It angers me watching the national sports media defend Greg Schiano today and try to smear the brave Tennesseeans who stood up against his hire to one of the most prominent positions in the entire state as 'dumb hillbillies.' It's a clear reminder why sexual abuse continues to happen.

Let's review the facts here:

1. Schiano may have been aware of Sanduky's crimes. Mike McQueary named Schiano as someone who had witnessed Jerry Sandusky's actions in the Sandusky child molestation trial. This information became public knowledge in 2016, so this is fairly recent, and a lot of people still don't know about it. It was not public knowledge at the time Schiano was hired at Ohio State.

2. Schiano's denial is not "proof" of innocence. Schiano denied knowledge, as did former Penn State assistant Bradley. The sports media and coaching cabal says "oh well ... Schiano is cleared." Like seriously. Sworn testimony in a court of law from a guy who had everything to lose by telling the truth is just summarily dismissed b/c football coaches (who are as bad as cops about protecting "their own") say "oh ... he's a good guy."

3. Schiano's "high integrity" story refuted by Tampa Bay. The problem is further exacerbated because the "Schiano is a high character guy" is directly refuted by his time in Tampa Bay, where he known as an abusive autocrat who actually spied on his players, lied constantly, rigged team captain votes, and pretty much alienated everyone within the program. Ask the guys who played under Schiano at Tampa Bay about his "high integrity." At least one player compared playing under Schiano to being in Communist Cuba. Do you think a guy like that would stand up against sexual abuse? Or do you think a petty autocrat who tries to control information might try to hide information about sexual abuse? Several NFL insiders have also said Schiano is low character / low class as it gets and hiring him would be a disaster for any program. He's even been in a heated disputes with players (including former Vol Peyton Manning) over one of his tactics which involves trying to take out the knees of unprotected players at the end of games during the "kneel-down" play. During his time in the NFL, he showed the exact opposite of integrity.

4. UT Message Boards Did More Through Due Diligence than Athletic Department. Tennessee Volunteer fans did more thorough due diligence on Schiano than the Tennessee Athletic Department and several other schools. The crazy thing is most of this information is readily available via Google. But phone calls to Bill Belichick and Urban Meyer and a couple of other coaches apparently nullifies any accusations ever leveled against him. Nevermind that this same "vetting process" would've said Jerry Sandusky was A-OK. The UT Vols message board and Twitter communities are very active. There's been a lot of discussion about potential coaching candidates. No candidate attracted as near universal disgust as Schiano did. This is primarily because his questionable integrity became obvious in the heated message board discussions where everyone was forced to deal with his long track record of questionable ethics. People are not willing to overlook the statement by Mike McQueary (who is viewed by the public as a much more honest and reliable witness) than Schiano (who has a long record of lying and manipulating and less than stellar integrity.)

5. "Guilt" is a standard for a court of law; not for major high-profile positions. We'll never know the precise facts regarding Schiano's knowledge of Sandusky's crimes, but the idea that you just make a man this with long of a track record of ethical issues the face of one of the nation's largest public universities, hand him a $5 million salary, and put him in charge of hundreds of people (including many young impressionable 18 - 23 year old men) just because Bill Belichick says "he's OK" is ludicrous. "Guilt beyond a reasonable doubt" is not the standard. "Proven integrity" should be the standard for a high-profile public position. That standard is nowhere close to being met by Schiano. Obviously, no one is perfect and many football coaches have flawed records, but there are much larger question marks about Schiano than any other candidate mentioned. You can't hire a guy simply with questionable integrity simply because his integrity hasn't been debunked in a criminal trial in a court of law.

6. Tennessee fans were right. I'm proud of the Tennessee fans that shut this down. We were 100% in the right. You don't make this guy one of the most powerful persons in the state of Tennessee and the face of the flagship university when you have major questions about whether he'd stand up to sexual abuse. The Art Briles scandal at Baylor happened just a few years ago, and the media is seriously trying to say we have no legitimate concerns? The hire may have very well destroyed the entire program. Contrary to the media's biased reporting, this was not a "football thing." Many of us UT fans would've been disappointed with a mediocre hire, but we still would've supported the team.

7. Schiano was the line in the sand. He was a mediocre hire whose integrity was very much at question. It honestly would bring tears to my eyes to know that a man who may have protected Jerry Sandusky would be wearing Tennessee orange on the sidelines and speaking as the voice of the community. A poor coach is one thing; this was quite another.

The national sports media should be ashamed for trying to demonize Tennessseans for standing up against sexual abuse. With all the stuff that has come out against Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Roy Moore, John Conyers, etc, etc, etc, you'd think a small group of Tennesseans who took a hard-line against sexual abuse would be hailed as heroes. Instead, we're being treated like 'dumb hillbillies' who 'think they deserve too much.' And then the media wonders how sexual abuse continues to happen. The allegations against Schiano have not been proven in a court of law, but that doesn't mean we should rush out and hire the guy just because Urban Meyer and Bill Belichick vouch for him. These are major question marks for a person leading young men and Schiano does not met the standards of integrity that should be expected.