Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley says he is embarrassed by the recent arrests of some his players and has vowed to change the culture of the program.
But those changes can’t come soon enough.
Police continue to investigate the off-campus bar brawl involving several athletes. A seventh player, defensive tackle Chase Nelson, was named as a possible suspect in a Knoxville police report released Wednesday. Two players have already been arrested for their role in the incident.
Sophomore defensive back Darren Myles Jr. was charged Friday with assault, resisting arrest and evading arrest and has been dismissed from the team. Incoming freshman wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, but remains on the team. More players could be charged.
“We’re not going to let this incident ruin the positive changes that are happening,” Dooley said. “We’re going to continue to build our structures so that we educate, we discipline, we support our players, and at the end of the day we’re going to have a culture here that’s not just going to be about winning but our fans will be proud of how we represent them.”
Rogers’ attorney, Don Bosch, said Wednesday that his client denies assaulting anyone and “looks forward to demonstrating his innocence.”
Six players have been identified as being present at the bar during the fight — defensive tackle John Brown, linebacker Greg King, defensive tackle Montori Hughes, wide receiver Matt Milton, wide receiver Denarius Moore and defensive tackle Marlon Walls.
The brawl left off-duty police officer Robert Capouellez with a serious head injury after he tried to break up the fight. Police say Capouellez was hit in the head, knocked to the ground, kicked and left unconscious. He was released from a hospital Monday but has not returned to work.
Another victim, Gary Russell, told ESPN that he was attacked by a group of the players after accidentally bumping into Hughes. Hughes’ attorney, Greg Isaacs, says Hughes was the victim of an unprovoked attack.
Last week’s arrests weren’t the first major discipline problems in the past year or even during this offseason. Myles was arrested at a nightclub in April and charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Under former coach Lane Kiffin, three players were arrested after being accused of an attempted aggravated robbery at a Knoxville convenience store. Two of them — freshmen Nu’Keese Richardson and Mike Edwards — were dismissed from the team, pleaded guilty to lesser charges and were put on probation.
Kiffin’s predecessor, Phillip Fulmer, also struggled with discipline issues before being fired in November 2008. Players were arrested throughout Fulmer’s 16-year tenure, and eight were either arrested or disciplined in 2008 for violating team rules.
“There has been enough incidents to know that we can’t just stick our head in the sand and say, ’Oh, we’re really OK. Just one or two guys did this,’ ” Dooley said. “I don’t ever stick my head in the sand, and we take responsibility for it and we’re going to continue to change it.”
When four basketball players were arrested on gun and drug charges in January, Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said his tolerance for criminal activity had dropped to zero and that it was time for a “gut check” with the athletes and coaches.
Since then Hamilton and the athletic department have reviewed the department’s recruitment methods, discipline procedures and programs for helping athletes develop as adults. He also continues to spend time talking with other athletic directors, faculty members and the athletes to determine what is leading to so many arrests and what can be done to prevent them.
The athletic departed has decided to expand Tennessee’s mentoring program beyond the peer-to-peer and professional mentoring programs already in place.
Dooley has also introduced a character education program for the football team that he calls “Vol for Life” and has hired former Vols defensive back Andre Lott to lead it.
However, changing the culture will take time.
And the Vols leadership wants the embarrassing arrests to stop now.
Hamilton said stability within the football program will help. Some of the current Vols have played for three different head coaches.
“There’s been a lot of instability and uncertainty in the lives of these guys,” Hamilton said. “That doesn’t absolve them from anything, but being around them you find that what they are is they’re oversized kids. I have no doubt in my mind some stability will help and we’ve got the right guy leading the football program.”
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Comments » 63
mborovol writes:
People UT is a win at all costs program. We win championships. If you prefer to recruit choir boys and go 2-10 (0-8 in SEC), then go watch Vanderbilt. Myles had to go but keep the rest if no else is charged with felonies. We are not kicking our thugs off for "disorderly conduct". You can get charged for that for cursing a cop! Just win and this all goes away!
kd45music writes:
I'd rather go 0-12 this year and build a quality, solid program for the future. Maybe it's time we change the culture in Tennessee sports. Winning with a bunch of losers is nothing but a hollow victory. It's time for a change, not only here, but at every school in the country.
DownTheField writes:
goofy title.. no need to make cheesy reference to dumb band from '83... otherwise good
WinkeyVol writes:
I think the Oregon Ducks are going to be a lot tougher than an off duty Knoxville police officer.
As the old saying goes,"get your ducks in a row." You bet your butt Oregon will have!
