Wiedmer: UT's Jones should ban viewing of Mayweather fight

The University of Tennessee's head coach Butch Jones works with his players during the Dish Orange & White Game in Knoxville on Saturday, April 25, 2015. Final score was Orange 54, White 44.
The University of Tennessee's head coach Butch Jones works with his players during the Dish Orange & White Game in Knoxville on Saturday, April 25, 2015. Final score was Orange 54, White 44.

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KNOXVILLE -- Taking his honorary coaching duties quite seriously during Saturday's Orange-White game at half-full Neyland Stadium, new Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes had a suggestion for Orange coach John Jancek.

"Rick wanted to full-court press," a smiling Jancek said after the Orange's 54-44 win. "Hey, we won."

Barnes later said the victory was never in doubt, at least partly due to UT head coach Butch Jones's modified scoring system that rewards points for sacks, interceptions, defensive stops and the like.

"We knew we were going to win before the game started," he said with a grin. "Butch is a defensive coach, right? It was just a matter of time."

But it was something else Barnes said about what he learned from being on a football sideline in the heat of battle that deserves a repeat.

"I was so impressed," he said, "with how Butch manages so many people."

Counting assistants, scholarship players, invited walk-ons, support staff and the like, Jones is theoretically watching over at least 150 people with some tie-in to the football program. Within the athletic department, only UT athletic director Dave Hart is responsible for the behavior of more individuals.

And as is the case with almost any group that large, save perhaps a nunnery, a few bad apples always will worm their way into the mix. So for all the first-rate people he's recruited or hired or inherited from previous football regimes, Jones isn't immune to the occasional bum. No CEO is. Happens to everyone. All the time.

And so it was that the third-year coach found himself executing a different kind of defense at the close of the spring game regarding rising senior wideout Von Pearson, who was named as a suspect Friday in a Knoxville Police Department rape investigation involving a UT student.

Jones indefinitely suspended the player, pending further news and facts. He rightly called the alleged behavior "inexcusable," adding that "we're not going to tolerate it."

It all sounds wonderful, and Jones generally has taken this stance from day one, but even more firmly since the A.J. Johnson-Michael Williams situation unfolded following last November's Kentucky game. Those two were charged with aggravated rape after an incident at an off-campus party. Johnson, now out of eligibility, and Williams, still suspended, are awaiting an August trial.

And Pearson's situation certainly ratchets up the concern on how well Jones is managing his team away from the playing field. Especially since the juco transfer is the sixth member of the 2014 squad to have been accused of sexual assault.

Not that accusations should ever be viewed as convictions. In fact, of those six cases, only Johnson and Williams are still involved with the legal system, though all were suspended during investigations. Marlin Lane returned to the field after never being charged in an April 2013 incident. Riyahd Jones left the team after a February incident resulted in no charges. A walk-on involved in a sexual assault charge last September remains on the team after the university decided it could not meet the burden of proof against the unidentified player.

Then there was running back Treyvon Paulk. Jones kicked him off the team in September after he allegedly punched his girlfriend in the face, though he never was charged.

All of this, of course, is enough to question what's going on with the Big Orange football team. Is it out of control, or at least rocketing in that direction? Is Jones as tough as he needs to be? Does the community need to hide the women every time a football player is away from Neyland Stadium or the practice complex?

"We constantly educate our players," Jones said late Saturday afternoon. "We have great kids in our program. I think that's been proven, with our community service, with our academic excellence, and we will continue to move forward."

But he also said something that always happens when an isolated incident grows into an apparent trend, however unfair or inaccurate that may be, given that the number of accusations is currently far ahead of the number of convictions.

"I know people try to use that against us," he said.

That's life. Especially at the top of big-time college football, that reality steeled by the abhorrent behavior of such high-profile professional athletes as Ray Rice or Floyd "Money" Mayweather. And to a degree, that's a very good thing when the charges are inarguable, as they have been against Rice and Mayweather.

Then again, Mayweather is scheduled to make $180 million this Saturday from his fight against Manny Pacquiao, despite at least five past cases of assaulting women, including the mother of three of his four children. In too many areas of our society -- be it the entertainment industry or professional sports -- we make too many excuses, tolerate too much, accept too much. And it needs to stop sooner than later.

But whatever has or hasn't happened with Pearson, Jones would seem to be managing this the best way possible until the law has finished its investigation.

"That's an ongoing situation," Jones said. "(Pearson) is suspended indefinitely. There are consequences for choices and actions."

At least there should be, which is why the next move Jones should make on this issue is to suspend any player who dares to watch the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.

It might not make a huge difference to Mayweather, but it would certainly serve as a powerful way to educate both the UT football team, as well as all who follow it, about all that's inexcusable regarding the treatment of women.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.

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