Butch Jones emceed Tennessee’s spring game on Saturday from the field inside Neyland Stadium, turning the game into an event that fans and players alike appeared to enjoy more than a typical scrimmage.

Jones has put a tremendous emphasis on rebranding Tennessee since he took over as the Vols head coach two years ago. Events like Saturday’s spring game and slogans like “Brick by brick” are a couple of the ways he’s aimed to make Tennessee a unique football family worth joining, and to this point it seems to have worked, as UT has improved its win total in each of Jones’ first two seasons.

The recent rape accusations surrounding wide receiver Von Pearson, however, are not how Jones would like to brand his program; nor is the trial former players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams face regarding their own rape accusations from an alleged incident last fall.

The head coach spoke on this issue, and more specifically Pearson’s indefinite suspension from the team, following Saturday’s spring game, noting he hoped it hadn’t overshadowed an otherwise promising day for the program.

“I don’t want that to take away from all the great things that are going on in this football program,”Jones told the Times Free Press. “That’s an ongoing situation. (Von) is suspended indefinitely. There’s consequences for choices and actions, and we constantly educate our players.

“It’s not an illustration of our football program. We have tremendous, tremendous kids in our football program. I’m disappointed, but we have to move forward. We have a lot of great kids and a lot of things going on here.

“I know people will try to use that against us, but we have great kids. I think that’s been proven with our community service, our academic excellence. We’ll continue to move forward. But there are consequences for actions.”

Pearson, a junior college transfer last season, was second on the team with 38 catches for 393 yards and a team-high five touchdowns on the year. He was expected to start and play a pivotal role in Tennessee’s offense this fall as a senior. He did not participate in Saturday’s spring game in Knoxville due to his suspension.