Tennessee and Vanderbilt are bitter rivals, especially when it comes to basketball. Both Vanderbilt (16-12, 6-9 SEC) and Tennessee (14-13, 6-9 SEC) have been struggling this season, so Vandy's 73-65 win means bragging rights for them. But Vanderbilt's Wade Baldwin took his excitement a little too far, and his coach, Kevin Stallings, lost his mind in a way you rarely see. Watch the video, and you can hear a ballistic Stallings yell, "I'm going to f—-ing kill you!" Yep. He said that.
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Stallings realized he went overboard and told ESPN:
"I handled it completely inappropriately and I apologized to Wade — and I need to apologize to our fans and the Vanderbilt administration. Having said that, and it may seem as though I'm trying to rationalize my behavior, sportsmanship will continue to be a high priority. I did not mean it in the literal sense and I've never touched a player in all my years as a coach. That's not me. I will learn from this and handle this situation differently in the future."
Baldwin did apologize after the game on Twitter:
Coach Stallings is the best coach in America. I felt no offense to anything. We are both fiery people and that's why I chose Vandy ⚓️👇
— IV (@The_Fourth_Wade) February 27, 2015
But the rest of Twitter was not as nice about the whole exchange:
Sal Sunseri has no idea why Kevin Stallings is apologizing. Stallings was telling a bedtime story compared to Sal's practice-field vocab.
— @GrantRamey (@GrantRamey) February 27, 2015
The real question: Why did Wade Baldwin think Armani Moore was the best #Vols player to mock? Stallings probably saved that kid's life.
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) February 27, 2015
My goodness, y'all. #Vols and #Vandy are rivals. They don't like each other. Things will happen. Don't make this bigger than it is. JMO.
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) February 27, 2015
Who hasn’t had a coach tell them they were gonna effing kill them from time to time? I’ve heard it more times than I can remember.
— Wes Rucker (@wesrucker247) February 27, 2015
Bad language is part of the game but there is also a time & place. Like that Stallings reprimanded his player but using that language openly
— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) February 27, 2015
is an issue. Behind close doors is one thing but that open isn't right. The kid was wrong but the issue should of been addressed in private.
— Jay Williams (@RealJayWilliams) February 27, 2015
