RELATED: Former Vols captain calls Bowles a "liar"
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Cellphone records from Tennessee head coach Butch Jones have been released thanks to a public records request by The Tennessean. The phone records corroborate a timeline outlined by former UT player Drae Bowles in a sworn declaration submitted as part of a federal lawsuit brought against UT by eight unnamed women over the university's handling of sexual alleged assaults by athletes, especially football players.
The records show that Jones was in regular contact with his players, authorities and AD Dave Hart on November 16, the early morning of the alleged rape of a woman by two football players. The logs show only the length of the call and the time at which it was made, but no audio of what was actually said.
In a statement Wednesday, Jones said he has multiple conversations with players and others when disciplinary issues are brought to his attention.
Jones' phone log shows an incoming call from Bowles at 3:45 p.m. that lasted seven minutes and it shows that Jones called Bowles at 9:46 p.m. in a conversation lasting nine minutes.
Jones also tried to call Maggitt at 12:59 p.m. but could not reach him. At 1:30 p.m., Maggitt called the coach back in a conversation that lasted five minutes. The logs show that Jones also called Bowles' father (Dexter) who is a captain in the Madison County sheriff's department, at 8:03 p.m.
"Regarding the calls to Drae Bowles and his father, I care about Drae as a person and as a player and have frequent communications with players or their parents," Jones said in his statement released by the athletics department. "I am very comfortable with everything Drae, Mr. Bowles, and I discussed, and I wish him nothing but the very best. My intent was to support Drae and make sure he was ok. There's nothing more important to me than the ultimate success in the life of our students."
Jones suspended A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams the next day. The logs show a series of phone calls that continued for several days between Jones, Hart and Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch. There also were multiple calls between Jones and his agent, Trace Armstrong, in the days after the alleged rape was reported.
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