UT should slow down on Jones pay raise
It has been reported that the University of Tennessee-Knoxville gave football Coach Butch Jones a new contract. Coach Jones’ old contract, which the university negotiated just one year ago, was for $3.5 million per year guaranteed through the year 2020.
In simple terms this means that the university will deposit $10,000 into Jones’ bank account every day for the next five years regardless of the football team’s performance over the next five seasons.
There is no doubt that Tennessee’s performance under Jones has improved. However, Jones’ 20-17 Tennessee coaching record and a 2015 season that included no wins over any teams that finished ranked in the top 25 can hardly be considered the next coming of Gen. Neyland.
Is the university really in a position to chunk more money on Jones’ pile in light of the fact that it has the lowest financial reserve of any SEC school?
I believe UT has shown Jones the properly warranted amount of monetary good faith in the program’s progress and should wait for the results of another season or two before they go promising more money they scarcely have.
Dan S. Sawyer, Signal Mountain
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Dalton Roberts remembered fondly
One night I called Dalton Roberts at home to ask him about some minor story in the news. As the county government reporter for The Chattanooga Times, I was always having to bother him at home.
This night, he answered in a whisper.
“It’s Halloween,” Dalton said softly. “I got home late and it was dark and the little fellers in their costumes were all out there. They surrounded me. I didn’t hardly have anything to give ’em except some apples. My wife is out of town, down in Georgia for her chiropractic college. So I’m upstairs in bed. I’ve got the lights off and the blinds closed. I don’t want ’em to know I’m home. If I don’t have any candy, their parents won’t vote for me.”
I’ve never forgotten the image of the most powerful politician in our corner of Tennessee, hiding in bed from the trick-or-treaters.
Dalton Roberts was a joy to know.
Bill Dedman
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Women combatants not equal to men
I do not agree with opening all combatant roles to women in our military.
Women are not physically structured the same way men are, and we have to understand this.
Yes, one of our country’s main traits is equality for men and women, but in this situation when you actually break the facts down, women are not physically equal.
A small percentage of women can and absolutely will pass the same test as men, but overall a unit of men will be stronger than a unit of men and women.
A study by the Journal of Applied Physiology showed men have 40 percent more muscle mass than women. Women are able to pass the same tests as men and some women can even achieve a better score, but when you mix them in a unit together they will be less effective than just men.
A study done by the Marine Corps showed this to be true: All-men units are stronger, faster and more lethal.
Landry Halloran