Threatening to kill your players is probably not an effective coaching tactic, but that’s the approach Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings took on Thursday night after his team beat in-state rival Tennessee.
Following the game, Vandy freshman Wade Baldwin taunted Tennessee players by clapping in their faces.
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Stallings did not take kindly to this. Though we can’t see the incident, ESPN’s microphones picked up Stallings yelling, “YOU F*CKING APOLOGIZE” and “DON’T DO THAT” AND “I’LL F*CKING KILL YOU” as the teams exchanged handshakes:
After the game, Stallings 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.”
For his part, Baldwin doesn’t seem upset about what happened:
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
So, water under the bridge, and all that.
