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Tennessee’s Butch Jones responds to Mills dismissal

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 10: Head Coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after the game against the Georgia Bulldogs on October 10, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 10: Head Coach Butch Jones of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after the game against the Georgia Bulldogs on October 10, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Scott Cunningham/Getty Images)
By
Aug 19, 2017

Perhaps predictably, Tennessee coach Butch Jones said that Georgia Tech's loss of B-back Dedrick Mills will not impact the Yellow Jackets in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game Sept. 4 in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mills was dismissed from the team Friday for a violation of athletic department policy.

"It doesn't affect them one bit," Jones told reporters after Tennessee's Friday's practice in Knoxville, Tenn. "I believe they were 3-0 without him last year."

Jones actually sold Tech short. The Jackets were 4-0 without Mills, beating Mercer, Duke, Virginia Tech and Virginia. Jones additionally praised Tech’s spread-option offense and its team overall.

“They have a system that’s challenging, and they have good players and a very solid defense and good special teams,” Jones said. “This is a complete football team that we’re playing, we prepare the same way, so it doesn’t affect our mindset our how we look at things.”

About the Author

Ken Sugiura is a sports columnist at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Formerly the Georgia Tech beat reporter, Sugiura started at the AJC in 1998 and has covered a variety of beats, mostly within sports.

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