Vols Football: Was Butch Jones Right To Promote Walt Wells After Arrest?
By Zach Ragan
The Tennessee Vols announced staff changes earlier this week.
Butch Jones and the Vols announced earlier this week the promotion of offensive assistant Walt Wells to offensive line coach, replacing Don Mahoney.
Wells came to Tennessee after serving as Eastern Kentucky’s offensive line coach in 2015. He served as South Florida’s offensive coordinator in 2013, but was fired after USF’s offense finished 125th in offensive touchdowns per game and 119th in points per play.
On Friday, WMNL’s Jimmy Hyams reported that Wells was actually arrested for driving under the influence on National Signing Day in 2016, shortly after he joined the staff at Tennessee.
Walt Wells, recently promoted to OL coach at UT, was arrested
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) February 10, 2017
for DUI on Feb. 4, 2016, hours after UT’s national signing day celebration
Incident report says Wells, now 49, was stopped at 12:34 am
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) February 10, 2017
Feb. 4 in Knoxville city limits for not dimming his lights.
Report says Wells `fumbled’ his words and performed `poorly’
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) February 10, 2017
on field sobriety test and admitted to drinking 3 beers.
It would appear, however, that Wells was never convicted of a DUI.
On Aug. 25, Wells pleaded guilty to reduced charge of
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) February 10, 2017
reckless driving and paid $50 fine plus undisclosed amount of court costs.
Tennessee said Jones was aware of the arrest at the time it happened.
UT spokesman Ryan Robinson said UT coach Jones was aware of
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) February 10, 2017
the Wells’ DUI arrest when it occurred.
Robinson said Wells was suspended with pay for 2 weeks,
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) February 10, 2017
attended counseling and has exhibited `model behavior’ since then.
Coach Jones `felt comfortable moving forward with Wells as the offensive line coach,' Robinson said.
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) February 10, 2017
Anytime an arrest occurs, rather it be a coach or a player, it’s a story.
But some stories are bigger than others.
Jones has displayed pretty good judgement since arriving at Tennessee. He’s had to deal with several tough situations (Treyvon Paulk and AJ Johnson to name a couple), and has usually erred on the side of caution.
If Jones, or anyone at Tennessee, thought this warranted a firing, I’m sure Wells would’ve been gone without a thought.
But in today’s climate of losing your job every time you make a public blunder, it’s refreshing to see Wells get a second chance.
That’s not to dismiss the seriousness of driving under the influence — it’s something that absolutely should never happen. But no one is perfect and mistakes do happen.
I think the fact that Jones chose to promote Wells after this occurred (he knew it would become public at some point) speaks volumes about the belief he has in the Vols’ new offensive line coach.
Not that this will be a huge deal, but if there was someone else better qualified that Jones was looking to hire, you have to believe they would’ve received the nod over Wells.
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Jones isn’t dumb. He knows his job is on the line in 2017, and despite what he says in public statements, he knows the offensive line play has been sub-par during his tenure on Rocky Top.
Hopefully Wells makes the most of his second chance with the Vols, otherwise he’ll be gone in a hurry.