Back in January 2021, Jeremy Pruitt was let go at Tennessee following a week long investigation into recruiting violations that included paying recruits in cash and gifts, among a host of other things.
Further digging would uncover a total of over 200 recruiting violations occurred under Pruitt's watch, leading to UT being placed on five years probation and the Vols head coach ended up the subject of a six-year show-cause.
The irony here is that just a few years later, the NCAA would institute NIL , making payments to college athletes (through the proper channels) completely legal and now the norm in college football.
Now Pruitt is set to face off agains the NCAA in a new lawsuit, where he alleges the NCAA made him out to be the scapegoat.
The suit, which Ross Dellenger shares details of including that it has been filed in DeKalb County, AL further claims the NCAA "conspired with Tennessee" to make him Pruitt out to be the "sacrificial lamb" for the rules violations that led to his ouster.
The veteran defensive coordinator claims that the Vols were paying players well before his arrival, and that he reported those violations to former Vols head coach turned athletic director Phillip Fulmer back in 2017, and Fulmer responded "he would handle it."
Pruitt, who initially signed a six-year deal taking him through the 2025 season back in December 2017 worth $3.8 million before inking an extension a few years later in September 2020 taking his annual salary up to $4.2 million, is seeking a whopping $100 million in lost wages.
Since NIL became legal a few short years after the scandal that cost Pruitt his job, his lawyers share that Pruitt "may be the last coach in America to be punished for impermissible player benefits."
Below is a look at some of the details of the suit, courtesy of Dellenger.
