Marlon Walls, Tennessee defensive end from 2009-2013 and a team captain, went on the Paul Finebaum show Thursday afternoon, defending the Tennessee culture.
“We’ve taken a bashing from people who have never been on this campus,” Walls said.
As Tennessee continues to make headlines this week, Walls has strongly defended its administrators. When asked about his perspective on Butch Jones, Walls praised his former coach.
“I played my last year under Butch,” Walls said. “Butch implemented certain rules that didn’t even allow us to go out, to protect us from stuff like this. The biggest thing I have a problem with is people saying he’s promoting a sexual assault culture, that’s crazy.”
Walls admits that Butch “ran a few guys off,” with his style of coaching. “I was a captain on that team my senior year in 2013,” Walls said. “But when he ran guys off it’s because they didn’t fit that mold. He believes that if you aren’t right as a person, then you couldn’t be a good player on the field.”
Finebaum asked Walls specifically about Drae Bowles, to which Walls responded that he “saw Bowles grow up in the program.” He explains that he and Bowles were very close, mentioning that, “Bowles became very angry at the fact he wasn’t getting the playing time he wanted.”
Walls defended Curt Maggitt as well. “There is no way Curt Maggitt hit him in the face, there is no way anyone beat him up,” he said. “Butch Jones said that if anyone messed with Drae Bowles, they were going to be off the team.”
Walls was asked about Bowles’ motivation to potentially fabricate a testimony, responding that, “Drae Bowles was the type of guy who didn’t believe he should have played on scout team for as long as he did. He believed that Butch Jones did him wrong by bringing in recruits and putting them in front of him. I had conversations with Drae Bowles about this.”
You can follow further commentary from Walls on his Twitter account @Marlontankwalls, where he has been actively defending Jones and Tennessee.
