SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
The NCAA fined University of Tennessee more than 80 million dollars Friday and issued a scathing report outlining more than 200 infractions during the 3-year tenure of former head football coach Jeremy Pruitt.
The only thing the stunned Volunteers escaped was a post-season bowl ban, but Kay Norton, head of the panel that ruled on the Southeastern Conference labeled the violations “egregious and expansive.”
Said Norton: “It’s one of the largest cases this committee has ever adjudicated.”
Given the circumstances, the NCAA at least praised the school for its cooperation and the Vols were able to escape the postseason ban. But at the same time, the infractions panel noted that decision was a difficult one given the circumstances.
Four former staffers were given show-cause orders, including one spanning six years for Pruitt, who was fired in early 2021.
The NCAA report said the school failed to monitor its football program, and additionally, due to its personal involvement in the violations, the former head coach violated responsibility rules it said in the document.
The panel encountered a challenging set of circumstances related to prescribing penalties in this case it said in its decision.
Thus, the panel urges the Infractions Process Committee and the membership to clearly define its philosophy regarding penalties, which extends beyond postseason bans and memorialize that philosophy in an updated set of penalty guidelines.
The sprawling report over 80 pages long said Tennessee committed 18 Level I violations, the most severe, and said most involved recruiting infractions and direct payments to athletes and their families — benefits that totaled approximately $60,000.
University of Tennessee Chancellor Donde Plowman said the school recognized the seriousness of the wrongdoing and resolved the case with integrity.
“Most critically,” she said in a statement, “the Committee did not impose a postseason bowl ban that had been a central principle that we advocate for through this entire process.”
