In the end, dragging one’s feet appears to have paid off for Butch Jones.
Jones, the seemingly now-former Central Michigan head coach who could’ve had the Marshall job at any point he wanted this month, will be named as the next football coach at Cincinnati, ESPN.com‘s Joe Schad is reporting.
Schad cited three people briefed on the decision as the basis for his report.
Even before Brian Kelly officially left the Bearcats for Notre Dame, Jones was considered a front runner for the expected vacancy. In recent days, both Jones and East Carolina’s Skip Holtz had reportedly been running neck and neck as the coach to fill the UC opening.
In a deliciously ironic twist, Jones replaced Kelly at Central Michigan when the latter bolted for the Queen City.
Now, it appears, Jones will be replacing Kelly at yet another coaching destination.
My advice to Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick? Keep Jones’ name on speed dial for three or four years down the road. At the very least, it might save some time on future Googling efforts.
Now can I cry that Cincy “stole” Jones from CMU?
IN seriousness, congrats to Butch Jones – you did a heck of a job at CMU and with 13 seniors graduating, now was a good time as any to jump. I think Bearcat fans will be pleasantly surprised at how good of a coach he is. CMU didn’t miss a beat when Jones replaced Kelly.
jack swarbrick will not be at notre dame that long.
I wonder if shaunypoo will want a coach who is capable of lying to his potential employer about how interested he is in their opening while he’s holding out for a better job.
wrath4771 says:
December 16, 2009 12:22 AM ET
Now can I cry that Cincy “stole” Jones from CMU?
Yes, you can.
To all the Cincy fans and players who felt betrayed when Kelly left for ND, aren’t they ashamed of their school for stealing Jones from CMU? If they felt so bad, why didn’t they lobby for an assistant coach to get the job? People only feel betrayed when it happens to them, not when they do it to someone else. Double standard !!
As a WVU fan, let me say I am jealous. Good hire by Cincy and congrats to Coach Jones. My only hope is Bill Stewart gets caught up in the Bobby Bowden moment and announces his retirement as well.
Would someone please egg his home in Michigan and then cry and storm out of the meeting where he informs the team he’s moving on. That’s just my opinion, but he’s obviously a scumbag for moving schools. How ironic the school and students that whined about losing it’s coach stole someone elses.
It isn’t too hard to realize that the idea behind a good relationship between a coach and a school is basically dead. Who do we have that fits that mold? Paterno.
When you think quality programs, what schools pop into mind? USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas. Now think about the respective coaches; they shouldn’t be going anywhere anytime.
Develop a healthy, strong relationship between a coach and a school, and you’ll be successful.
You people are idiots. No one here is complaining about Kelly leaving for a better job. They are complaining that he lied to his players about it.
They are both doing what the NCAA allows them to do and there is nothing wrong with that. They both played the system. I hope Jones was forthcoming with his students, or yes, I will be disappointed.
Frankly, I would have liked Quinn to get the job.
Exactly. No one is mad at BK for leaving here. They’re mad at BK for bold faced lying to them. He told the players he wasn’t leaving. He told a local radio station on the air that he wasn’t leaving. Then he leaves. That’s cold. Shows how much of a scumbag he is. Now had he told the players nothing was for sure and yadda yadda, feelings wouldn’t be so hurt. But he lied to the people that trusted him the most, his players. That shows how little class and nerve the guy has. Good riddance BK! Oh and I’m not expecting Jones to come here and coach the bowl game. Quinn will do just fine. Either way chances are we are going to lose this game. No matter who’s calling the shots. So Jones can stay and coach his team in the bowl for all I care. Just glad we hired a coach that seems to fit our system well.
shaunnypoo, your morality is selective. You have a problem with Kelly leaving his kids in Cincy in the lurch but it was ok for him to do the same to the kids at CMU when he took the Cincy job and now, it’s ok for Jones to whisper sweet nothings to the people at Marshall and then decide to date the prettier girl at the dance, Bearcat U.
No, it is not okay, if he is telling the kids he will stay. Jones is staying around for the bowl game and by all appearances has been honest and open with his players. I never said it was okay for Kelly to do the same thing when he left CMU, I was disappointed then. You have selective reading.
My first post to wrath was more tongue in cheek, which apparently doesn’t read well over the internet.
