Five years ago today, Dave Hart’s legacy on Rocky Top appeared to be heading towards the opposite result of what it is now. At the time, he was maligned for his Tennessee basketball coaching hire, and he was praised as a genius for his hire of Butch Jones to lead the Tennessee football program.
Jones was 12-13 in two years, but he was coming off a 7-6 season, UT’s first winning season in five years, their first bowl appearance in four years and their first bowl win in seven years. Also, he had just secured a second straight top five recruiting class.