Former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt suing NCAA for $100 million in lost wages

Former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt is suing the NCAA for $100 million in lost wages, filing a lawsuit against the governing body in DeKalb County, Alabama. In the complaint, Pruitt claims that the NCAA “conspired with Tennessee” to make him a “sacrificial lamb” for rules violations. Yahoo! Sports first reported the news.

Pruitt was fired in 2021 and later handed a six-year showcase. He claims in the suit that Tennessee was illegally paying players before he arrived and he reported multiple violations to then-Volunteers athletic director Phillip Fulmer in 2017. Fulmer announced his retirement at the same time as Pruitt’s firing, but officials said the decision was independent and unrelated to the football program’s actions.

Fulmer told Pruitt that “he would handle it,” according to the complaint. In the suit filed by Pruitt, he claims that the NCAA applied rules against him that “had been essentially abolished in 2021 by the United States Supreme Court ruling.”

“After his termination from the University, Jeremy learned that one or more individuals in the UT Athletics Department or boosters had systematically engaged in making payments to players at a time when NCAA rules did not allow such payments,” according to the complaint.

The former Alabama and Georgia defensive coordinator, Pruitt landed the Tennessee head coaching job in December 2017. In his three seasons with the Volunteers, Pruitt was 16-19 overall and 10-16 against SEC opponents. The Vols were 2-11 against AP-ranked opponents.

When Pruitt was fired in January 2021, it came after a weekslong investigation into potential recruiting violations within the program. In a notice of intent to terminate letter sent to Pruitt by Tennessee officials, the university stated that “the conduct by at least two assistant coaches and several recruiting staff members are likely to lead to an NCAA finding of Level I and/or Level II violations of one or more Governing Athletic Rules.”

The NCAA would later launch an investigation and vacate all of Tennessee’s wins from the 2019 and 2020 seasons after ruling that it used ineligible players.

“The inequities throughout the NCAA’s investigatory process continued into its hearing on the allegations against Jeremy,” according to the complaint. “The NCAA hearing panel intentionally applied the wrong standard and burden of proof to the evidence; told Jeremy’s counsel to limit his presentation; and shortened a process that was more concerned with financial convenience than procedural fairness. The NCAA effectively established a tribunal designed to reach a predetermined conclusion: Jeremy would be blamed, the University of Tennessee would be commended, and UT would have cover for its decision to avoid paying Jeremy his just compensation.”

The brunt of the NCAA’s investigation was into the payment of players. When it hit Pruitt with a showcase in 2023, it cited ruled that “had been essentially abolished in 2021 by the United States Supreme Court ruling,” according to the complaint. Paying players has become commonplace in college football with the rising role of NIL and NIL collectives, which are booster-led organizations that are critical in paying top dollar to retain and attract talent.

“Jeremy Pruitt may be the last coach in America to be punished for impermissible player benefits,” the complaint argues.

Since being dismissed as Tennessee’s head coach, Jeremy Pruitt has returned to coaching, working for his father, Dale, at Plainview High School in Alabama.