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Former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt filed a lawsuit against the NCAA on Thursday claiming that the association "conspired" with the University of Tennessee and other parties to make Pruitt a "sacrificial lamb" in an investigation into recruiting violations, according to a DeKalb County, Alabama, court filing obtained by Yahoo Sports. Pruitt is claiming $100 million in lost wages as a result of the process.
"With a direct financial stake in the outcome, and in the face of a glaring conflict of interest, the NCAA empowered the University of Tennessee to use its own attorneys to investigate the University, including Pruitt, and to determine the scope of the investigation into alleged rules violations during Coach Pruitt's tenure as head coach," the filing reads. "UT had a vested interest in the pre-determined outcome of the one-sided 'investigation,' so that it could justify its failure to pay Jeremy the millions of dollars due under his buyout and other incentives stipulated in his contract."
The filing asserts that the NCAA did not give Pruitt proper due process during its investigation and subsequent hearing. It also claims that, in 2023, the NCAA applied rules against Pruitt that were made null by a 2021 United States Supreme Court ruling that allows players to profit off of their name, image and likeness.
Pruitt was fired in January 2021 after an internal investigation found evidence of recruiting violations committed by Pruitt and his coaching staff. In July 2023, the NCAA Committee on Infractions found the program responsible for more than 200 individual violations, including 18 Level I in nature.
Pruitt was hit with a six-year show cause order while Tennessee avoided a postseason ban -- largely due to its willingness to comply with the NCAA investigation. The university was placed on probation, forced to vacate wins and slapped with a scholarship reduction.
The NCAA's investigation found that two players who later enrolled at Tennessee received direct payment from either Pruitt or his wife. One player's family received $7,600 to pay for down payments on a car and rental property, along with $500 a month for a car payment on at least 25 occasions. Another player's mother told Pruitt that she could not pay for a necessary medical procedure due to existing medical debt. Pruitt gave her $3,000 to use on medical bills and $300 additionally to help pay for gas. Notably, this is still a violation of current NCAA recruiting regulations.
