Tennessee’s compliance department launched an inquiry into recruitment practices within the volunteers’ football program, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
Compliance department officials interviewed current players, recruits, assistant coaches, student volunteers and other athletics department employees involved in recruiting football. The sources said the interviews began in November.
WKGN-AM in Knoxville, Tennessee, first reported the compliance investigation. The station also reported on Saturday that the NCAA had started an investigation into the recruitment of volunteers.
Sources told ESPN that they were unsure whether NCAA officials interviewed UT student-athletes and coaches, or whether the university had handed over possible violations to the NCAA.
Volunteer trainer Jeremy Pruitt was asked about the investigation after the Volunteers’ 34-13 loss to the 5th Texas A&M on Saturday.
“I hadn’t seen any articles or anything,” Pruitt told reporters. “In any era of college football or college athletics, you have the typical compliance material. That’s all I know.”
The sources told ESPN that the recruitment of Amarius Mims from Cochran, Georgia by Tennessee, the No. 3 offensive and No. 19 player on the ESPN 300, is part of the compliance department’s investigation. Mims signed with Georgia this week.
Second-year rearguard Eric Gray, the team leader with 772 yards and four touchdowns, was also barred from participating in the Texas A&M game for undisclosed reasons. Sources told ESPN that Gray’s absence was related to the compliance investigation.
Pruitt wouldn’t explain why Gray didn’t play.
“He was not available,” said Pruitt.
“To maintain our institutional commitment to compliance, we often look closely at regulatory issues that are brought to our attention through internal or external channels. Maintaining compliance is a shared responsibility and active monitoring is part of that process,” he said. sports department spokesman Tom Satkowiak said in a statement.
The defeat for the Aggies lowered Tennessee’s record to 3-7. Volunteers have won their first two games this season, extending their winning streak to eight consecutive games last season, before losing seven of the last eight games.
Pruitt is 16-19 years old in three seasons in Tennessee. In September, Volunteers rewarded him with a two-year contract extension that raised his annual salary to $ 4.2 million. The contract runs through the 2025 season. If Tennessee dismissed Pruitt without cause, he owed him a purchase of about $ 12.8 million.
On Saturday, Pruitt was asked if he believed he would be the UT coach in 2021.
“Yes, I think absolutely,” said Pruitt. “I get it, 3-7 is not where we want to be. … We have a lot of really young players. Most of our team will be back. I think it’s a good indication of how they compete each week. These guys don’t give up. They believe in what we are doing and understand that we are not that far. Many of these guys, I think they choose to try to be part of the solution, not the problem. “