Chaos finds Butch Jones again, and it may soon come time for Tennessee to say ‘uncle’
September 17, 2017 by admin
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I want to write the book, the one on Butch Jones’ life that begins Saturday night.
It will be called something like, “Where Were The F—ing Safeties” or “Not Again” or “Champions … For The Life Of Me I Can’t Understand Why This Keeps Happening.”
It will be, well, absolutely miserable. Never mind the book, how Jones’ upcoming week? Tennessee lost on an unbelievable, unexplainable, what-the-hell-just-happened Hail Mary by Florida. Again.
For one shocking play, Jim McElwain went all Steve Spurrier and had his redshirt freshman quarterback Feleipe Franks hurl a 63-yard pass to what turned out to be a wide open Tyrie Cleveland.
Ballgame. And for all the Butch haters? Endgame. This game concluded almost exactly the way it did in 2015 at The Swamp.
There was a bit more time left on the clock two years ago, but eerily, there were 63 yards to cover for the win in that one, too.
Sandwiched in between was Tennessee’s Hail Mary win at Georgia last year. Jones seems to be the one coach on the planet who has lived both a Hail Mary and Holy Hell at the gun.
There’s something about Jones and drama. He courts it, oozes it.
It may end him at Tennessee. A guy who has won nine games in consecutive seasons, still hasn’t won the right nine games. This one may cost him the SEC East. Not that the Vols were favored to win the division, but it would have been absolutely the most Vol thing ever to win the East as a darkhorse.
This result will cost him — at least until the next Hail Mary. A large majority of Tennessee fans are begging for Jones’ job and the return of their sanity.
New athletic director John Currie has been adamant about Jones’ job security. It will probably take 5-7 or worse for the monied Vols boosters to pony up the $12 million or so to buy Jones out.
But with every quirky quote, decision and Hail Mary, that job security slips away.
Anyway, I want to write that book that starts with ”Chapter 1: The Butch Jones Show.” The Tennessee coach’s weekly radio show at Calhoun’s on the Tennessee River will feature more questions this week than cans of Bud Light ordered by the live audience.
Where, exactly, were the safeties with nine seconds left in the game?
From its own 37, Florida needed about 33 yards for a field goal, so the safeties had to be deep. Cleveland ran a simple post and got past Tennessee’s Micah Abernathy.
At that point, Florida had one offensive touchdown to its name this season. It wasn’t sure it had a quarterback, a tailback (its best, Jordan Scarlett, remains suspended) or an offense. It must have done the Head Ball Coach’s heart good to see a play he would have dialed up. Or maybe Steve Spurrier would have put up more points. Just sayin’.
To sum up, Tennessee had rallied from a 20-10 deficit against a Florida team that treats visits to the end zone like dinosaur sightings — equally as rare.
What about the play calling in the third quarter?
There were two trips inside the Florida red zone that ended with no points. Quinton Dormady threw an interception at the 1-yard line after he nearly threw one into the end zone a couple plays earlier.
All that and Tennessee/Jones still had the game in their hands late. Dormady missed an open receiver running a crossing route on third down inside the 10 before Aaron Medley kicked the game-tying field goal with less than a minute to go.
How do you practice really, really important field goals?
Jones used two kickers who combined to miss three of four kicks.
Did John Kelly cost Tennessee the game?
The Vols’ junior tailback was about to become the day’s SEC breakout star. He ran for 141 yards, including a 34-yard scoring run in the fourth quarterback that cut the deficit to 13-10.
But Kelly made the boneheaded decision to throw up the Gator Chomp to fans in the end zone. The 15-yard penalty applied on the kickoff gave Florida a short field, which it utilized well as Cleveland returned the ball 46 yards and the Gators put together their first offensive touchdown drive of the season to immediately go ahead 20-10.
You want drama? Jones may endure the current torrent of criticism because his tailback decided to taunt a drunk sophomore in the 22nd row.
That seems about right considering the way Tennessee’s fortunes sway back and forth. The Vols could have taken early control of the East with a win in The Swamp.
Instead, someone should write a book about why they didn’t. The next week of Jones’ career could be a novel onto itself.
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Trump takes on Bannon in Alabama Senate showdown
September 17, 2017 by admin
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President Donald Trump’s decision Saturday to intervene in the Alabama special election followed weeks of pleas from senior Republicans who fear that a loss will invite a wave of primary challenges against GOP incumbents and damage the party in the 2018 midterms.
The national party had mounted a full-court press ahead of the Sept. 26 election to persuade the president to make a late visit to the state, where controversial former judge Roy Moore has opened a significant lead over incumbent Sen. Luther Strange. Trump remains popular in Alabama even as his support has diminished elsewhere.
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Trump endorsed Strange before the first round of voting on Aug. 15. But with polls showing the race slipping away, the president for weeks refused to commit to holding a campaign-style rally for Strange. On Saturday, though, Trump announced on Twitter that he would travel to the state just days before voters cast their ballots.
“I will be in Huntsville, Alabama on Saturday night to support Luther Strange for Senate. ‘Big Luther’ is a great guy who gets things done!” Trump wrote.
Trump’s unexpected move sets the stage for a showdown between the president and his recently departed chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who is all-in for Moore. Bannon has cast the Alabama race as an-important clash between grass-roots conservatives and the Washington establishment — and a test for whether other incumbent senators can be successfully challenged by insurgents in 2018.
In response, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other incumbent senators — including Strange himself — have leaned on the president for more help.
