College Football

Vols' Jones briefly refers to suit while speaking at clinic

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 2:08 a.m. ET

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PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (AP) Tennessee football coach Butch Jones briefly referred to the Title IX lawsuit facing the university while speaking at a coaching clinic.

Without mentioning the suit specifically, Jones said Friday, ''there's an elephant in the room. I think you all know what we're going through. Don't believe everything you read and hear, I promise you that.''

The suit alleges Tennessee has a ''hostile sexual environment'' through a policy of indifference toward assaults by athletes.

An amended complaint says former Tennessee player Drae Bowles assisted a woman who said she was raped by two other players and that he was later attacked by teammates and told by Jones he'd ''betrayed the team.'' The document said Jones later apologized.

Jones has said he would ''fight all of these false attacks on my character.''