Tennessee Must Vacate Wins From 2019, ’20 Due to Recruiting Violations, per Report
The Tennessee football program will reportedly incur a blow to its record book as part of punishment levied by the NCAA on Friday for recruiting violations stemming from former coach Jeremy Pruitt’s time in Knoxville.
The Volunteers are set to vacate their 11 combined wins from the 2019 and ’20 seasons due to the NCAA’s ruling, according to ESPN. Tennessee finished with a 8–5 record in ’19, and a 3–7 record in ’20 under Pruitt, who was fired in January 2021 after an internal investigation uncovered the violations.
As a result of the change, the Vols will slide outside of the top 10 all-time winningest programs in college football with a record of 856-410-53. In addition to the altered records for the ’19 and ’20 campaigns, the penalty will adjust Pruitt’s final record at Tennessee to 5–19, with the 5–7 mark he compiled in his first season in ’18 still standing.
The additional discipline comes in the wake of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions announcing that Tennessee committed more than 200 infractions during Pruitt’s three-year tenure.
Despite avoiding a postseason ban, the Volunteers still face steep penalties, including an $8 million fine, five years of probation, and the loss of 28 scholarships. Additionally, Pruitt received a six-year show-cause penalty and a full-season suspension for any school that wants to hire him in that timeframe; the 49-year-old has not coached in college football since 2020.
