Jeremy Pruitt Provides Update on Assistant Coaches Salary Reduction

Before Noon yesterday, Jeremy Pruitt had not spoken with the media since his 11:50 SEC teleconference last Wednesday, but he came to the availability with the

Before Noon yesterday, Jeremy Pruitt had not spoken with the media since his 11:50 SEC teleconference last Wednesday, but he came to the availability with the intention of making one thing clear, and that was to discuss his position on the report that eight of his assistant coaches refused salary reductions proposed by the athletic department during the pandemic. 

Pruitt opened the press conference by saying, "I wanted to start this press conference talking about an article that was written about our assistant coaches the other day. When you talk about contracts, the situation is fluid. I know the men that are in this building, and I know where their hearts are at. I also know the circumstances around decision making, what they're looking for, and where they're going in the future. The final chapter has not been written on that. They will continue to look and meet with our administration to see what they can do to help supplement the university."

The article he is referring to is one from Blake Toppmeyer of the Knoxville News Sentinel, which you can see in the tweet below. 

Pruitt later noted, "I wasn't really going to talk about it, but with the communication and being in the middle of the season, I did not specifically sit down with any assistant coach. I knew that they were being approached about it, but I didn't know the outcome until Blake (Toppmeyer) wrote the article on Friday. What Blake wrote was factual. I do believe, as I said before, that the final story has not been written yet. It's a fluid situation and with contracts, things change. There will be opportunities to make adjustments as we move on."

Pruitt was later asked by Toppmeyer if foregoing his four hundred-thousand dollar raise was enough or if he should have taken a pay cut. Pruitt responded, "We are in the process, we are appealing the NCAA, everybody that is under the football program, I don't know exactly how many numbers that had to take pay cuts. Me and Casey, we chose to supplement their salaries, but unfortunately we have to go through the NCAA because there is a loophole there and we have to get an appeal for us to be able to give them a one time gift, so we don't break any NCAA rules." 

Following the answer, Pruitt was asked if the decision by the assistant coaches to not take a pay cut, despite many others being forced to reflects on their leadership. He responded, "first of all, every individual had a conversation with our administration to go through this. I was not privy of any of that because it is personal, but talking to the guys on our staff, I am not exactly sure that the outcome is exactly what they expected. I think there is things they wanted to do moving forward. We've got guys with contracts coming up. We've got guys that want to do things at the end of the year. Just for me for example, I do my tithing the last Sunday of every year. I write a check to the church. There are all kind of circumstances around each individual person, and I am not really privy to every situation.