Tennessee is investigating possible recruiting violations inside its football program, it was reported Saturday.
The news, first reported by Trey Wallace, says Tennessee is looking into possible recruiting violations and impermissible "said to involve players recruited by Tennessee and players currently on the roster."
We don't know how serious or how real any alleged violations are or are not. Schools self-report violations to the NCAA all the time.
“In keeping with our institutional commitment to compliance, we often look closely at regulatory issues that are brought to our attention via internal or external channels. Maintaining compliance is a shared responsibility, and active monitoring is part of that process," the school said in response to the report.
What's interesting here is the timing. The news broke just as Tennessee kicked off its season finale on Saturday afternoon. If the Volunteers lose, as expected, to No. 5 Texas A&M (they're losing as I type this), Tennessee would close the year losing seven of its final eight games, defeating only winless Vanderbilt.
AD Phillip Fulmer extended Pruitt not even three months ago, as Tennessee was in the midst of an 8-game winning streak. That extension upped the athletics department's commitments to $12.8 million for Pruitt personally and nearly $19 million for the entire staff. Leaking this piece of news, at this time, could be an attempt to get out from under Pruitt's contract for far less than the sticker price.
We can't say for sure Tennessee is doing that. We can just say this is the exact type of move a school would make if they were doing that.