Former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt is back in the news. The disgraced former Vols coach is suing the NCAA for $100 million on the claim the the collegiate sports governing body colluded with the University of Tennessee to make Pruitt the scapegoat of the investigation into illegal recruiting at Tennessee.
“Jeremy Pruitt is one of the coaches who has been subject to an unfair, wrongful, and inconsistent NCAA investigation and ruling with potentially career-ending penalties,” the lawsuit states. “The NCAA conspired with the University of Tennessee and others to make Jeremy the sacrificial lamb that long preceded his tenure at UT.”
Tennessee fired Pruitt with cause in January 2021 following a 3-7 season and an internal investigation into a report that Vols’ were committing NCAA violations in recruiting.
Following a multi-year investigation, the NCAA finally handed down punishments to both Tennessee and Pruitt in July 2023. Tennessee avoided a bowl ban but did receive an $8 million fine and is still dealing with scholarship losses and recruiting restrictions.
More From RTI: WATCH As Willie Martinez, Tennessee Defensive Players Break Down Spring Camp Workouts
The NCAA handed Pruitt and multiple members of his staff more serious punishment. The governing body slapped Pruitt with a six-year show-cause that would effectively punish any program that hires him. It has kept Pruitt, who lives in and filed the lawsuit in Alabama, out of college coaching.
Part of Pruitt’s lawsuit against the NCAA surrounds the fact that many of the violations that Pruitt committed are no longer illegal by NCAA rule.
Pruitt’s lawsuit against the NCAA includes a number of other arguments. It complains that the University of Tennessee should not have been able to investigate itself and Pruitt with its own lawyers, that the hearing intentionally applied the wrong standard and burden of proof to Pruitt’s case and that Tennessee was cheating before his tenure began.
The crux of the lawsuit and Pruitt’s complaint roughly boils down to this point:
“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.”
Pruitt spent a year on the New York Giants’ staff following his tenure at Tennessee but has been out of big time coaching since.
Josh Heupel has led Tennessee football on a resurgent run in recent years. After going 16-22 in Pruitt’s three years as head coach, Heupel’s Vols have posted a 37-15 over the last four seasons. Tennessee has won 10 games twice in the last three seasons and made the expanded 12-team College Football Playoffs a year ago.
