Tennessee Hit With 18 NCAA Violations Under Jeremy Pruitt Administration

The former coach of the Volunteers had numerous instances of recruiting misconduct, according to the NCAA.

Former Tennessee Volunteers football coach Jeremy Pruitt, his wife and members of his staff are alleged to have committed 18 recruiting violations according to a notice of allegations from the NCAA, a copy of which was obtained by Sports Illustrated through a public records request.

The document sent to the school Friday details 18 allegations of recruiting misconduct from Pruitt and his staff from as early as September 2018, his 10th month on the job, and extending through the COVID-19 recruiting dead period of 2020. All of the allegations are Level I, considered the most egregious on the NCAA’s infractions scale.

In the most serious allegations, Pruitt and his staff hosted at least six recruits and their families on nine weekend unofficial visits during the yearlong dead period due to COVID-19, providing them with lodging, meals, transportation, household goods and furniture that totaled $12,000. The former coach himself is charged with having made cash payments of $3,000 and $6,000 to two prospects' mothers, one used to help in medical bills and the other for a downpayment on a vehicle.

As many as 12 Tennessee athletes who received improper benefits competed in more than 60 games, the document says. Those athletes played while “ineligible,” the NCAA says, but the number of players and games is not clear because of redactions.

Despite the large number of Level I violations, the Volunteers were not given the "lack of institutional control" label. 

Despite the 18 Level I violations—one of the highest totals in recent years considering LSU received eight Level 1s in March—the university was not hit with the “lack of institutional control,” largely because of its transparency and integrity in promptly handling the wrongdoing, NCAA documents say. The institution showed strong cooperation with NCAA investigators, conducted its own thorough internal investigation and took immediate steps in dismissing the staff members and sanctioning itself. The university docked itself 12 football scholarships last season, as well as imposing several more recruiting penalties, sources tell SI.

-- Ross Dellenger, Sports Illustrated

“Receipt of our Notice of Allegations was an expected, requisite step in this process—a process our university initiated proactively through decisive and transparent actions,” Tennessee athletic director Danny White said in a statement Friday. “This moves us one step closer to a final resolution. Until we get to that point, I am unable to discuss the case in any detail. As a university, we understand the need to take responsibility for what occurred, but we remain committed to protecting our current and future student-athletes.”

This notice of allegations comes at an interesting time in college athletics: the era of name, image and likeness legislation, something that Ole Miss Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin has been vocal about in recent days.

"If you got boosters out there deciding who they're gonna pay to come play and the coach isn't involved in it, how's that work?" Kiffin said Monday at SEC media days. "Do they just go pick who they want? ... And then when they don't play, how's that gonna work out?

"So again, this was not thought out at all, in my opinion. And it's created a massive set of issues."

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