Tennessee has ALL of its wins from 2019 and 2020 taken away for recruiting violations

Tennessee learned on Saturday that it had vacated 11 wins as part of its punishment for the more than 200 recruiting violations committed by former coach Jeremy Pruitt.

All 11 games won in the 2019 and 2020 seasons were erased, removing the Volunteers from the top 10 all-time college football wins.

Sixteen ineligible players competed in all vacated wins, a Tennessee spokesperson told Knoxville News and ESPN on Saturday. The players were ineligible due to their involvement in any of the 18 Level I offenses and 200 individual offenses committed during Pruitt’s brief tenure.

Tennessee went 8-5 in 2019, including a bowl win, and 3-7 in 2020. The official record book will now show 0-5 and 0-7 records for those two seasons.

The vacated wins now mean that Tennessee is 856-410-53 in its history and drops out of the all-time top 10. The Vols are now No. 11 all-time.

On Friday, the football program was placed on five years’ probation and fined $8 million after the NCAA discovered more than 200 violations during Pruitt’s tenure.

The NCAA Committee on Infractions also cut 28 grants for the volunteers, while Pruitt received a six-year show target and will be suspended for the first full season if another school hires him.

Pruitt compiled a 16-19 record in three seasons at Knoxville from 2018-20. He worked as a senior defensive assistant for the New York Giants in 2021, his most recent job in big football.

Tennessee evaded a bowl ban. The Volunteers went 11-2 last season under coach Josh Heupel and won the Orange Bowl.

The NCAA charged the program with 18 Level 1 violations in July 2022. They included allegations that Pruitt and his wife, Casey, provided $60,000 in impermissible benefits and cash payments to players’ families.

Tennessee imposed several penalties on itself after the infractions were announced, including a reduction of 16 scholarships over the past two seasons.