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Former Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt has admitted to giving a whopping $400 in a Chick-fil-A bag to the mother of a player who broke NCAA rules two years ago before being fired in early 2021 amid a wave of accusations. .
According to a document obtained by the Knoxville News Sentinel With details of allegations of 18 NCAA violations, Pruitt received a call from the woman asking for money. He responded by going to his car, where he kept money, putting it in the Chick-fil-A bag, and giving it to her outside the team’s facility.
The embattled former coach told detectives he gave the unknown woman the money because “it was human, the right thing to do.” The payment was reportedly part of $12,707 given to the player or his family. That total includes $3,000 to help pay the player’s mother’an overdue medical bill so she could schedule hip surgery in 2019.
Tennessee is currently defending itself against the NCAA’s Level I charge of failing to monitor its football program, saying that Pruitt and nine others have “repeatedly defrauded” of firing administrators and compliance staff overseeing the program.
“The University respectfully maintains that it is unrealistic to expect an institution to prevent or promptly discover the willful and covert misconduct that occurred in this case,” Tennessee wrote in Monday’s 108-page response and first obtained by Knox News on Thursday.
Former football coach Jeremy Pruitt (pictured) has admitted giving a whopping $400 to a player’s mother in a Chick-fil-A bag in 2020, in violation of NCAA rules, before being fired amid a wave of accusations in early 2021
Tennessee launched an internal investigation following a tip on November 13, 2020, discovering what the university chancellor called “serious violations of NCAA rules.” Pruitt and nine others were fired for good reason in January 2021, negating Pruitt’s $12.6 million buyout after going 16-19 in three seasons.
NCAA investigators opened a case in December 2020 and became more involved within the two weeks before Pruitt was fired.
The NCAA notified Tennessee of its most serious Level 1 violations in July over allegations of providing unauthorized money, gifts and benefits worth approximately $60,000 to football recruits and their families under Pruitt. According to the allegations, at least a dozen Pruitt employees were involved in more than 200 individual violations over a two-year period.
The university argued in its response that it has “displayed its unparalleled commitment to integrity” under the direction of Chancellor Donde Plowman in investigating and holding everyone accountable while protecting athletes from the consequences.
The university mirrored the cellphones of football staffers, leading to information the NCAA noted in July that helped substantiate the alleged violations. There was also security footage from a hotel in Knoxville.
In addition to Pruitt, Tennessee laid off two assistants and seven members of its recruiting and support staff. Pruitt, three of his assistants and three other staffers could face show-cause fines, making it difficult for them to get another job at the university after a hearing was held with the Division I Committee on Infractions of the NCAA.
“The factual information in this case demonstrates that veteran football coaches and non-coaching staffers knowingly violated longstanding and widely understood NCAA rules and went to great lengths to conceal their misconduct,” Tennessee wrote in its response.
The university noted that recruiting visits were monitored using industry standards, including “embedding an experienced compliance officer into the program.”
Tennessee launched an internal investigation following a tip on November 13, 2020, discovering what the university chancellor called “serious violations of NCAA rules.” Pruitt and nine others were fired for good reason in January 2021, negating Pruitt’s $12.6 million buyout after going 16-19 in three seasons
Tennessee’s response also cited eight specific precedent cases where universities imposed penalties on themselves or had aggravating circumstances, as well as NCAA meeting notes in April and May about transforming its own name, image, and likeness rules and the transfer portal.
The university argued that Tennessee’s infraction suit before the Division I commission on infractions will come at a time of significant changes in how athletics and infractions are handled at the university.
“Intercollegiate athletics looks dramatically different today than when the university began this study more than two years ago,” said Tennessee’s response.
Tennessee concluded its investigation last November and announced that it would not impose a bowling ban on itself to avoid penalizing current players and coaches.
New athletic director Danny White, who replaced Phillip Fulmer, hired Josh Heupel in late January 2021.
The Volunteers (9-2, 5-2 Southeastern Conference) are currently in ninth place and can tie their first record of 10 regular season wins since 2001 with a win on Saturday night at Vanderbilt.