All for Tennessee
Fansided

Steve Spurrier Throws Desperate Jabs at Tennessee Vols; Butch Jones Fights Back

By Caleb Calhoun

facebooktwitterreddit

South Carolina Gamecocks Head Coach Steve Spurrier was true to form at SEC Media Days Tuesday and threw jabs at the Tennessee Vols. Butch Jones responded.

One of the reasons Tennessee Volunteers fan base wanted Phil Fulmer so desperately gone in 2008 was that not only did he take a beating from rivals at the end, but Vols fans had to deal with way too many verbal jabs from fans of those rivals.

And Steve Spurrier has been the catalyst for that, starting in the 1990s throwing jabs at the Vols while he was head coach of the Florida Gators.

More from Vols Football

That is part of the reason Mike Hamilton brought in the brash Lane Kiffin as head coach. Six years later, despite no finishes in the Top 25 since then, the Vols finally appear to have a competent coach who can at the same time respond to public jabs.

Butch Jones did that on Tuesday. Spurrier made headlines again by defending his team’s 7-6 season by saying that Tennessee and Arkansas were celebrating going and 7-6. Here is the quote.

To be fair, Spurrier throws jabs at everybody. He has said twice in three months now that the Vols were doing cartwheels over going 7-6 and, as you saw, said today that South Carolina was doing cartwheels as well.

But Jones has joined Dabo Swinney in becoming a match for Spurrier. He responded with basic facts when he took the stand at SEC Media Days, refuting that quote.

This was a great comeback. Spurrier was blatantly snide in his comments about the Vols, and Jones made the context of the season very clear while at the same time directly disproving Spurrier’s comments.

And he is right.

South Carolina had really high expectations last year. Tennessee and Arkansas did not. All three teams finished 7-6, and for the second year in a row, Jones got the best of Spurrier at the end.

To be fair, Steve Spurrier is great for the SEC. But it is nice to have a coach who won’t allow the Vols to take the verbal jabs they have been taking for so long.

Next: Vols at SEC Media Days: Five Burning Questions

More from All for Tennessee

Home/Vols Football