CoverOrange writes:
Bite the bullet and pull the trigger, Dooley. You'll never get on the right track if you try to be fair and equitable. When all the faces change every five years, none are indispensible. This may be a bad season for us UT fans but we will respect you in the morning.
jhayes0926#638474 writes:
I am in agreement with you. It is going to be tough, however, in swallowing a 4 win season and losing to Fl. by 42
DooleyNoted writes:
That is the craziest response I have read on this website. You can win and do it with class. Plenty of programs do it. To imply that great players are troublemakers is ignorant. CDD is right. The example starts at the top. Stability within the coaching staff will filter down to the upperclassmen which will filter to the younger players. A family works the same way. If I am not a good example to my children how can I expect them to act appropriately. Fulmer and Kiffin failed to have healthy boundaries for the players on the team. Dooley is showing he will not put up with these discipline issues. This has not been going on for years. It will not change overnight. Give it time. GBO!
kd45music writes:
That is simply not true. These guys are in the minority when you consider all the college players in the country. I don't recall either of the Manning boys kicking someone when they were down and out. Nor did Reggie White. If it never changes it's because we, the fans, don't demand that it change.
BigOrangeFreak writes:
More regurgitated drivel from previous articles. If there is nothing new or worthy of mentioning, don't bust out another article stating the obvious. The blogosphere is already blowing up with needless revampings of the same old sh!#!
The only thing worthy of mention in this article is the "Vol for Life" program which covers about two sentences. Elaborate on this. I'm sure that Coach Dooley is not just giving lip service to changing the "culture," so get us some more details on his plan for doing so.
DooleyNoted writes:
That's probably going to happen anyway.
tapeworm writes:
"Win at all costs?" You obviously don't have a UT degree, which loses a bit of its luster every time something like this happens. And, from your post, it sounds like you don't have much of a mind, either. I hope someday your "Thugs" bring you the bragging rights you so richly deserve and desire.
TommyJack writes:
We could be faced with a 4 win season with the existing culture in place. Major changes take time. Not sure our fanbase is willing to pay the price for a long term culture change. Probably will get worse (winning/losing) before it gets better. Hope I'm worng.
FWBVol writes:
I agree that many fans consider O.J. Simpson to be the greatest running back of all time, but an equal or greater number would name Walter Payton, Gale Sayers or Emmitt Smith as the greatest RB ever and none of those guys were ever accused of extreme anti-social behaviors. In fact, the Walter Payton Award is given each year to the NFL player that reflects the high character and commitment to their community that Payton did for his.
I know that their are a lot of players with questionable character that have Hall of Fame careers, but for every Lawerence Taylor there is Mike Singletary.
Yes, football is a violent game, but if a player can't leave the violence on the field we don't need him in our program.
mborovol writes:
My UT grad degree has done wonders for me thank you very much! By the way, in the past 5 years Alabama and Florida have had the most arrests in college football (wiki Fulmer Cup), but who talks about it since they have won NCs. So yes can't wait for those bragging rights......
mborovol writes:
People go look up UT arrests from like 1995 to 2001, our national power days. No different, we were winning then and we were all cheering them on in Neyland every Saturday. But now we are losing so "clean house" and "thug this, thug that"....slightly hypocritical people....
yelojaket writes:
Dooley made a big mistake kicking Darren off so fast. Had he taken a moment to REALLY get the facts he would realize that Darren was NOT involved and he ran because he knew he could NOT get into anymore trouble. He didnt mean to hit that officer and he wasnt drunk and he was NOT involved in the brawl....Your culture at TENN wont ever change if you cant at least give these guys half a chance to give their side...THERE IS ALWAYS 2 SIDES TO THE STORY....BOO DOOLEY!!!!
movol77 writes:
Why doesn't the headline read,
Lastest Police Report, Rogers Innocent of Assault?
Wouldn't that be consistent with your previous KNS headline that wrongly called him out for assault?
mborovol writes:
Did you rant and rave the same thing back in our heyday (1995-2001)?
VolFanNC writes:
Four win season, 2 win season....sigh....
apparently...all the sudden everyone we have recruited sucks have come off. UAB, Vandy, Kentucky, UTM, Memphis are all wins. Georgia, SC, Oregon, Mississippi are all winnable. Only Bama, LSU and UF have clear advantages.
All of the team listed except Bama have problems.
Bar brawl stories will be gone in a week. Should at least keep everyone from casting stones at all the other schools Remember the arrest records across all the SEC schools? It just means that we have idiots as well as everyone else. Maybe Dooley will clean it up, but will take another year or two to do so.
mborovol writes:
Thank you someone finally with common sense....
Southland writes:
you have got to be kidding with this post. Surely you do endorse a penal colony football program. Have some of these guys be your neighbors and see if that is what you want. UT is not a win at all costs program. If we are we are failing miserably. You are kidding with this post Right???
Southland writes:
this post has made us all dumber for having read it
mborovol writes:
Once again, in the past 5 years Alabama and Florida have had the most arrests in college football (wiki Fulmer Cup), but who talks about it since they have won NCs. I bet you have forgetten the UT arrests from 1995 to 2001.....
RoadTrip writes:
Good, thoughtful post. I agree. Cleaning this up may improve team morale in the long run so that we pick up some unexpected wins.
I am in the group that says get out the scalpel and cut out the cancer now. Football players tend not to be choirboys, however, staying out of trouble with the law and your coaches is really not that hard to do. Take some pride in yourself, your family, your school, your team, etc. - and do things right. Being at Bar Knoxville after 1 AM is just not smart.
