurd after the South Carolina loss gave Jones a bit of a reprieve. Hurd was perceived, rightly or wrongly, to be a clubhouse cancer. The joy and energy seen in the Vols during subsequent wins over Tennessee Tech, Kentucky and Missouri only underscored the theory of less being more without Hurd on the roster.
But Saturday brought new questions about the coaching staff in general and Jones in particular, especially as it relates to in-game adjustments. It wasn't just that the Commodores outscored the Vols 21-3 in the final half, all of those 21 points coming after Tennessee grabbed a 34-24 lead in the third period. Or that no Vanderbilt team had scored as many as 45 points in an SEC game since 1971. Or that Vandy hadn't beaten a Vols team with a winning record since 1982. Or even that Saturday's wins by Kentucky (outside of the conference against No. 11 Louisville) and the Commodores hint of a far stronger SEC East a year from now.
What may most frustrate if not downright anger Vols Nation going forward is Jones' decision inside the final two minutes to go for it on fourth-and-4 at the Vandy 13, rather than kicking a field goal to pull within eight points, then attempting an onside kick. Once the fourth-down try failed, the game was all but a guaranteed loss.
"Must have been what the chart told him to do," more than one media type noted in the press box, referencing past criticisms of Jones coaching decisions against Oklahoma and Florida a year ago, to name but two.
Point was, if there is a single overriding criticism of Jones, it's that he often appears to lack that magical feel for the game the Nick Sabans and Urban Meyers of the world possess, that innate ability to go against the law of averages and have it work in your favor.
Ironically, former LSU coach Les Miles was, for years, as good as anyone with that until he wasn't. But sometimes rolling the dice on the risk/reward chart is necessary.
Furthermore, when you trail at the close of the first quarter in nine of your 12 games, something needs to change on the front end regarding your preparation. Period.
As for his staff, only a fool would argue against offensive coordinator Mike DeBord at this point, though one does wonder if more running options could have been given to quarterback Josh Dobbs earlier in the season.
It's also unfair to consider jettisoning defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, despite predecessor John Jancek's success. Injuries wrecked Shoop's rotations before he could begin, as well as removing his most cerebral players - Cam Sutton and Jalen Reeves-Maybin - from a complicated system. Let's see where Shoop's defense is a year from now before judging his skills.
This isn't meant to turn up the heat on Jones' coaching seat. It is to say the honeymoon with fans is likely over until a new reason to believe surfaces.
It is also an opportunity to allow one of those nameless, faceless fans a chance to speak for thousands of others through an email I received only a few hours after the game ended.
Slugged "So much for Bourbon Street," it began with the following observations: "We beat Florida and Georgia! We should want to make Jones governor! Yet we feel like, oh well, same ol' same ol'! At least we will get a soft or softer bowl and be able to brag about beating (maybe) a Northwestern or (someone) similar over the winter and spring! With the guys we lose, next year does not look bright. Perhaps we will be picked 4th in the East and surprise in a good way."
One suspects that for that to happen, the fan base will have to embrace a favorite Jones mantra: snap and clear. But for those who watched the loss to Vanderbilt, snapping and clearing their minds of the disappointments of 2016 will be easier said than done.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.