‘Hundreds’ of NCAA violations result in $8million fine and six-year show ground for ex-coach Jeremy Pruitt in Tennessee – CBS Sports

Tennessee avoided a bowl ban after the NCAA Committee on Infractions found the program was responsible for more than 200 individual violations, including 18 Level I violations. Former coach Jeremy Pruitt has been handed a six-year stay injunction while the university faces suspended sentences, missed victories and reduced scholarships, among numerous other penalties.

In lieu of a bowl ban, the football program will be suspended for five years, fined $8 million, and subject to an independent compliance review of the program each year. In addition, there will be a statutory fine of $5,000, 3% of football’s budget, and an additional fine to recover money earned while not participating in the program during the 2020 Gator Bowl.

The fines imposed were significantly higher than those imposed by the NCAA in the past. However, the NCAA viewed the increased fines as compensation to prevent bowl bans from being issued that affect players and staff on campus who were not involved in the violations.

“The panel encountered a number of difficult circumstances relating to the imposition of penalties in this case,” the NCAA panel said of its decision. “The panel calls on the Infractions Process Committee and members to clearly define its philosophy on penalties – which goes beyond post-season suspensions – and to encapsulate that philosophy in an updated set of Penalty Guidelines.”

After the verdict and the Vols’ avoidance of any postseason penalty, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel was understandably pleased to see the program freed from a bowl ban.

“You don’t know to this day what it will actually be,” Heupel told ESPN. “It is extremely important that our players are protected and that future players are also protected. I’m really excited about the result.”

Two players who later enrolled in Tennessee received direct pay from either Pruitt or his wife. A player’s family received $7,600 in down payment for a car and rental property and $500 per month in down payment for a car on at least 25 occasions. Another player’s mother told Pruitt that she could not afford necessary medical treatment due to medical debt. Pruitt gave her $3,000 to pay medical bills and an additional $300 to cover gas costs.

The two players attended 25 and 23 games respectively despite not being eligible to play, including during the aforementioned Gator Bowl. All games from this period will eventually be cleared

Additionally, while recruiting 29 players, Tennessee executed a plan to circumvent unofficial visitation rules over two seasons. The former head of recruitment worked with a primary recruiter to book hotel rooms and pay for meals with cash. In addition, staff arranged for six athletes to visit the campus during the COVID-19 death phase.

Other penalties include:

  • Tennessee will lose 28 scholarships over the course of five years, with at least two lost each season. The program reduced scholarships by 16 in the first two seasons due to self-imposed sanctions, meaning current coach Josh Heupel and his staff will only be short of a total of 12 scholarships over the next three seasons.
  • Pruitt’s six-year show streak is the group’s most significant punishment, but it’s not the only punishment. The then Director of Recruitment and the Deputy Director of Recruitment were faced with five-year and ten-year terms respectively. A former assistant coach also has a two-year show career.
  • If Pruitt is hired during the six-year show-cause window, he will be suspended at a new job for his entire first season. Pruitt was briefly linked with the job as defensive coordinator at Alabama but was ultimately handed off to former Nick Saban assistant Kevin Steele.
  • Tennessee will lose 36 official visits over the course of the probationary period, at least four per season. The Vols must select 10 regular season games in which they cannot host official visits, including four SEC games. Unofficial visits will be reduced by 40 weeks over the next five years, and staff will lose a total of 28 weeks for recruitment communications and face-to-face assessment. Tennessee had previously imposed multiple penalties of their own to make up for it.

The NCAA cited “exemplary collaboration” as a result of which the university did not face further penalties after the shocking number of violations. In addition, the NCAA Board recognized Tennessee’s self-imposed penalties, which will count toward the final tally.

Pruitt was released as a coach at Tennessee in January 2021 after three lackluster seasons with the program. The university fired him on good cause and declined to pay a nearly $13 million takeover. Assistants Shelton Felton and Brian Niedermeyer and supervisors Drew Hughes and Michael Magness were also fired. The four stakeholders outside of Pruitt previously negotiated a partial settlement with the NCAA.

Pruitt’s attorney threatened to sue Tennessee over the October 2021 acquisition, but no lawsuit was filed. In particular, the fines and legal costs for the volunteers will almost certainly dwarf the cost of the takeover.

The former assistant, who won the national championship, spent the 2021 season as the senior defensive assistant for the New York Giants. Felton and Niedermeyer now train at the high school level at Valdosta (Georgia) High School and IMG Academy, respectively. Hughes works as a player personnel coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars while Magness left college athletics.