Things could go from bad to worse for Tennessee head coach Butch Jones.
After losing a close game to Florida, it is being reported that a video of Jones hitting one of his players during a practice exists.
The incident allegedly includes Tennessee offensive lineman Mack Crowder, and it has other players considering leaving the program.
Here are the details from Saturdaydownsouth.com:
Butch Jones strongly denied allegations involving an alleged fight with a player on Monday and called them ‘absolutely ridiculous’, but sources have told Gridiron Now that there’s video of the incident that happened during a fall practice.
From Gridiron Now’s initial report:
The incident occurred during fall camp, about the time that news started to come out about a few offensive linemen who were considering stepping away from the program. Crowder walked off the practice field one day and missed a day or two of practice, and Brett Kendrick and Dylan Wiesman were said to be contemplating their futures. Sources say the players’ actions stemmed from an incident between Jones and Crowder.
This is not a flattering story to be floating around for Jones and the Tennessee program. If video does indeed exists then it should be academic for how things are handled with the Tennessee head coach, but until that video surfaces we can’t jump to conclusions.
Putting your hands on a player as a coach is never okay, and it would be a major black eye for a program that is trying to get back to prominence.