Paul Finebaum reveals how violations under Jeremy Pruitt will impact Tennessee moving forward
Following the NCAA’s notice of allegations to the Tennessee football program on Friday, Paul Finebaum discussed how much the news (and the infractions themselves) will impact the team moving forward on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.
“I don’t think it impacts it very much at all. For a lot of reasons, but the biggest reason is that Tennessee was proactive,” Finebaum said. “The university from the top down jumped on this. They fired Pruitt, they fired other assistant coaches. And, let’s just cut through the bulls***, they fired Phillip Fulmer, they threw him out. They gave him a nice farewell and they gave him a payoff.
“They’ve swept the place clean, they’ve fumigated it, and they still can’t get the stink from Jeremy Pruitt off of that campus and out of that city. His tenure will be regarded as one of the most disgraceful ever, which is really saying a great deal considering some of the people that have been through that revolving door. No one has brought as much discredit and disrepute to the university as him.”
The Volunteers fired Jeremy Pruitt for cause in January 2021. The NCAA noted in the report that the program provided “exemplary cooperation” with their investigation. The allegations do not include lack of institutional control. That charge would have had more serious implications for the future of the program.
Finebaum also insisted that Pruitt’s violations were a result of his “stupidity and reckless disregard for common sense.” He says for those reasons, he doesn’t see him rejoining the college ranks any time soon.
NCAA slaps Tennessee, Jeremy Pruitt with 18 Level I violations
The NCAA’s report alleges and details 18 NCAA violations, including an allegation of $60,000 in cash or gifts given to football recruits or players by Jeremy 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.
The NCAA alleges that Pruitt and staff gave players cash and gifts throughout his tenure in Knoxville, which spanned from 2018 to 2021. Per KnoxNews, the Tennessee personnel named in the report are Jeremy and Casey Pruitt; assistant coaches Derrick Ansley, Shelton Felton and Brian Niedermeyer. Recruiting staff members Drew Hughes, Bethany Gunn and Chantryce Boone were also involved. None of them are still with the Volunteers program.
By firing Pruitt for cause due to his recruiting practices, the Volunteers did not have to pay him $12.6 million in buyout money. On top of firing everyone involved in the infractions, the Vols also docked 12 scholarships last season, per SI.