Tennessee Holds Tone-Deaf Press Conference On Sexual Assault Issues

Tennessee held a press conference to convince the world they don’t have a culture problem, but some of the statements from the their coaches might have the opposite effect.

Related: Don’t blame Tennessee for Mack Crowder.

Tennessee says it doesn’t have a problem. In fact Tennessee’s problem is so nonexistent that they had all of their coaches come together to do a joint press conference to show you that there is no problem.

Tennessee may have a problem.

We don’t know if any of the accusations in the sexual assault lawsuit against Tennessee are true, but we do know now that Tennessee is trying to draw a hard line in the sand.  Despite the lawsuit and other recent issues Tennessee is adamant that there is no culture problem at UT.

We lambasted Vols fans for the things they said about the women involved in the sexual assault lawsuit and we defended Tennessee in regards to Mack Crowder; we are trying to withhold my judgment until we know more about the issues in Knoxville. One thing is clear though, this press conference probably didn’t send the message Tennessee hoped it would. Tennessee feels like it has been backed into a corner by these allegations, but this was probably a mistake because coaches are coaches, not public relations professionals.

This is the crowd Tennessee thinks is going to convince you that there is no culture problem.

Karen Weekly is right, it has happened everywhere, and maybe it is unfair that Tennessee is singled out, but doesn’t that statement undercut UT’s point of “THERE IS NO CULTURE PROBLEM!” Perhaps claiming that the problem is everywhere isn’t the best way to convince us that you don’t have a problem?

We aren’t sure that saying you’ve been scrutinized for years for this is the best way to convince everyone that you don’t have a problem.

We also aren’t sure how everyone having these problems over the last 20 years means you don’t have them now.

We don’t think that’s what anyone is saying in regards to how Tennessee might have handled sexual assault allegations.

The “nothing to see here” approach.

Brian Pensky has never been worried about being sexual assaulted.

Ralph Weekly tells the softball players that being out after 10 PM puts them at risk? So if women are out after 10 PM they are asking for trouble? How does saying that it’s not a good idea for women to be out after 10 PM at Tennessee mean you don’t have a problem?

Things are better than they used to be… so nothing to see here!

Butch Jones however made the point of the press conference very clear.

This is still about football and recruiting, not women at UT.

Tennessee has now drawn a line in the sand and claimed that they are above reproach. If something does come of the lawsuit now is it not going to be far worse because of this stance?

Next: NFL Combine Schedule

If this press conference was about convincing boosters and fans that everything is fine at Tennessee it probably worked; the fanbase is ready to find a reason to not believe there is a problem. If today was about Tennessee trotting out 16 white middle aged coaches, ten of whom were men, to try and stop sexual assault allegations from hurting football recruiting however,  it might have worked.  If today was about genuinely showing that there is no culture problem at Tennessee, it probably just made things worse.