Jeremy Pruitt plans to appeal NCAA. Here's the strategy for former Tennessee football coach
Jeremy Pruitt is planning to appeal the NCAA decision that slapped him with a six-year show-cause penalty.
A source with direct knowledge of Pruitt’s thinking said the fired Tennessee football coach is regrouping for another attempt at beating steep penalties for his part in serious recruiting violations. The source spoke to Knox News about the case on condition of anonymity.
Pruitt’s plan of attack involves pinning the blame on young staffers and assistant coaches, claiming he was a victim of a toxic booster culture and arguing the scales were tipped in UT’s favor because it paid for an independent investigation that unearthed most of the evidence that school leaders then turned over the NCAA. The strategy is similar to what Pruitt employed in testimony to NCAA Committee on Infractions that rendered the verdict in the case.
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Pruitt has until July 29 to submit a written notice of intent to appeal to the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee. If his appeal reaches the end of the process, it could be as late as March before the NCAA renders a decision.
The good news for Pruitt is that he'll get a new audience in the seven-person Infractions Appeals Committee. The bad news is that few challengers win NCAA appeals.
Pruitt's opponent will be the same Committee on Infractions that hammered him with a show-cause penalty for his involvement in 18 highest-level violations and more than 200 individual infractions. A show-cause penalty means a university cannot hire a coach or recruiter without being subjected to penalties during the length of the ban unless the NCAA signs off.
Pruitt's show-cause is an effective ban. It includes a 100% suspension for the first year of employment should an NCAA school hire in him in any athletics position.
Here are the arguments he will make in hopes of overturning the NCAA decision.
Did young and inexperienced staffers go rogue?
Seven assistant coaches and recruiting staff members got multiyear show-cause penalties.
Pruitt has argued that the youth and inexperience of his former staffers led them to act alone because they didn’t have a track record of following rules like he and his seasoned assistants do.
Assistant coach Brian Niedermeyer, 34, had worked at five schools in lower-level positions, including Alabama and Georgia under Pruitt. But UT was his first job as a position coach.
Assistant coach Shelton Felton, 44, was a high school coach for most of his career. His first job as a position coach at a Power Five college program was at UT.
Recruiting director Bethany Gunn, 31, spent three years at Auburn, her alma mater, as a recruiting operations coordinator before taking the UT job.
Assistant recruiting director Chantryce Boone, a 2019 UT graduate, worked less than two years in the football program. And Michael Magness, a 2020 UT graduate, was a student assistant.
But not every culpable staff member was inexperienced.
Assistant coach Derrick Ansley, 41, worked in the SEC for a decade with jobs at Alabama, Kentucky and UT. He is now an NFL defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Director of player personnel Drew Hughes, a 2011 Alabama graduate, served in the same role at Florida and North Carolina State for five years before coming to UT. He is now an NFL player personnel coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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Did UT tip scales by paying for investigation?
Another argument by Pruitt is that UT directed the investigation where it wanted – at him – by paying private lawyers to do the NCAA’s work.
His lawyer called it a “one-sided” investigation in Pruitt’s response to the notice of allegations, which was obtained by Knox News through an open records request. He said investigators paid by UT ignored evidence that would’ve supported Pruitt’s claims.
It’s true that the NCAA lacks the manpower and resources to pull off such a widespread investigation. So UT funded much of it by paying almost $2 million in legal fees to Bond, Schoeneck & King, a law firm specializing in high-profile NCAA cases.
UT staffers facilitated interviews and arranged for electronic evidence to be collected. BSK lawyers conducted the interviews and organized the evidence. NCAA enforcement staff were present for some of the interviews and had access to the transcripts.
But Pruitt would have to convince the appeals committee that UT and BSK lawyers withheld crucial evidence or testimony that would’ve exonerated him.
Was cheating in place before Pruitt came to UT?
Pruitt has argued that boosters were cheating years before he was hired by UT, and he was a victim of that culture. His response to the allegations called it a “violative framework that predated Pruitt’s tenure.” But he never went through with pushing that claim as he threatened to do.
In 2021, Pruitt’s lawyer gave UT an ultimatum to either reach a settlement on the $12.6 million buyout the university owed him or face a lawsuit that would expose impermissible booster involvement in recruiting across multiple sports.
The thinking behind the argument is that if Pruitt showed a pervasive culture of cheating by boosters to the appeals committee, it would strengthen his claim that he had no knowledge of violations.
There is no indication Pruitt’s lawyer filed a lawsuit.
Why did some, not all, point finger at Pruitt?
Lastly, Pruitt argued throughout the case that his assistant coaches and staff took responsibility without implicating him.
That was true through much of the investigation. Documents show that some recruiting staffers said they paid for impermissible recruiting visits independent of Pruitt. Assistant coaches took blame for some violations without involving Pruitt.
Pruitt’s response to allegations hammered home that fact on Nov. 21, 2022.
“Not a single witness, however, claims Pruitt’s knowledge or awareness of those violations,” Pruitt’s lawyer wrote. “In fact, each expressly denies it.”
But unbeknownst to Pruitt, on that same day, Ansley implicated Pruitt in his response.
“The violations that occurred at Tennessee were caused and overseen by Tennessee’s former head coach and numerous members of the Tennessee football staff,” Ansley’s lawyer wrote.
Pruitt would have to convince the appeals committee that Ansley, as well as former players and their parents who implicated him, were lying. The Committee on Infractions, obviously, believed them.
What are Pruitt’s chances at winning an appeal?
The NCAA doesn’t change its mind often.
Over the previous three years, eight violations have been challenged on appeal, and seven were upheld. And 12 of 16 penalties were affirmed on appeal.
The new NCAA appeals process took effect Jan. 1. One major change is that core penalties can no longer be challenged unless other factors in the case are downgraded.
That means Pruitt can appeal the facts of the case, conclusions and level of the violations. But he can’t simply have his show-cause order reduced or overturned without changing those elements of the case.
He would need the appeals committee to determine that he wasn’t culpable in some of the infractions or reduce the violations in which he’s involved from Level 1 to Level 2.
A different set of eyes could see things in Pruitt’s favor. But even then, the decision would have to withstand scrutiny from the Committee on Infractions, which will defend its decision in writing and oral arguments, if needed.
Pruitt also must reach a high standard to have any part of the decision downgraded.
The appeals committee affirms findings and violations if “there is information in the record supporting the hearing panel’s decision,” according to NCAA bylaws. And the committee will not set aside any findings or violations as long a “reasonable person could have made the decision considering the record.”
Don't expect the Committee on Infractions to pull punches in defending its decision.
“The sum of these violations makes this one of the largest cases this committee has ever adjudicated,” said Kay Norton, chief hearing officer of the NCAA Committee on Infractions. She felt that Pruitt and his staff showed "an unwillingness to even pretend to follow the rules.”
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Emailadam.sparks@knoxnews.com. Twitter@AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Jeremy Pruitt to appeal NCAA ruling. Former Tennessee coach has a plan
