Third seasons can make or break a head coach on Rocky Top. Tennessee football has had its fair share of both throughout its history. In recent years, a coach has always been defined by the progress he shows in his third year.
Sometimes, it shows clear improvement to the point that the coach is worth staying around, even if the season itself wasn’t great. In other cases, coaches can fool people with a successful third year only to become disappointments later. Butch Jones was that.
However, there are plenty of times a coach had a disastrous third season, sometimes resulting in his firing.