Butch Jones Looks to Continue Success at Cincinnati

For the University of Cincinnati football team, a new season with a new coach is well...nothing new.

Having been through four coaches in the past eight seasons, Cincinnati has grown accustomed to replacing head coaches, and with Butch Jones entering his first season as the man in charge in Clifton, expectations couldn't be higher.  

In Brian Kelly's three seasons as the Bearcats head coach, he took the team and university to a level they had never reached before, leading them to two consecutive BCS Bowl berths.  

After Kelly jumped ship for Notre Dame, Cincinnati Athletic Director Mike Thomas had to find a viable replacement. Enter Butch Jones.

To say Butch Jones has followed in Brian Kelly's footsteps would be an accurate statement.

After all, Jones was hired in at Central Michigan to replace Kelly when he left for Cincinnati. Thomas figured why not go back to the school that brought him so much success and dip into the well once more.  

Like Kelly, Jones is an offensive-minded head coach who loves to run the spread and move the ball up and down the field. The similarities are glaring between the two, but the differences are there as well.

Jones is more of a players' coach and the UC team has noticed it immediately. At a team meeting just after the season ended, Jones wrote his phone number on the board so every player could have it. He told them to call him anytime if they needed anything at all. 

There has also been a rule instituted that every player on the team has to know who everybody else is by name and position. This is a tool Jones is using to build team camaraderie at Cincinnati.

Jones wants his Bearcats to be like a family on the field. These simple actions will certainly bring the team closer together. Jones has a rapport with his players that few coaches in the country have. He gets to know them on a more personal level. Especially his quarterbacks.

Zach Collaros found this out first hand when Butch Jones called him on Christmas Day to wish him a Merry Christmas and inform him that they would be spending a lot of time together in the offseason and over the next two years. 

Former Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour, who played under Jones for three seasons, came to Cincinnati to visit his former coach last month after the scouting combine in Indianapolis. That kind of player-coach relationship is what Butch Jones is all about.

With a wealth of talent returning, Jones has a chance to follow in Brian Kelly's footsteps and continue the success the program has had over the last three years.

The foundation has been set for Jones and his coaching staff and now it is their job to build on that and take the Bearcats to an even higher level.

Jones' mission is to prove that Cincinnati is not only a great team, but a great program. He has everything he needs to be successful.

Expectations are as high as they have ever been in Clifton. Only time will tell if Jones can live up to those expectations. 

One thing is certain. I wouldn't bet against him.