The Volunteer’s head coach Butch Jones raises his arms while walking off the field to celebrate his team’s 24-17 win over the Commodores in Nashville on Saturday, Nove. 29, 2014.KNOXVILLE — Tennessee opened its Taxslayer Bowl news conference this morning with a separate announcement.
Athletic director Dave Hart said Volunteers’ second-year coach Butch Jones will receive a two-year contract extension through the 2020 season in addition to a raise that would pay Jones $3.6 million annually.
“When you’re rebuilding a program, you face a lot of challenges in an effort to change the culture,” Hart said. “It takes a tireless effort from everybody in the organization in order to make that fruition. But clearly the most critical is always leadership, and we have the right man leading our football program at the University of Tennessee.
“Butch Jones has clearly re-energized our fan base. He is an outstanding ambassador for our university, which transcends his role as head football coach. He and his staff have recruited at a very, very high level, and in effort to re-stock our talent base, you see that unfolding.”
In two years in Knoxville, Jones, who won or shared conference championships in four of his six seasons at Central Michigan and Cincinnati before he replaced Derek Dooley in December 2012, is 11-13 overall and 5-11 in the SEC.
The Vols will play Iowa in Jacksonville (Jan. 2, 3:20 p.m.) in the program’s first bowl since 2010.
Tennessee signed a top-five recruiting class in February and currently ranks in the top five of the national class rankings for the 2015 class.
Attendance at Neyland Stadium is up roughly 10,000 from where it was two seasons ago.
“There are special things going on here, and I hope everyone realizes that,” Jones said.
“We have concrete evidence surrounding those statements.
According to the USA Today’s coaching salary database, Jones would move into the top 15 nationally at $3.6 million, just ahead of Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher.
In October, Kentucky announced second-year coach Mark Stoops received a one-year contract extension through 2019 in addition to a raise that sees his salary go from $2.6 million to $3.85 million during the course of the contact.
After reports linked him to Florida’s opening, Ole Miss and Hugh Freeze agreed to a new deal that reportedly bumps his salary from $3 million to $4.5 million.
The Gators hired Colorado State’s Jim McElwain and agreed to a six-year contract worth on average $3.5 million per year.
When he was hired two years ago, Jones signed a six-year deal through the 2018 season that was worth $2.95 million, excluding incentives.
“It’s always been my philosophy to reward for performance and the job that they’re doing, and not reward them because you think somebody else might come and get them,” Hart said. “This is about that.”
Jones was linked to the Michigan job before it become open last week, and one report late last week after Brady Hoke’s dismissal said the Wolverines reached out to Tennessee for permission to speak to Jones.
Hart said that was not the case, and he and Jones met about a potential new deal and reached a “hand-shake agreement” on Friday.
“It was never a distraction,” Jones said. “It’s nice to be able to focus on preparing on our football team, developing our players and going out on the recruiting end. I think it’s just closure to a lot of things, and now we’re able to focus on the things that we need to focus on.”
Hart also said the Vols will increase the salary pool for Tennessee’s assistant coaches, though he would not disclose the amount.
“Butch knows what that number is, and he’s an important person that needs to know what the number is,” Hart said. “He’ll allocate it as he sees fit at the appropriate time. It keeps us in a very competitive position.”
Tennessee did not release the details of Jones’s revised contract, which may be available at a later date.
Asked what message the new agreement sent, Hart replied, “That Butch Jones is our coach and will be our coach for a long time and that we’re appreciative that he is our coach.”
Read more on this story in Tuesday’s Times Free Press.