Former Tennessee coach Butch Jones was named head coach at Arkansas State on Saturday night.
Jones replaced Blake Anderson, who left to become the new coach at Utah State, a move that was also made official Saturday night.
Jones, 52, joins Arkansas State after spending three seasons as a special assistant and offensive analyst to Nick Saban at No. 1 Alabama. Jones previously led Central Michigan and Cincinnati prior to his stint as the Volunteers head coach.
“It is truly an honor and privilege to be the head football coach at Arkansas State University,” Jones said in a statement. “It is a position that I take great pride in, and I look forward to connecting with our student-athletes to build upon the strong tradition of excellence both on and off the field of play.”
Arkansas State said it will host an introductory press conference at a later date.
“Butch Jones’ outstanding record of success at both the G5 and P5 levels is evident, and we’re excited to have him leading our football program into the future,” Arkansas State athletic director Terry Mohajir said in a statement. “Our candidate pool was fantastic, but following extensive and positive conversations with Butch, while also looking at his winning history, coaching and leadership abilities and vision for our program, we became confident he was the clear choice to be our next head coach.”
Jones brings an 84-54 record over 11 seasons into Jonesboro, Ark. He went 27-13 at Central Michigan (2007-09), 23-14 at Cincinnati (2010-12) before amassing a 34-27 record (14-24 SEC) at Tennessee before getting fired after 10 games in the 2017 season.
He led his teams to eight bowl games in 11 seasons. Jones led the Bearcats to a Big East conference championship in 2011.
Anderson went 51-37 in seven seasons at Arkansas State with two Sun Belt championships. Reports came out Thursday that he was leaving for Utah State.
