HOOVER, Ala. — Arkansas football fans are familiar with this scenario.
It’s the story of an SEC program, struggling to win after too much coaching turnover, heading into this season with plenty of momentum after a 7-6 finish and bowl victory.
The program is led by a third-year coach who finally appears to have brought stability to what was a chaotic situation.
All of the above applies to Arkansas, yes, but also to the Tennessee Volunteers, who appear to be the Razorbacks’ SEC East twins.
Coach Butch Jones, who came to Tennessee from Cincinnati, is 12-13 in his first two seasons with the Vols after leading them to a 45-28 victory over Iowa — Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema’s alma mater — in the TaxSlayer Bowl last season.
Arkansas and Tennessee will be meet for the first time since the 2011 season at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on Oct. 3.
The Vols beat Iowa on Jan. 2, four days after Arkansas beat Texas 31-7 in the Texas Bowl.
“I’ve known Bret for a long time, and he’s a good friend,” Jones said last week at SEC football media days. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he’s done there at Arkansas in a short period of time and what he’s building there.”
Tennessee, which hasn’t finished over .500 in SEC play since going 6-2 in 2007 to win the East title, was picked at SEC media days to finish second in the division behind Georgia.
The Vols return 18 starters on offense and defense, led by junior quarterback Josh Dobbs and sophomore defensive end Derek Barnett.
“We have a lot of positive energy, momentum, and enthusiasm that’s surrounding our football program right now,” Jones said. “The expectations have changed a little bit, but as we’re all aware, when you’re at the University of Tennessee, you always have high expectations.”
Barnett, who had 10 sacks as a freshman, will open the season in his hometown of Nashville, Tenn., where Tennessee plays Bowling Green before taking on Okahoma at Neyland Stadium.
Dobbs went 4-1 as a starter to close last season after he replaced senior Justin Worley, who was sidelined by a shoulder injury.
In the six games in which Dobbs played, Tennessee averaged 36.7 points and 431 yards. He completed 112 of 170 passes (63.3 percent) for 1,206 yards and 9 touchdowns with 6 interceptions. He also rushed 104 times for 587 yards and 8 touchdowns.
“He’s proven himself,” Jones said. “We understand what we’re getting with Josh day in and day out, week in and week out. He’s done a tremendous job.
“We challenged him this spring to be what we call a CEO quarterback, an individual who owns the team, who owns the offense, who can solve problems on his own, who can provide the leadership and stability that you expect from that position.”
Dobbs, an aerospace engineering major, said he’s ready to be the Vols’ CEO.
“It’s great going into the season being named the starter, but I feel like since I’ve been on campus I’ve done a great job of approaching every practice and every workout like that,” Dobbs said. “So this is just a continuation.”
Dobbs is working with new Tennessee offensive coordinator Mike DeBord, a former Michigan offensive coordinator and NFL assistant with Seattle and Chicago, who was Central Michigan’s coach when Jones was an assistant there.
DeBord, who had been out of coaching since 2013 and was an administrator at Michigan when Jones hired him, coached Tom Brady at Michigan and was with the Wolverines when they beat Arkansas 45-31 in the Citrus Bowl to cap the 1998 season.
“We already are seeing the benefits of the hiring of Mike DeBord,” Jones said. “It’s brought new energy, new ideas, obviously vast knowledge and experience.”
Dobbs said the Vols are carrying momentum into this season from their first bowl victory since 2007.
“It was a great way to finish the season, but we’re not done yet,” he said. “It’s just a steppingstone to this season.”
The Razorbacks can relate.