Tennessee football, Jeremy Pruitt hit with 18 NCAA violations, per report

Tennessee football is still feeling the effects of the doomed Jeremy Pruitt era.

It looks like the NCAA is coming for the Tennessee football program and former Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

A new 51-page report details 18 alleged NCAA violations, including up to $60,000 in cash and gifts given to football recruits and players by Pruitt, his wife, coaches, football staff, and UT boosters.

All 18 of the violations are Level I, the most serious of the NCAA's four-tier infraction structure, according to Knoxville News Sentinel.

The NCAA alleges that Pruitt and his staff gave players cash and gifts throughout his time with the football program from 2018 to 2021.

The report also details that Pruitt's wife, Casey, paid more than $15,000 in rent and car payments for a Tennessee football player and his mother, an arrangement that reportedly lasted for two and a half years.

In the notice of allegations, the NCAA credited Tennessee for self-reporting violations and its “exemplary cooperation” in the investigation. It also did not find the university lacked institutional control, a significant decision that likely removes the program from program-crippling levels of punishment.

The NCAA contends Pruitt and his staff gave players cash and gifts throughout his tenure with the Vols from 2018-21. And it says that his wife, Casey Pruitt, paid more than $15,000 in rent and car payments for a Tennessee player and his mother over 2½ years.

The report includes infractions allegedly committed by Jeremy and Casey Pruitt; assistant coaches Derrick Ansley, Shelton Felton and Brian Niedermeyer; and recruiting staff members Drew Hughes, Bethany Gunn and Chantryce Boone.

“In the most serious of allegations, Pruitt and his staff hosted at least six prospects and their families on nine weekend unofficial visits during the yearlong dead period, providing them with lodging, meals, transportation, household goods, and even furniture that totaled $12,000," according to Sports Illustrated. 

"Pruitt himself is charged with having made cash payments of $3,000 and $6,000 to two prospects’ mothers, the first used to assist in medical bills and the other for a down payment on a vehicle.”

The NCAA noted in its report that the Vols football program provided "exemplary cooperation" with their investigation.

The allegations do not include lack of institutional control, which would have gravely serious implications for the future of the football program.

Tennessee fired football coach Jeremy Pruitt for cause in January 2021.

(h/t Knoxville News Sentinel)

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