If Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings was trying to teach sportsmanship, he had a funny way of showing it.

Stallings apologized Thursday night for an “inappropriate comment” after television cameras caught him in a profanity-laced tirade toward Commodores guard Wade Baldwin following a 73-65 victory over the Volunteers in Knoxville, Tenn.

Baldwin clapped in the face of Tennessee forward Armani Moore after the game. During postgame handshakes, television replays showed Stallings appeared to shout obscenities and said “I’ll f—ing kill you ” to Baldwin.

Stallings told ESPN “he did not mean his words literally” when confronting Baldwin.

“I handled it completely inappropriately and I apologized to Wade — and I need to apologize to our fans and the Vanderbilt administration,” the longtime coach told ESPN. “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.

“[I’m] very remorseful of my actions tonight.”

Baldwin tweeted out his support for Stallings later Thursday night:

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