Tennessee football coach Butch Jones' changes might pay off in a big way this season

Two questions that can keep a college football coach awake at night: What to change? When to change?

Like every coach, Tennessee’s Butch Jones has had to wrestle with those questions. His long-term success or failure ultimately will be determined by whether he can come up with the right answers.

That doesn’t require him to revise his core coaching values. It does require change.

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Some coaches are too stubborn to succeed. The greatest coaches not only know what to change but when to change.

No one was better at adjusting and adapting than Alabama’s Bear Bryant. His switch from a drop-back passing offense to the wishbone is a classic example.

Alabama coach Nick Saban is famous for his “process,” which is well documented in a new book that should be required reading for every college coach. But he hasn’t been averse to change, either. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have hired Lane Kiffin as an offensive coordinator.

Here are the changes Butch Jones has made

Jones hasn’t resisted change even as the Vols have made progress on his watch. This year alone, he has hired a new strength coach and added five new assistant coaches. He even changed agents, partnering with UT alum Jimmy Sexton, whose SEC client lists dwarfs everyone else’s.

An SEC football coach can’t go wrong by hiring Sexton. Jones’ other hires might not be as surefire. But August is no time for a thorough evaluation, though you can’t ignore the staff’s immediate impact on a 2018 recruiting class that’s currently No. 6 nationally based on commitments, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings.

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Tennessee fans have reason to be pessimistic about significant staff changes. They associate former coach Phillip Fulmer’s firing in 2008 with his hiring of coordinator Dave Clawson, whose offense basically unraveled at the snap. Coach Derek Dooley’s firing in 2012 was preceded by a huge staff shakeup, best remembered for the hiring of defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri and the avalanche of mishaps that ensued.

Jones’ best hire so far has been that of former offensive coordinator Mike DeBord, who took a similar job at Indiana after two seasons at UT. Jones’ most expensive hire was former Penn State defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, whose defense ranged from pedestrian to porous last season.

The revamped staff isn’t lacking in experience. Although new offensive coordinator Larry Scott will be calling plays for the first time at the college level, quarterbacks coach Mike Canales has a long history as a coordinator at numerous coaching stops.

And how many staffs can boast of having a former Michigan head coach, Brady Hoke, overseeing their defensive line?

Jones probably has made other changes, too. They just aren’t as apparent as the new voices on the Tennessee practice field.

Those changes reflect the high expectations that are as much a part of the program as General Neyland’s game maxims. While back-to-back 9-4 seasons signify progress from the seven seasons and 47 losses that preceded them, they don’t pacify a fan base that cherishes championships, rather than bowl trips.

Jones was right to make significant changes after last season. But you won’t know until December whether he made the right changes.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter.com/johnadamskns.