Strange spoke several times with Trump by phone last week and asked him to visit before the election. In one of the calls, Strange told the president that he wanted him to come to Alabama but understood that Trump was focused on a pair of devastating hurricanes, according to three people briefed on the discussion. During the 30-minute conversation, Trump told Strange he supported him but was unsure what he could do.
Strange also pitched Vice President Mike Pence. During a recent conversation, the senator gave Pence an update on how the race was going and contended public polling numbers showing him behind shouldn’t be taken seriously, according to two people familiar with the discussion. Strange said he’d be appreciative of anything the White House could do. But there was still no commitment.
“The president is extremely popular here. His approval numbers are in the mid-80s among Republicans,” said Blake Harris, a Republican strategist in the state. “Even more, he’s got a record of drawing huge crowds in this state — so a visit could definitely make a difference in what is predicted to be a pretty low turnout election.”
Strange’s Senate colleagues got in on the push, too. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, who is up for reelection in 2018 and faces the prospect of a primary challenge, urged the White House to get involved, according to two people familiar with the discussion. And this week, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) told White House Chief of Staff John Kelly in a phone call that he’d love to see the president head to Alabama for Strange, said two people briefed on the discussion. Kelly told Inhofe that no decision had been made.
Trump’s refusal until Saturday to commit to a pre-runoff rally fueled fears at the highest levels of the party that the unpredictable president would switch his endorsement to Moore. During a private meeting with Trump this month, McConnell, who views the race a top political priority, made a forceful case why Strange was the right candidate. The president told the leader he had no intention of withdrawing his support for the senator, according to three people familiar with the conversation.
The sense of urgency only grew over the weekend. In a blow to Strange, GOP Rep. Mo Brooks, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, endorsed Moore on Saturday. Brooks finished third in the initial round of voting in August, with just under 20 percent of the vote.
The save-Strange campaign comes at a time of growing concern in the GOP that lawmakers up for reelection in 2018 will face treacherous primary fights that divert party resources from unseating Democrats. Bannon has described the Alabama race as the initial front in a midterm war aimed at undermining McConnell.
A Moore win, Bannon has argued, could open the floodgates for conservative insurgents in states like Arizona, Nevada, and Tennessee. The addition of truculent conservatives backed by Bannon to the Senate could also make it more difficult for McConnell to corral his conference.
Bannon is working overtime on Moore’s behalf. The Breitbart chief held a private meeting with the former judge on Capitol Hill last week and is encouraging conservative power brokers to get behind Moore. An outside group that Bannon is aligned with, Great America Alliance, has begun advertising on Moore’s behalf. The group is also expected to host a pro-Moore rally headlined by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
“The establishment should be worried,” said Andrew Surabian, who worked for Bannon in the White House and is a senior adviser to Great America Alliance. “Republican voters rejected all of their preferred candidates in the 2016 presidential primary, they’re in the midst of rejecting their golden boy in Alabama and I’m confident they will reject their never-Trump stalking horses running in 2018.”
McConnell has expressed concern privately that a post-Alabama avalanche of primary challengers could badly undermine the party’s midterm election prospects. Hoping to stem the tide, the McConnell-controlled National Republican Senatorial Committee has deployed staffers to the state, and a pro-McConnell super PAC has aired around $7 million worth of commercials, with roughly $1 million more set for the final week.
It’s a remarkably large investment for a seat in a conservative state that is almost certain to remain in the party’s hands. Jeff Sessions had held the seat for two decades before becoming attorney general. Strange was appointed temporarily to fill the seat until a special election was held.
Trump shares little of McConnell’s interest in stopping Republican primaries — in some instances, he has relished stoking them. Last month Trump flew to Arizona, where he attacked GOP Sen. Jeff Flake at a campaign-style rally and met with several potential challengers to the incumbent. McConnell has repeatedly pleaded with the White House to recognize the threat primaries pose to his conference, though he’s expressed uncertainty the president fully understands the problem.
Within the White House, there was widespread uncertainty about whether Trump would visit Alabama before the runoff. With polls showing Strange behind, aides were concerned about the president expending political capital in a southern state that helped to catapult his 2016 campaign. Trump’s team had considered several other, more limited options, such as cutting a robocall for Strange or tweeting in his favor.
Yet Strange’s campaign remained optimistic. Behind the scenes, the president has expressed a fondness for the senator. During the push to repeal Obamacare this year, Trump has remarked, the senator gave his support without asking for any favors in return. At a time when some Senate Republicans were uneasy about getting behind the bill, the president was impressed.
On Thursday, the White House contacted Strange’s campaign to inquire about where its polling currently stood — an indication of Trump’s interest in the contest.
Regardless of what transpires in Alabama, some GOP officials are bracing for a brutal primary season pitting longtime lawmakers against flame-throwing challengers.
Particularly concerning, they say, has been McConnell’s declining popularity in the wake of the failed health care repeal. In the weeks since, Moore has aggressively tied Strange to the Senate Republican leader, making McConnell a centerpiece in his TV ads. If Moore wins, his approach could serve as a template for other insurgent candidates.
The assault from pro-McConnell forces has allowed Moore to portray himself as the underdog. During a recent appearance before the Weyrich Lunch, a closed-door gathering of conservative leaders in Washington, Moore said the Washington establishment wants nothing more than to bring him down.
“This is a fight,” said Moore adviser Brett Doster, “between Luke Skywalker and the Death Star.”