Year 3 of the Butch Jones era at Arkansas State was supposed to be a breakthrough season for the former Tennessee head coach. If the first 30 minutes of the 2023 season are any indication of what’s to come, then the Red Wolves may be looking for a new leader later this fall.
ASU is getting its doors blown off by No. 20 Oklahoma, going down 45-0 at halftime and giving up two more scores right out the gate in the third quarter. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel has been near perfect through the air for the Sooners and three different rushers have punched in touchdowns on the ground. They even got a special teams touchdown by sophomore punt returner Gavin Freeman. Sure, there’s a significant talent differential between the programs and OU was never in serious danger of losing. But this is far below the standards for an Arkansas State program that has so much success in recent memory.
Arkansas State was a perennial Sun Belt power through the 2010’s, winning at least a share of the league title five times over a six-year stretch. With its proximity to good high school football talent and some of the best facilities in the entire Group of Five, the Red Wolves program was a virtual turn-key operation. Head coaches like Gus Malzahn, Hugh Freeze, Bryan Harsin, and Blake Anderson were all able to experience great success before bolting, leaving a solid foundation for the next guy to build on. That foundation appears to be cracking under Jones.
After graduating from the Nick Saban School for Wayward Coaches at Alabama, Jones landed the Arkansas State job in 2021 with the chance to revitalize a head coaching career that was stunted by a middling run at Tennessee. Instead, he has floundered, and that’s even with his two full recruiting classes at ASU ranking near the top of the league. Jones posted a 2-10 record during his first season in 2021, a year where their only FBS win came against the perennially struggling Louisiana-Monroe. The Red Wolves’ success in 2022 was only marginally better as they posted a 3-9 mark with FBS wins over that same ULM team and a UMass squad that finished the season 1-11.
It was understood that Jones needed to show significant progress this season or be shown the door and their performance in the opener should raise major red flags, even if it is Oklahoma. They have to show signs of life in their home opener against Memphis next week, or else things could spiral for Jones very quickly.