Is Tennessee Vols' game vs. South Carolina high noon for Butch Jones?

When new Tennessee athletics director John Currie was making the rounds on the Big Orange Caravan in the spring, he told fans he wouldn’t evaluate coaches solely on a won-lost record.

Of course, nothing will get a coach fired faster than a losing record. There are other factors, though.

That’s why UT's game with South Carolina on Saturday is so important. It could be high noon for college football’s most famous brick mason.

And the scoreboard won’t be the only measuring stick for fifth-year coach Butch Jones. Check out the empty seats, too.

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In 2008, both the scoreboard and the declining attendance worked against coach Phillip Fulmer. His last UT team lost seven games, lost to its three biggest rivals, lost three games by 20 points or more and even lost to Wyoming at Neyland Stadium.

But it lost more than games. It also lost fans along the way.

The stadium looked worse than the scoreboard in the last quarter of Alabama’s 29-9 victory on Oct. 25. Painfully aware of the outcome, Tennessee fans began drifting away in the second quarter. By the fourth quarter, Alabama fans had taken over Neyland Stadium.

That won’t happen this season. It won’t happen because Tennessee will play Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. And that’s the only reason it won’t happen.

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That doesn’t mean Tennessee fans won’t be able to make a statement with their absence. Four home games remain, starting with South Carolina.

The Vols are capable of winning all of those games. But they probably won’t have a sold-out crowd cheering them on.

As much as Tennessee fans love their program, many of them are ready to move on – ready for a new coach to give them hope, just as Jones once did when he began stacking bricks on the Vols’ behalf in 2013.

Those fans don’t want to hear about bricks now. They don’t want to hear about how close their Vols are to a championship. They don’t want to hear anything from Jones.

They have heard enough.

They want to hear who’s next.

More:Vols football coach Butch Jones: Outside noise 'all part of the territory'

Who is next? That’s the question Currie should have been pondering as soon as he accepted the athletic director’s job last spring. Hope for the best, plan for the worst, right?

Currie should have had a list of coaching candidates when he accepted the job. Just in case.

The list should come in handy before the end of the season. After all, Tennessee doesn’t usually wait till the last game is played to part ways with its football coach.

In 1992, Tennessee announced in mid-November that Johnny Majors wouldn’t be retained as head coach. In 2008, with three games remaining, UT announced that Fulmer wouldn’t be coming back.

In 2012, Derek Dooley managed to go slightly deeper into the season before he was fired. UT let him go after a 41-18 loss to Vanderbilt on Nov. 17.

Currie might not be ready to make that call on Jones. He might want more evidence.

The fans could provide it with their absence.

Reach John Adams at john.adams@knoxnews.com or 865-342-6284 and on Twitter @johnadamskns.