Initial Reaction on Butch Jones, UC Head Coach

People keep asking me, “How do like Butch Jones? What do you think of Butch Jones?” My simple answer, “Wait until I meet the guy, then I can give you a better feeling.”

My initial reaction from yesterday though was, “I think I’m going to like this guy.”

I’m pretty excited to see what Coach Jones can bring to the University of Cincinnati, just from hearing his few remarks at yesterday’s press conference. Although a lot of what he said sounded familiar to what his predecessor (you remember Brian Kelly, right?) said on a week to week basis, which made every Cincinnati sports fan cynically nervous, he did say a lot of really awesome things which automatically endeared all of us.

Butch Jones, 41, will take the helm of the University of Cincinnati after UC takes on the Florida Gators. Until then he'll assemble a staff and try not to disrupt the momentum the 12-0 Bearcats have built so far this season

“I like to use the term ‘family.’ I know a lot of individuals preach family, but we live family each and every day,” he said. While Coach Kelly often lived by the same principles, you could sense that Butch Jones wants to one up the current Notre Dame head man. He also counted seven key values—core values—that this football team will live by in his time as UC Head Coach.

Values like “accountability, loyalty, honesty and commitment,” will run this program over the next few years, and maybe longer. Of course maybe as sports fans we’re all cynical that Butch Jones will leap to his personal Notre Dame/dream job within a few years.

But is UC looking at just another coach who will up and leave the town for another place. Call me an optimist, call me naïve, but I just think that Butch Jones might have found a nice little place here in Cincinnati. “When you become a father, the first thing you look at is where you want your kids to grow up. I couldn’t think of a better place than the city of Cincinnati to raise my family,’’ Jones declared. As Paul Daugherty wrote in today’s Cincinnati Enquirer, “Again, nice words. Lots of us feel the same. Of course, we’re still here. Will Jones stay? Does it matter?”

If Butch Jones finds the same success he had at Central Michigan following Brian Kelly, why can’t he do it here in Cincinnati? I’m looking forward to meeting Coach Jones, and working with him for at least a season and maybe more. He’s a guy that I’m sure you’ll hear about if you stop by here regularly. Hopefully he’s just as good as the guy he seems to be following. If he is, get used to a lot of Bearcat blogs featuring Butch Jones, he deserves it.