| Knoxville News Sentinel
Jeremy Pruitt is out as a Tennessee football coach, ending one of the worst terms in the program’s history.
Pruitt was fired for cause on Monday for alleged NCAA violations under his supervision, according to University of Tennessee sources with knowledge of the situation, which means the university will not pay for his acquisition.
Pruitt has only lasted three seasons and leaves behind a program that is under investigation for alleged violations of NCAA rules.
In addition, athletics director Phillip Fulmer will retire, sources said, after UT hired an AD to replace him because he wants his successor to choose the next football coach. Fulmer decided to resign and his departure is not linked to the investigation.
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Pruitt’s dismissal comes as the university is conducting an investigation of the football program into allegations of recruitment violations. The university hired lawyers Mike Glazier and Kyle Skillman to assist with the investigation. Kansas-based lawyers are considered experts in representing universities during college athletics investigations.
Less than four months ago, Tennessee granted Pruitt an extension of the contract that included an increase from this year and an increase in acquisition. He was under contract until January 31, 2026.
Pruitt, 46, compiled a record of 16-19, including a 3-7 mark in 2020 against a conference-only schedule.
Jeremy Pruitt recap Tennessee 2020 football season
Jeremy Pruitt recap Tennessee 2020 football season
Will Backus, Knoxville News Sentinel
WH Britton and Derek Dooley are the only trainers in Tennessee since World War I who have accumulated a worse overall winning percentage than Pruitt. Britton made 4-5 in 1935, his only season, and Dooley was 15-21 in 2010-12.
Pruitt’s contract includes more than 30 fire clauses because of it. Among them, he can be fired for cause if he engaged in conduct likely to result in an NCAA finding a breach of Level I or Level II rules, or if someone reporting to Pruitt was involved in conduct that constitutes a Level I or II violation or is likely to result in such violation and the university determines that Pruitt was negligent in its supervision or lacked reasonable preventive compliance measures.
In addition, he may be fired for failure to promote and maintain an atmosphere of compliance or for failure to monitor employees who report to him.
A successful defensive coordinator in the state of Florida, Georgia and Alabama, Pruitt showed weaknesses as a program’s CEO. This was his first opportunity as a head coach at any level.
Tennessee’s attack was rated among the worst by the SEC during his tenure, and Pruitt and his team failed to develop defenders.
Pruitt was 0-9 against Alabama, Florida and Georgia, including eight defeats to rivals by more than 20 points. He was criticized in October after claiming, after a 31-point loss to Alabama, that the Vols were narrowing the gap with the Crimson Tide.
So damaging were the game defeats that Tennessee must win.
Vols opened the 2019 season with a 38-30 loss to the state of Georgia, a 26-point underdog from the Sun Belt Conference who was 2-10 the previous season and received $ 950,000 to play. The defeat started 2-5 at the start of the season.
Pruitt’s troubles in 2020 started for real with a 34-7 loss to Kentucky on October 17, during which the Vols had four turnovers, including two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. It was Tennessee’s first home loss to the Wildcats since 1984.
Pruitt also lost to Vanderbilt in the 2018 final, preventing Tennessee from making a bowl game, and he lost this season to Arkansas and his first-year coach Sam Pittman.
The Vols also enjoyed some high moments with Pruitt. They defeated classified opponents Auburn and Kentucky during their opening season. These would be his only victories against the top 25 opponents during his tenure.
Tennessee ended the 2019 season with a 23-22 win over Indiana at the Gator Bowl, and UT announced the extension of Pruitt’s contract two days before the start of this season.
“I am excited that this extension will give Jeremy the clue to continue building the momentum and energy that we have around our football program last season,” said Fulmer in a press release announcing the deal.
“He has made excellent progress just entering his third year and clearly realizes that there is still a lot of work to be done. This extension ensures that he continues his efforts to return our program to a championship level and shows our commitment to him, his team , this team and the future of Tennessee volunteers. ”
Recently, in early October, Tennessee had the longest SEC winning streak, with eight games, after starting this year 2-0. The Vols entered a game on October 10 in Georgia, ranked 12th nationally, and led 21 to 17 in the interval before imploding in a 44 to 21 defeat.
This started a streak of six consecutive defeats, the longest in the program’s history.
Butch Jones remains Tennessee’s only coach to last more than three seasons since Tennessee ousted Fulmer. Lane Kiffin fled after the 2009 season to southern California. Dooley was fired in his third season. Jones was fired during his fifth season.
Blake Toppmeyer covers football at the University of Tennessee. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer. If you like Blake’s coverage, consider a digital signature that will allow access to all of it. Current subscribers can click here to join Blake’s text group for subscribers only offering updates and reviews on football Vols.