Dennis may correct me, but my perception is that he was speaking of Tuff as "classic," and not necessarily about Volcanic Panic.
And, it was also my sense that he meant Tuff was a classic due to it's history and the length of time it's existed. Tuff is a classic in that way (The Roof is a "classic" in this same way). He doesn't want to "change" those types of classics. But Tuff isn't 5.10c, it's harder than Volcanic Panic (overall, and in my extremely humble opinion).