Jeremy Pruitt Sues NCAA, Claiming $100 Million In Lost Wages And That Tennessee Conspired To Have Him Fired

Former Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against the NCAA for $100 million in lost wages, claiming that the organization ‘conspired with Tennessee’ in an effort to make him a ‘sacrificial lamb’ after an investigation was launched into impermissible payments that led to his firing.

The lawsuit, filed in Dekalb County, Alabama, claims that Tennessee was already paying players before he was hired by the Vols, while also pointing out that the things he was fired for are now legal in the eyes of the NCAA. 

In the suit, Pruitt claims that he told then athletic director, Phillip Fulmer that payments were already being made, and that he brought this up to Fulmer, who he claims said would handle the situation. According to the lawsuit obtained by OutKick, Pruitt says that when he was given his ‘show cause’ penalty,  the NCAA had already decided that Tennessee could pay a fine that would've actually been the amount owed in severance to the former coach. 

"Less than one week after being hired, Pruitt discovered that payments were being made to some players. At the time, NCAA rules precluded those payments, even though court cases had already called into serious question whether such payments could be prohibited," the complaint says. 

Tennessee, Former Coach Jeremy Pruitt, NCAA Set To Battle Over Infraction Penalties: How Did We Get Here?

Pruitt also states that during his time at Tennessee, people within the athletic department had solicited money from boosters to pay players, which the former coach says he was unaware that this was going on and that Tennessee intentionally hid this from Pruitt, knowing (Pruitt's) ‘willingness to report violations’ that were going on inside his program. 

According to an investigation into the case, Jeremy Pruitt and staff members allegedly went as far as to send one former low intern out of the state, so that he could not be interviewed by the NCAA and Tennessee. 

Former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt is suing the NCAA for $100 million. Via: Trey Wallace

Also, the complaint says that during the discovery process, they will identify the ‘fix-it’ men that coordinated the benefits to players. This ultimately means that Pruitt's attorneys plan to announce which boosters were paying players while he was the head coach at Tennessee. 

According to the documents, Jeremy Pruitt claims that when he met with Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman, she told him that the school knew that ‘he did nothing wrong’, but that the school still fired him to avoid the lucrative buyout. 

Outkick's Trey Wallace joins to discuss his career, breaking the Jeremy Pruitt story and what's next for college football

Multiple sources at the time told OutKick that during Pruitt's meeting with Chancellor Plowman and Phillip Fulmer, the former head coach was not told he was fired. As he left the office, Pruitt received a phone call to let him know that he was in fact being fired. 

YOU CAN READ THE FULL COMPLAINT BELOW.

Tennessee Allowed To Use Own Lawyers During NCAA Investigation. 

The complaint says that Tennessee hired its own attorneys to investigate the violations to ‘steer the investigation away from UT’s own misconduct'. Also, the lawsuit says that the investigation was limited to not go back before 2018, which would've implicated the former staff in the paying of players. 

In the suit, Pruitt says that the investigation into alleged actions involved ‘mothers of students who wanted to transfer from UT’, so their help with the NCAA would allow them to become eligible at their next stop, based on their cooperation. 

"It is believed discussions took place outside Jeremy or his counsel's presence between the University of Tennessee and the NCAA to reach a resolution that scapegoated Jeremy, yet commended the school for its "exemplary cooperation," calling it "the model all institutions should strive to follow." Indeed, the University agreed early on to admit to unproven allegations, so long as the case was processed quickly and quietly," the complaint alleges. 

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Head coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers leads his team to the field against the Missouri Tigers at Memorial Stadium on November 23, 2019. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

According to multiple sources and an investigation, Pruitt and associates were handing out cash to players in the football office, putting the money in manilla envelopes. Also, former assistant Brian Niedermeyer was heavily involved in this process, according to sources. 

Pruitt claims that by having the school, along with the NCAA, blame him for the violations, the school would save money that would've been owed in a buyout. 

"By blaming Jeremy, Tennessee could justify firing him "for cause," which had allowed the University to avoid paying the contractually agreed upon sum for his termination--resulting in roughly $3.5 million in savings for UT."

Former Tennessee Football Coaches Under Jeremy Pruitt Receive Show-Cause Penalties; NCAA Will Hold Hearing On Further Sanctions

Lawyers for Pruitt argue that the evidence against Jeremy was a ‘farce’, even pointing out that one violation that involved Pruitt and a player's mother could not have taken place at the time alleged, because the mother somehow made it from Knoxville to Memphis within a three-hour time period to deposit money allegedly given. 

"Magically, she (Mother) was transported to Memphis by 2:00 PM, the time stamped on the bank deposit record the NCAA used to support the finding and punishment. Further, the deposit that day was for $5,100, not $3,000."

Jeremy Pruitt is demanding a trial on all the issues filed in the complaint. The suit says that Pruitt's lost wages in the past, and future, will amount to more than $100 million. 

It's one of the final sentences in the complaint part of the lawsuit that is the kicker. 

"Jeremy Pruitt may be the last coach in America to be punished for impermissible player benefits."