Tennessee Football Written Up with 18 Level I Violations

Submitted by XM - Mt 1822 on July 22nd, 2022 at 4:38 PM

Mates,

Haven't seen this posted, and it's shocking content.  An SEC team, Tennessee no less, is getting written up for 18 Level I violations.  The former coach (Pruitt) and his wife are implicated.  They say the total is $60K, but I'm guessing they might be missing a zero...or two.  

Money quote: Among other allegations, Pruitt is accused of providing about $9,000 to the mothers of two prospects. His wife, Casey, is accused of making 25 cash payments totaling about $12,500 to help a prospect's mother pay her car payment.

Link here: https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/34281182/ncaa-alleges-18-violations-almost-60k-illegal-benefits-tennessee-football-former-coach-jeremy-pruitt

I'm sure there will be a very stern letter sent by the NCAA when it's all said and done, probably strong words like 'shame on you' and 'please don't do this icky stuff any more'.  

XM 

Indy Pete - Go Blue

July 22nd, 2022 at 4:41 PM ^

NCAA timing is again, laughable. Players are now getting ‘legal’ eight figure contracts, and thusly the NCAA presents cheating data in the low five figure range. This whole current picture with college sports remains surreal. 

WestQuad

July 22nd, 2022 at 4:45 PM ^

Who even cares with NIL now?   It's sort of like saying a political candidate smoked pot when they were young.  Everyone else was too back then and now it is legal.

 

Magic_Fan

July 22nd, 2022 at 4:55 PM ^

I'm sure there will be a very stern letter sent by the NCAA when it's all said and done, probably strong words like 'shame on you' and 'please don't do this icky stuff any more'.  

Nope - you missed the money part. The NCAA actually "commended" Tennessee for their "openness" during the process and declined to charge them with "lack of institutional control". 

What a joke

Michigan Arrogance

July 22nd, 2022 at 4:55 PM ^

LOL, what's the NCAA gonna do? 3 years from now, bring down sanctions? Likely the P5 will break off by then and if not, Tenn can simply ignore the sanctions. The SEC would circle the wagons around one of it's own. Nothing will come of this.

Blue Vet

July 22nd, 2022 at 5:01 PM ^

EDIT: what Magic said above. (I woulda said it first but Magic_Fan is magic.)

More than a sternly worded letter, the article says the NCAA "commended" Tennessee for cooperating. 

Perkis-Size Me

July 22nd, 2022 at 5:54 PM ^

I almost don’t blame Pruitt or Tennessee for cheating. The way he must’ve looked at it, what did he have to lose?

Tennessee has grossly underachieved for the better part of two decades. It hangs its hat on a QB who accomplished far more in the pros than he did in college (sound familiar?). It can’t beat its most important rival, Florida, and has done so maybe once in the last 10-15 years. It’s other rival, Alabama, looks at you as a glorified scrimmage. You’re light years away from the top dog in the East, Georgia, and all the while you’re dealing with a restless fanbase that has Alabama expectations for a program that plays like Nebraska. You haven’t sniffed the SEC title game in nearly 15 years. 

Shit, I might as well cheat. If I don’t perform, Tennessee is going to fire me in 2-3 years anyway. What do I have to lose? 

bronxblue

July 22nd, 2022 at 8:59 PM ^

Tennessee has beaten Florida once since 2005 and 10+ games once over that span as well.  And when it pertains to Florida, the Gators haven't been world beaters over that stretch.  It's gotta be hard for the UT coach to have to meet wholly unrealistic expectations held by the fanbase, and so yeah why not cheat.  The worst that happens is you get fired.

trustBlue

July 22nd, 2022 at 6:27 PM ^

"None of the people named in the allegations work any longer for Tennessee: they were either fired or left on their own after the university began its own investigation in November 2020. Tennessee ultimately fired Pruitt for cause, an unusual move at the highest level of college athletics, and a decision that could be a major factor in limiting the punishment for the football program."

Honestly this is brilliantly played by Tennessee.

The get to dump their losing coach (3-7 in 2021) and avoid paying the rest of his contract by claiming that the dismissal was for "cause". By openly sharing evidence with the NCAA they bolster their case for just cause dismissal AND get to avoid any harsh sanctions against the program going forward.

That's an absolute win-win scenario. Tennessee's AD has to be cackling his ass off right now.