CHICAGO -- Rutgers has never won a Big Ten title, but maybe the Scarlet Knights will be champions of life soon.
Alabama analyst Butch Jones - formerly the head coach at Central Michigan, Cincinnati and Tennessee - is the first official coaching candidate in the clubhouse. He interviewed with Rutgers officials here Friday, a person with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media, a day before the Scarlet Knights take on Illinois in Champaign.
Jones, 51, is an interesting first official candidate. His resume seems impeccable at first glance, and you wonder why he is well into his second year out of a head job. Then you dig deeper and some concerns pop up. Still, he is a big name who is said to be eager to be a head coach again and comes with a track record that has to intrigue Rutgers as it tries to climb out of college football’s abyss.
What should fans make of Jones’ candidacy? Here is a closer look at his body or work and some pros and cons:
Head coaching experience and success: Jones is 84-34 in 11 seasons as a head coach at three different schools. He’s won four conference titles, gone to eight bowl games (he’s only coached six of them due to leaving for other jobs and is 4-2) and has five seasons with nine or more wins to his name. Not too shabby.
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But the Brian Kelly factor? The current Notre Dame coach went 19-16 in three seasons at Central Michigan, winning the MAC in his final year. He then left for Cincinnati and Jones took over at CMU and won two more MAC titles, going 27-13. He then went to Cincy after Kelly left for South Bend following two Big East titles. Jones went 23-14 and won two more conference titles for the Bearcats there before getting the Tennessee job.
The point: How much of Jones’ success at his first two head coaching stops was him, and how much of it was inheriting what Kelly built? You can make the argument the Cincinnati success shines a better light on Jones because he went 4-8 in his first season, then 19-6 in his next two before leaving. Jones more or less kept things status quo at CMU, going 8-5 and 8-6 before an 11-2 season (so when Kelly’s last class of recruits were redshirt juniors/true seniors) catapulted him into the SEC.
Recruiting: Jones had five recruiting classes at Tennessee. The Vols’ lowest 247 Sports composite ranking was No. 25 in his first year. Jones had two top-10 classes (high point of No. 4) and three top-15 classes. Those are stats Rutgers can only dream about.
The flip side: Sure, Jones had star-studded, highly-ranked recruiting classes at Tennessee. But those recruits could not keep him employed and they have not done much under current coach Jeremy Pruitt either. Yes, Pruitt may be a total bust of a hire. But it’s not like he is squandering a war chest of talent. It’s fair to raise questions about Jones’ evaluation skills - something that will be critical for the next Rutgers coach. A Tennessee coach may be able to grab four- and five-star players from Day 1, but that certainly won’t happen here. The next coach will likely have to build a winner with underrated and unheralded recruits before he can start landing top names.
Rutgers ties: It was a long time ago, but Jones has worked at Rutgers in the past. He was a graduate assistant under Doug Graber from 1990-92, and he worked with current director of high school relations Rick Mantz at the time. If Rutgers hires Jones, he won’t necessarily be clued in on everything about the New Jersey football world. But he won’t be clueless, either. The guy should be able to point out Manville and Maple Shade and Wantage and West Windsor on a map.
Campanile and Guarantano ties: Jones has interacted with interim head coach Nunzio Campanile before when he recruited quarterback Jarrett Guarantano to Tennessee. You have to think Jones would retain Campanile on staff in a strong first move to keep continuity and foster a connection to the state. Guarantano is also often rumored to be a potential graduate transfer quarterback target; Jones may be able to stabilize Rutgers’ uncertain status under center by bringing Guarantano home.
But does he really fit? Jones is a Michigan native who has spent the last 24 years of his coaching career in either the Midwest or Southeast (and his two years on staff at West Virginia were basically a combination of the two). He has not coached in this region since he was the offensive coordinator at Wilkes in 1994. Jones uses a lot of catch phrases and, according to on-the-ground reports from his time at Tennessee, was extremely sensitive and often clashed with the media. Fans also turned on him quite spectacularly at the end.
You are certainly in a big fishbowl as the Tennessee head coach, but it’s not like the Rutgers coach operates in anonymity. There is also some skepticism in the grassroots community that Jones would prove to be the effective local recruiter Rutgers needs. There is a lot to like about Jones, but he is not a slam dunk candidate.
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James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.