Struggling Tennessee fires Jones

AD makes change after team tumbles to 0-6 in SEC play

Tennessee fired coach Butch Jones on Sunday with two games left in a regular season in which the team started ranked but is now still winless in the Southeastern Conference.

Volunteers athletic director John Currie said defensive line coach Brady Hoke would serve as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Jones’ firing comes one day after Tennessee (4-6, 0-6) fell 50-17 at Missouri for its fifth loss in its last six games.

“Late last night it was evident this was probably the direction we needed to go for the best of all concerned,” Currie said at a Sunday news conference. “We have two games left to play. We wanted our student-athletes to have the best possible chance for success. We want Coach Jones and his family to be treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve. We want to be able to focus, from my perspective, on the search going forward.

“None of us want to be in this position. But we are in this position, and now we move forward.”

Jones went 34-27 overall and 14-24 in the SEC over five seasons. He led the Volunteerss to bowl victories each of the last three years before the program took a giant step backward this fall.

■ The first SEC team eliminated from the bowl chase this year was Mississippi, which came into the season banned from postseason play.

The second team out is … Florida? It’s hard to believe, but while teams like Vanderbilt (4-6) and Missouri (5-5) fight for bowl spots, Florida is now 3-6 after Saturday’s loss to South Carolina. The Gators have only two games left on their schedule — they had a game in September against Northern Colorado canceled because of Hurricane Irma, and it hasn’t been rescheduled.

It is possible for a five-win team to make a bowl if there aren’t enough .500 teams to fill all the slots, but don’t expect to see Florida — which is being led by interim coach Randy Shannon after the midseason firing of Jim Mcelwain — playing in the postseason.

One opportunity that could keep the Gators motivated is the chance to end rival Florida State’s bowl hopes. The Seminoles also are 3-6 after a loss to Clemson, but they did reschedule a game against Louisiana-monroe for Dec. 2, giving themselves a chance to make it back to .500.

Florida hosts Florida State on Nov. 25.

Bowl chase —