Schools steal coaches every year, and that is a shitty problem, but I can’t complain because it is within the rules. If you actually read some of my posts, I am pissed because HE LIED TO HIS PLAYERS. Learn to read and you might actually understand that this is the reason for ire among the Cincinnati faithful. Our problem is we need to try to stop being a stepping stone. I won’t be mad if he leaves for the Michigan job in 3 years, just if he lies to his players about it.
shaunnypoo, I don’t have selective reading, I know what you’re trying to tell others why you’re mad at him (and maybe to try and convince yourself). Coaches lie, players lie, alumni lie, get over it. You’re trying to latch on to a subject that doesn’t make you seem as petty as it would if you were mad at him for using the school as a stepping stone. It might have more meaning that you actually cared about the players if it wasn’t for the fact that at the same time, you’re trying to marginalize them as students. I personally don’t believe your high and mighty stance and that’s why I keep poking the Bear(cat).
You don’t believe because you are a moron. As an alumni and friend to a few former basketball and football players from about a decade ago, I do feel as though I have a vested interest in the students at my alma mater. As much as I want UC to be a destination school (like it was for Huggins before he was forced out), in reality it is still a stepping stone. This area is forced to realize this when UC and XU (basketball) keep losing successful coaches to programs with more money and history.
I do what I say, and just because you can’t understand that doesn’t mean that it is any less true. Yes, everyone lies, I am over that fact, but the fact that people like you justify this kind of behavior is what sticks in my craw. By lying to his players, Kelly no longer has any credibility, and by you sticking up for this behavior, neither do you. Find some principles, stick by them, and maybe you will find some credibility some day.
shaunnypoo, you’re the worst kind of hypocrite: one who won’t admit it. I don’t believe for one moment that you were ever upset that Kelly lied to his kids at CMU before he went to UC and just because you say that you were doesn’t mean that it was ever true. I know people like you: in Tulsa, they were up in arms about Kragthorpe leaving for greener pastures but they had no problem with TU stealing Todd Graham just after he had signed an extension with Rice. Jones strung along the Marshall people before he got the job that he really wanted and one day, he’s going to do the same thing to your precious players. UC, is also culpable, as they preyed on another team’s hire. When you can justify all this in your mind then you need to stop and think about how much of a hypocrite that you are and how you can’t admit it.
Sorry edgy, but you are too full of shit to justify anything to, but I will try. I detest the current climate in college sports, but I still watch it because it is entertaining. I thought at the time Kelly left CMU that it is disappointing that UC had to do what they did to get a coach, because it was still fresh from Dantonio leaving. That is pretty much when I came to the realization that the whole college carousel sucks and that something should be done to fix it. I accepted the fact that this is the way it is done and that I can, and do, bitch and moan about it all I want, but I can’t change it. The uproar now IS NOT about Kelly leaving his players to move on to a dream job of his and a “better program”, it is that he told his players, program, and a local radio station that he “wasn’t going anywhere.” I don’t see how being pissed at him and calling him a liar for saying he was going to stay and then leaving being a hypocrite. Most of us aren’t pissed at him for leaving, why don’t you understand that? I am disappointed that UC couldn’t wait till after everyones bowl game to get a coach, but they did what they had to do, just like ND did, no reason to be pissed about it.
Please read the whole post before you comment, it makes you seem unintelligent to do otherwise. My disappointment with Kelly and his lack of morals isn’t leaving for ND, it is lying to the kids about it, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you get off my nuts.
Shaunnypoo, maybe it’s YOU that needs to learn now to read because retard, I didn’t try to change your position about why YOU say that you supposedly hate the guy, I merely said that I don’t believe it for one minute that it’s your actual reason AND I don’t believe for one minute that you really were disappointed about Kelly lying to his players at CMU. As for that UPROAR, more people aren’t taking YOUR position but the disappointment that he used the program as a stepping stone. The ones that can’t deal with people calling them a bunch of whiners who can’t deal with the realities of college sports have tried to latch on to this subject but MOST of the Bearcat fans have kept away from this because they know that’s not the real reason why they’re pissed. In my nearly 50 years of watching college football, I’ve my share of coaching who have not shown their hand until they’ve been forced into it and many times, they’ve done it to keep morale up because this is the kind of thing that can kill a team.
Now, what gets me is how many non-sports people expect the coaches and players to live by a standard that they themselves would NEVER live by. Most of you who are whining about him denying that he’s got interest in another job or leaving would probably do the same thing in your own life because if you ever admitted to your boss that you were seeking another job, you’re future in the company would be short-lived; especially if you didn’t get the job and you had to go back to the job with your tail between your legs. If you keep your mouth shut and the job falls through, there’s no harm but if you blab, your boss will make you his “bitch” for the rest of the time that you’re there. I’ve seen it happen at several places that I was at and most employees learned a valuable lesson and kept their mouths shut.
Oh and don’t think that for one moment that just because Butch Jones “only” lied to his prospective employer that he won’t do it to his players in a couple of years when a better program comes calling.