Tennessee Basketball: Admiral Schofield might be upset with the administration, not Barnes

Tennessee’s season came to an abrupt end in the Sweet 16, and Admiral Schofield didn’t hold back his thoughts on Coach Rick Barnes, or was he subtly going after the administration for holding Barnes back?

Admiral Schofield took to Twitter and the Knoxville News Sentinel to thank Vol fans and reminisce on his career at Tennessee. He wasn’t done though as he turned to Twitter again, this time to criticize Coach Rick Barnes, or at least that’s how the public saw it.

https://twitter.com/admiralelite15/status/1112560004127703046?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1112560004127703046&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsports.yahoo.com%2Fadmiral-schofield-rick-barnes-tennessee-volunteers-subtweet-050801239.html

This was the first of two tweets from Schofield as Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich lit into the officials during their game against the Kings. Pop was ejected so maybe Schofield didn’t want to see that much emotion but perhaps just some of that. Yahoo, 247 Sports and just about any and every paper, sports blog and podcast in Tennessee took this and ran with it. But I’m not sure Rick Barnes is who Schofield is upset with.

“My tweet is not a shot at Coach Barnes, but at how other coaches are allowed to act this way in games and my Coach Can’t.” Well, that’s interesting because I wouldn’t see why Barnes couldn’t act that way in games unless he has been told not to. Would a higher up in the administration ask Barnes to not act like that and keep a calm, cool and collective attitude on the sidelines to save face? No one at Tennessee would ever do that, right? Tennessee has always had a win-at-all-cost administration.

I wouldn’t be surprised if someone in Tennessee’s administration told Barnes to stay away from the officials and protect the university’s best interests on the sidelines. This could be why while the opposing coaches are staying in the official’s ear Rick Barnes is sitting in his chair with his hand on his cheek.

Admiral isn’t someone who has gone out and criticized his coaches or teammates. In fact, it’s been the exact opposite in his time in Knoxville. He’s even commented on his respect for Barnes. “It’s just ‘cause he’s so competitive, and he wants to win,” he said. “Sometimes we want to give him our jersey and be like, ‘You go do it, Coach.’ He’s just one of those guys. He’s very competitive. He wants to win. And, honestly, you know what, that’s just a coach looking out for his player.”

So I don’t think Rick Barnes was the target Admiral was aiming for, and you can not tell me someone as competitive as Rick Barnes is can sit back and not say anything when the officials start calling the game one-sided unless he’s forced to sit back and do nothing. I don’t think it’s crazy to think someone in Tennessee’s administration is holding Barnes back and not allowing him to coach to his full potential. At this point in today’s game, if you don’t stay in the official’s ear throughout the game, the calls won’t go your way, and Tennessee saw this happen plenty of times this season.