What to expect when Tennessee Vols and Jeremy Pruitt clash at NCAA infractions hearing
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Tennessee and Jeremy Pruitt each will get a chance to make their case in front of the NCAA Committee on Infractions next week in Cincinnati throughout a high-stakes, three-day hearing that will determine the sanctions for each party after a years-long NCAA investigation into rules violations by Pruitt and his coaching staff.
The case involves allegations of 18 NCAA Level I violations. Pruitt, the former Vols coach fired for cause in January 2021, faces the possibility of a show-cause penalty, while the NCAA has not publicly tipped its hand as to what penalties Tennessee might face.
The Vols are accused of a failure to monitor. They cooperated with the NCAA investigation – the association has credited Tennessee for this – and UT believes it took proper actions in firing Pruitt and several of his staff members once the university administration became aware of the malfeasance, pertaining to recruiting violations and improper benefits.
On this edition of "The Volunteer State," Blake Toppmeyer of the USA TODAY Network and the News Sentinel's Adam Sparks and John Adams set the stage for the April 19-21 infractions committee hearing.
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Pruitt likely will argue that the rules violations were carried out by subordinates, without his knowledge, Sparks predicts, and if that doesn't work, he my pivot to a scorched-earth approach. If Pruitt is going down to stiff penalty, he may try to inflict as much damage as possible toward Tennessee.
Because Tennessee fired Pruitt for cause, it did not pay his $12.6 million buyout he otherwise would have been owed. He is currently out of coaching. In other words, there's little incentive for Pruitt to go quietly into the night.
Whether Pruitt can inflict further damage on Tennessee during this hearing is debatable.
On the Tennessee front, expect the Vols to try to show that Pruitt and his culpable aides went to great lengths to conceal their misconduct from their superiors and the compliance department. The Vols will hope the NCAA gives due credit to their self-imposed penalties from the 2021 season, when they instituted a 12-scholarship reduction and recruiting restrictions.
The fact that Tennessee has not reached a front-end negotiated resolution with the NCAA on sanctions suggests that the association is considering penalties on top of what the Vols imposed two years ago.
TOPPMEYER: Jeremy Pruitt is just a sideshow. Real showdown is Tennessee vs NCAA
NCAA CASE: Why Jeremy Pruitt wants to finally face Tennessee and NCAA in hearing
ADAMS: How could you make a case for Jeremy Pruitt vs NCAA? With a big imagination
This case will be a litmus test of the NCAA's new constitution that went into effect last August. The constitution states that “to the greatest extent possible … penalties imposed for infractions do not punish programs or student-athletes not involved nor implicated in the infraction.”
Later in the episode
– Adams explains why his interest in Tennessee's spring game on Saturday revolves almost entirely around freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava's performance, while Sparks is interested in other developments: namely, how smoothly does the offense operate under Joe Milton? Also, Sparks highlights Tennessee's defensive ends versus its offensive tackles as a subplot worth monitoring.
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Blake Toppmeyer is an SEC Columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Adam Sparks is a Tennessee Vols beat writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel. John Adams is the News Sentinel's senior columnist. You can subscribe to read all their coverage, or check out the SEC Unfiltered newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: What to expect when Vols and Jeremy Pruitt clash in front of NCAA
