Former University of Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on Wednesday alleging it acted with negligence, wantonness and conspiracy in an investigation which found Pruitt to be liable for illegal payments made to college athletes under his purview.
Pruitt was fired “for cause” from UT in January 2021 and investigated by the NCAA for recruiting violations involving a total of over $60,000 in cash payments that were made to current and prospective student athletes during his three-year tenure, which was at the time not allowed by NCAA rules.
The payments were allegedly made to the athletes and their families as incentives for staying with the team.
In 2023, the NCAA gave Pruitt a six-year show-cause penalty which the lawsuit alleges has made it difficult for him to get another job in college athletics. A show-cause penalty acts as a label of misconduct on a coach and the school that they work at, and while it doesn’t restrict them from working at another school, it typically hinders their ability to be hired.
In the lawsuit, Pruitt claims the illegal player payments were already being made before he started in the position, and that when he discovered and reported them, he was told UT athletic director Phillip Fulmer “would handle it.”
The lawsuit filing also alleges that, at the time of Pruitt’s firing, UT’s chancellor told him behind closed doors they “knew he did nothing wrong.”
“The NCAA conspired with the University of Tennessee and others to make Jeremy the sacrificial lamb for conduct that long preceded his tenure at UT,” the filing reads. “In reality, neither the NCAA nor the University of Tennessee had any actual intent to determine the truth of the allegations.”
Pruitt is seeking punitive and compensatory damages for his forfeited severance pay along with lost wages, damage to his reputation, and emotional distress.
After his dismissal from UT, Pruitt coached in the NFL for one season as an assistant with the New York Giants and later moved to DeKalb County, Alabama, where he has since worked as a physical education teacher and coach at Plainview High School.
