Vols Football: Fans Justified In Blaming Butch Jones For Suspension?
By Zach Ragan
247Sports reported on Thursday that freshman defensive end Mykelle McDaniel has been suspended.
Tennessee announced on Thursday that freshman defensive end Mykelle McDaniel has been suspended from team activities.
Here’s the statement from Tennessee, via 247Sports:
"Mykelle is being disciplined and will not be practicing with the team leading up to the bowl game. He is expected to rejoin the football program for the start of the spring semester."
McDaniel tweeted a pair of tweets on Thursday that appear to vaguely address the suspension.
McDaniel did not see any action in 2016, as he had surgery midseason to address an injury that Jones and the staff knew about when he was signed.
Hopefully, for the Vols’ sake, McDaniel will return in the spring.
Tennessee needs all the depth they can get along their defensive line. They’re extremely talented up front, but we saw this past season how quickly depth can become an issue.
As far as the suspension of player goes? Well it’s obviously unfortunate and it’s unclear what the circumstances are in this case.
But it’s not uncommon and it’s certainly not unique to Tennessee.
The handling of McDaniel’s situation is pretty consistent with how head coach Butch Jones has previously handled player issues.
Yet, for some reason, there are a some fans and message board critics already pointing blame at Butch Jones and the staff.
That seems absolutely insane to me.
And to be honest, I’m not sure what kind of logic is being used to come to a conclusion like that.
Jones obviously addressed the situation quickly. That’s the extent of what he can (and should) do as a head coach.
I don’t see that there’s a culture problem at Tennessee. No program is perfect. Players are going to get in trouble. We’re talking about 18-22 year old kids. It happens. It’s life.
You can blame Jones for a lot this season, but this isn’t one of those instances.
Next: Top Five Moments From Vols' 2016 Season
McDaniel could also choose to attend junior college next season if things don’t work out with Tennessee. He will have all four years of eligibility remaining.