Barnes Reflects on Incident with Official in loss to Texas A&M

When video of Tennessee coach Rick Barnes being bumped by an official during the Vols’ 63-58 loss to Texas A&M leaked on the internet Saturday, it immediately drew national attention.

Watch as official Mike Nance walk into a totally standing still Rick Barnes and appears to accuse Barnes of making contact. Smh pic.twitter.com/JZu4Bj1GwJ
— Austin Price (@AustinPriceless) January 29, 2020

Referee Mike Nance appeared to make contact with a standstill Barnes on the right shoulder, a move the veteran coach did not appreciate.

"I really have a lot of confidence in the SEC office that they’re going to look at that," Barnes said. "And I believe they’ll look at this game and take it apart."

The incident took Barnes back to a moment he shared with the legendary coach Bobby Knight.

In essence, officials aren’t perfect and they are going to make mistakes.

“Coach Knight told me a long time ago, that officials are going to miss seven to nine to ten, eleven, twelve calls, and he kept going up every year," Barnes said. "He said, ‘you just hope things aren’t egregious at any point in time.'"

No officiating crew has a spotless track record, but Nance’s nudge into Barnes’ left shoulder has left everyone questioning his intent.

As for Barnes, he plans on letting the SEC offices handle the situation.

Having dropped their third conference matchup, the Vols have road matchups against Mississippi State and Alabama in a four-day down before hosting No. 13 Kentucky on Feb. 8.

Some issues are made for others, and Tennessee is focused on what it can control.

"Again, I think they’ll do that, and it shouldn’t happen in any way shape or form, and I like to say what I want to say," Barnes said. "But I won’t because I trust the SEC office will do the right thing.”