UT Vols: Email links Butch Jones to tight end Daniel Helm's departure from Tennessee

Daniel Helm had been gone from Tennessee for almost a year when his father sent an email to then-UT chancellor Jimmy Cheek.

The last paragraph of Steve Helm’s message read: “I made sure we got Daniel out of there before (Butch) Jones put him in a place where Daniel might have knocked him out. Then, my great straight A kid would have an assault charge. If a member of that football team does finally lose it with Jones and an assault charge is filed, we will provide authorities with everything we know as we will not let that man ruin a young kid’s life.”

'I made sure we got Daniel out'

Helm said Cheek never responded.

Daniel Helm, of Chatham, Ill., was the No. 1-rated tight end in the country, according to Rivals, when he signed with UT in 2014. He was one of 16 four-star recruits in a seventh-ranked, 32-man class.

More than half that class is long gone. As its remaining seniors prepare for their final game Saturday against Vanderbilt, the coach is gone, too.

Athletic director John Currie fired Jones on Nov. 12, the day after a 50-17 loss to Missouri dropped the Vols to 4-6 in Jones’ fifth season.

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The outcome might have been different

The outcome might have been different if that 2014 signing class had stayed close to intact, or if UT had Helm at tight end, Dewayne Hendrix in the defensive line, Vic Wharton at wide receiver and D’Andre Payne at cornerback.

All four transferred from UT after their freshman season. And all four are starting as redshirt juniors at other Power 5 programs.

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Wharton has 60 catches for 810 yards at Cal, Hendrix starts for Pittsburgh, and Payne is a second-year starter at Iowa State. Helm is starting in his second season at Duke and hopes to play in the NFL one day.

Why would four players leave in one season?

There has been speculation about why the four players would leave UT after just one season. The speculation came up again after Jones was fired. When local talk-show host Tony Basilio addressed the topic last week, he received an email from Steve Helm, who further discussed the matter in a phone interview.

Helm said his son wouldn’t comment on the subject, that he had moved on and loved playing at Duke for coach David Cutcliffe, Tennessee’s former offensive coordinator. But Daniel also was fond of UT, as his father explained in his email to Cheek three years ago.

“When my son, Daniel Helm, left UT, we said nothing to anyone as we knew as long as Butch was winning nobody would care or listen,” Helm’s email read. “Daniel also loved the team and the school and didn’t want to cause trouble.”

Trouble came screaming Helm’s way

Trouble came screaming Helm’s way in a team meeting the day after Florida beat Tennessee 10-9 in his freshman season.

On one play, the freshman tight end was blindsided by a Florida defender. Jones highlighted that in a team meeting during which he repeatedly berated Helm, using slang terms for female genitalia to describe Helm’s play. Steve said Jones told his son that if he had been blindsided like that, “he would have taken out the player’s knees.”

“What angered Daniel the most was that he later blocked that same defender, driving him downfield and out of bounds,” Steve said. “But Jones didn’t show that play.”

Helm wrote a prayer in his notebook

As Jones continued to assail Helm in the meeting, the player wrote a prayer in his notebook to help defuse his anger, admitting to this father that he wanted to hit Jones.

Steve knew then his son had to leave Tennessee. Two months later, Helm was headed for Duke, where he sat out the 2015 season before becoming eligible.

You can only wonder how many other players who transferred from UT did so because of Jones. Former Tennessee running back Marlin Lane was asked about Jones’ treatment of players last week in a “4th And Truth” podcast.

“I have seen a lot of (abuse),” Lane said. “Whether it was physical or mental.

“I haven’t seen him with my own eyesight physically abuse somebody. I saw him say some things to players when they couldn’t defend themselves.”

High attrition didn't raise red flags

The high attrition in the 2014 class apparently didn’t raise a red flag with UT administrators. Maybe, they were too pleased with the program’s progress – thanks, in part, to Jones’ exceptional recruiting. The Vols went 7-6 in 2014 and followed that with back-to-back 9-4 records.

But this season veered terribly off course.

The Vols are one loss away from becoming the first Tennessee team to lose as many as eight games. The program might not be in this predicament if Jones had kept more of the highly touted players he successfully recruited.

Jones pulled out 'well worn Bible' on recruiting visit

Steve Helm remembers when Daniel met with Jones in his office on his recruiting visit. He said Jones pulled out a “well worn Bible” and quoted what he said was his favorite verse.

“Daniel wasn’t so naïeve to think that just because someone quoted the Bible, he was a great Christian,” Helm said. “But he thought he was going to play for a guy with integrity.

“And it was nowhere to be found.”

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter.com/johnadamskns.

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