BigOrangeFreak writes:
Amen, my Brother! This might even help the whole team pull together. I seem to remember everyone predicting Doom and Gloom when the whole basketball fiasco went down at New Year. These things have a way of working out for quality teams. I believe Coach Dooley will use this to our ultimate advantage, and I can definitely see us winning more games than the gloomy prognosticators think we will.
mborovol writes:
I draw the line at felonies...If you anyone is charged with a felonious act they need to go. The rest lets move on and rally around this and win some games. I don't agree with people saying "kick them all off". It was 2 AM in the morning, 18 to 23 year olds, alcohol etc. Yes some should not have been there if they had class the next day but come on, for those of us who ever went to college, is there something you look back at and say man that was stupid (and it was probably at 2 in the morning!)....
mborovol writes:
Alabama won the "Fulmer Cup" in 2008 with 28 points as they were going 12-0 in the regular season...
http://www.sportsargumentwiki.com/ind...
vol94 writes:
Tell that Florida Fans. I spoke to a few of them this past week and they could care less. As long as they are winning they could care less.
Remember The U? They had the bad boy image but
the fans didn't care until they began to lose.
I am with you though. I can't stand all of this off the field issues.
Bogus writes:
Courtney Upshaw, 2009.
During Saban's watch.
Stay cocky.
mborovol writes:
Good post, I'm sick of it too, but I'm not going to be a hypocrite...if we go 12-0 this year you will all be cheering those "thugs" on Saturdays...Felons kick them off, rest just win baby....
mborovol writes:
I believe you allVolinGA, lol, well what your lawyer says....
lynnjr08#213972 writes:
You are right about the '95-'01 with the arrest records. Its just like TO and the cowboys fans. They all hated him in SF and PHI but when he scored his first TD in big D everyone loved him. When he left....now thats a different story. Just win baby!
mborovol writes:
Alabama's "thugs" went 12-0 and had upwards of 20 arrests in 2008.....my favorites were "doubled armed robbery" and "seliing cocaine" (Jimmy Johns was charged with 8 felonies).....
http://www.sportsargumentwiki.com/ind...
TommyJack writes:
Among other things, Bama guys have short memories too.
mborovol writes:
lol, nice....
BigOrangeFreak writes:
It's not very big around but it sure is short!
skyhawk836 writes:
Where's that ship headed- Alcatraz?
mborovol writes:
Dude, that was excellent....you just said everything I was saying but 10 times better...that was so good, I'm not posting another thing on this topic....People if you don't get what dude just said...you are a hypocrite...Dooley will do the right thing, trust him and move on..excellent dude, that is the best post I have ever seen, pure honestly that others can't do...Go Vols...
Hounddog writes:
O.J. was a great running back, no doubt. I would take Jim Brown #1,Gale Sayers #2 and #3????.
Hounddog
mborovol writes:
sorry it was so good had to say it again...excellent post...
mborovol writes:
Amen!
jcherrie#219531 writes:
I'm not so sure -- who is the greatest WR in football history?
Jerry Rice -- not a thug.
Best QB -- Petyon -- not a thug.
Best D-Lineman -- Reggie White -- not a thug.
Best Linebacker -- okay -- you got me on that one.
Point is we don't need thugs.
sct37917#628171 writes:
What?do you mean that several of these thugs couldnt whip one [or two ]drunk guys ?What kind of ghetto trash is Ut recruiting these days?
gillblog writes:
This "zero tolerance" policy thing..... seems I've heard that before ..... can't tell exactly what it means. Apparently, it means, "tolerance begins here".
dyerbey#281598 writes:
What happened to "Innocent until proven guilty"?
Seems the popular thought is to "kick 'em all of the team". Let the police do their job, if they have proof these kids were in the wrong, then kick 'em off, until then, let 'em play.
budd#207344 writes:
All I can say is if you two really think this way then it is a sad day in America. To say that your life will be trashed because a football team loses some games because they got rid of a couple of losers is sick. You really need to take a look inside. A loss on Saturday is no excuse to encourage and continue the ridiculous behavior of the past few years. A large part of the reason that cpf is gone is his inability to discipline players. And as much as I liked winning I cannot and will not support this type of behavior.
dyerbey#281598 writes:
If anyone thinks Nick Satan has "righted the ship", they should follow their beloved Bama players on "spring break". If smoking POT in bars and Starting Bar fights during spring break is "righting the ship" then Satan has done well.
Let's just say, the Defending National Champs did not represent themselves well during spring break 2010.
volman2010 writes:
FOOLS..All fools talking about a fight that kids did..nothing wrong be but being at the bar in my eyes but not the laws....Last story I an reading on this subject and will leave it all to the fools..I guess I will once again turn KNX off my PC until this passes.Should be about 6 months because season coming and all the writers getten name for them self is exploiting the kids for all its worth..That should be punished but will not as long as fools lie us read it regardless if we like the article or not..
CCLC writes:
Alabama won the "Fulmer Cup" in 2008.
just sayin'
RollTideJoe writes:
You don't know what you are talking about. Alabama has not had many arrests at all. Check it out before you start your trash talk. Saban doesn't put up with nonsense from players.
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