It’s been an eventful offseason for Butch Jones and the University of Tennessee football program and not in a good way. In fact, it’s kind of the worst way. The entire athletic department is caught up in a Title IX lawsuit filled by six unnamed women alleging that the university, according to the Tennessean, “created a student culture that enables sexual assaults by student-athletes, especially football players, and then uses an unusual, legalistic adjudication process that is biased against victims who step forward.”
Needless to say, it’s not been a fun time in old Rocky Top. As all this was first hitting the Volunteers were about to start spring practice. Jones couldn’t ignore what was happening in the high-profile lawsuit because he was a major player in it as the suit alleges that Jones told a former player, Drae Bowles, that he “betrayed the team” after he offered assistance to the alleged victim of a rape by two former Tennessee football players. And if that seems like a lot of “allegeds” in a paragraph, it is. But that’s how you have to cover these kinds of things.
Jones, at the center of the investigation, has denied he said anything to Bowles about “betrayal.”
“The assertion that I ever attempted to belittle or demean a young man for taking action to help another person is absolutely false,” Jones said in a written statement. ” To the contrary, I did all I could to assist the former student (Bowles) in question.”
Jones and the every head coach at the school met with the media on Feb. 23 to present a united front against the allegations, but would not (or could not) discuss the details of the lawsuit. Jones did say a few words in support of the alleged victims.
“Everything about the alleged victims, and we take that very seriously, we feel for them,” Jones said. “We hurt for them. It’s not who we are. We have great players in our football program. We have great individuals in this entire athletic department. We have a very good culture in place. That’s why I said we’re going to defend our culture. We have good people. We’re embarrassed by it. We’re upset by it. It’s not who we are.”
And with that, Jones was finished talking to the media, but it didn’t stop him from being the featured speaker at the Carson-Newman Championship Coaching Clinic on March 4. Jones has become close friends with Carson-Newman head coach Ken Sparks over the last few years and he took the chance to talk about his faith, his family and and the Xs and Os of football to a packed house in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Jones refused to talk to the media that attended except me, because of my relationship with the school. I’m Carson-Newman’s beat writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel and their sports photographer. I didn’t ask him directly about the lawsuit, because there was no way he was going to talk about it. He had literally waved off reporters, one of them from the Associated Press, just moments before, saying. “I’m not talking to them.”
He did address it to the coaches, however, calling it the “elephant in the room.” He said it was the family atmosphere that helped him and his team handle such a massive distraction as they do the work they need to prepare for the 2016-17 season.
“It’s family,” Jones said. “It’s always the core value, first and foremost. That’s what we stem our football program from each and every day. From our players to our coaches to our families, we’re one family. The Tennessee family.”
The “family” got extended some this offseason with the addition of the Team 120 recruiting class, ranked No. 14 in the country. That ranking was down from the last two seasons when Jones hauled in the No. 4 (2014) and No. 7 (2015) classes.
“We don’t look at rankings,” Jones said. “Everything is about finding the right fit for your football program. We want individuals with great character that can be great students and above all else are great people and great football players. We’re excited about this class. The thing about it is, we were able to finish very strong as well.”
The biggest addition to this Tennessee team has been avoiding the subtraction of cornerback Cam Sutton. Sutton was a second round draft pick, almost for sure if he’d decided to come out this year. He’s been one of the best corners in SEC since he was a freshman and finished 2015-16 with 28 tackles, three for a loss, one interception and six passes defended. That’s down from his 13 passes defended in 2014 and that’s just because teams are more reluctant to throw his way. At 5-foot-11 and 189 pounds, Sutton is NFL ready, but he decided to stay.
“He (Sutton) is a great young man,” Jones said. “He’s a leader with integrity and character. I’m very proud of him. It speaks volumes about what we’ve got going on at the University of Tennessee. Cameron obviously wants to pursue those dreams, but first and foremost he wanted to get his education. He’ll be a college graduate and then he’ll have that opportunity in the National Football League.”
With that, Jones went back to work at Tennessee. Spring practice for the Vols will go until April 16 when they host their annual Orange and White game at 2 p.m. Tennessee opens their regular season on Sept. 3 against Appalachian State.
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