Report: NCAA issues show-cause penalties for multiple former Tennessee staff members under Jeremy Pruitt

Four former Tennessee staff members are set to receive multi-year show-cause penalties from the NCAA as a result of the investigation into recruiting violations under former coach Jeremy Pruitt, the NCAA announced Tuesday. It is not a resolution to the case against Pruitt or the school, though, Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger reported.

Former Vols inside linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer, outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton, director of player personnel Drew Hughes and student assistant coach Michael Magness are being handed three to five-year show-cause penalties as a result of a negotiated resolution, Dellenger reported. A show-cause penalty means a school will have present reasons to the NCAA why it wants to hire one of them to its staff during that time period.

However, Pruitt and former assistant Derrick Ansley were not part of those resolutions. In fact, Dellenger reported the NCAA is “bifurcating” the case, which means the NCAA can lock in on the sides looking to dispute findings or contest the potential resolutions. Dellenger said Pruitt, Ansley and Tennessee are all expected to be part of that group.

“By separating the cases, the Division I Committee on Infractions publicly acknowledges the infractions case and permits the individuals to immediately begin serving their penalties while awaiting the committee’s final decision,” the NCAA said. “That decision also will include any findings and penalties for the school and remaining individuals who have contested the violations and/or penalties. This is the third case where the committee has used multiple resolution paths.

“The agreed-upon penalties in this case include show-cause orders for the individuals — varying from three to five years — in alignment with the agreed-upon Level I-aggravated classifications of their respective violations.”

More background on the former Tennessee coaches receiving show-cause penalties

Niedermeyer hasn’t coached at the collegiate level since 2020 when Pruitt and his staff were fired from Tennessee. He served as the Volunteers’ inside linebackers coach from 2018-20 and also worked at Alabama and Georgia during his career.

Felton has coached at the high school level for the last two years at Valdosta (Ga.), starting out as interim head coach and eventually taking the full-time job in 2022. He joined the program as an assistant coach, but rose up to the top job after the head coach was fired.

After leaving Tennessee, Hughes latched on with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a player personnel coordinator in 2021. He helped manage Tennessee’s recruiting efforts during his time on Rocky Top before heading to Jacksonville, and also has experience at Florida and Alabama in his career.

In July, Tennessee received a Notice of Allegations regarding 18 violations against the program during Pruitt’s time at the helm. It included an allegation of $60,000 in cash or gifts given to football recruits or players by Pruitt, his wife, numerous coaches, staff and boosters. All 18 of the violations are Level I violations. Level I is the most severe infraction on the scale from one through four.

Pruitt’s name came up Nick Saban’s search for a new defensive coordinator at Alabama after Pete Golding left for Ole Miss. He worked under Saban from 2016-17 in the role before taking over at Tennessee, but the Crimson Tide ended up hiring Kevin Steele to the role.

On3’s Nikki Chavenelle contributed to this report.