Tennessee's Phillip Fulmer was fooled by Jeremy Pruitt or feigned ignorance, email shows
Former Tennessee athletics director Phillip Fulmer appeared oblivious but not culpable in Jeremy Pruitt’s NCAA rule-breaking, according to an internal university email sent before Pruitt’s for-cause firing.
Knox News obtained the email through an open records request.
It contains revelations about Fulmer’s state of mind in late 2020 and early 2021, during the early stages of UT’s internal investigation into major recruiting violations in the football program under Pruitt.
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Fulmer was either unaware of the gravity of the situation or went to great lengths to feign ignorance. He was not implicated in any violations, but it appears he was in the dark more than an athletics director typically would be.
The NCAA gave Pruitt a six-year show-cause penalty Friday for his part in 18 highest-level violations, including more than 200 individual infractions. And former UT assistant coaches and staff members also received multi-year show-cause orders.
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 includes a 100% suspension for the first year of employment should an NCAA school hire in him in any athletics position.
UT football was put on a five-year probation, including 28 scholarship cuts, recruiting restrictions, vacated wins and hefty fine. But it avoided a postseason ban because of exemplary cooperation with the NCAA investigation.
Here are the excuses Phillip Fulmer made for Jeremy Pruitt
Fulmer’s email sheds light on his mindset at the time UT first uncovered wrongdoing under Pruitt. Fulmer sounded like a coach making excuses for a poor season rather than an athletics director addressing serious rules violations.
UT Chancellor Donde Plowman was concerned about serious problems in the program and wanted to know Fulmer’s plan if Pruitt was fired. But Fulmer responded by focusing on much smaller issues that missed the point.
He fixated on the team’s weightlifting, nutrition, practice habits, quarterback play, lack of pass rushers, difficult SEC schedule and the psychological effects of losing to Vanderbilt two years earlier.
“You also have to realize how bad the program was when we arrived here,” Fulmer wrote to Plowman. “We had no big linemen, no one that benched 400 (pounds), and no natural leaders.
“(Pruitt’s staff) inherited a very bad 2018 football team. … The loss to Vanderbilt was really hard for anyone to swallow. Vanderbilt had an excellent QB that picked us apart.”
The text of the email was written to Plowman as a rough draft in response to her questions about the state of the football program amid allegations of egregious infractions under Pruitt’s watch.
But the email was instead sent to Caitlyn Hardy, Fulmer’s assistant director for executive operations, on Jan. 11, 2021, one week before Pruitt was fired for cause and Fulmer announced he would retire.
Based on the context, portions of the email appear to have been written in late November 2020, but not sent to Hardy until January. There’s no available record of Plowman ever receiving the email.
Fulmer wanted to retain Pruitt as coach
In the email titled “Football Appraisal,” Fulmer argued that Pruitt should be retained as coach.
“I am not (at) all advocating a change in football and hope we do not get there with pending issues,” Fulmer wrote. “I do believe we can overcome our challenges, and I have seen signs of progress.”
Fulmer praised Pruitt’s recruiting and spent more time examining problems on the field than compliance issues. And he thought Pruitt wanted stricter enforcement of NCAA rules in the football program.
“Jeremy knows the rules and will ask if something comes up,” Fulmer wrote. “I have made it clear we will not cheat.”
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After defending Pruitt’s job performance, Fulmer listed 16 coaches to consider if Pruitt was fired – including former UT quarterback and Pruitt assistant Tee Martin, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze (then at Liberty), Florida coach Billy Napier (then at University of Louisiana at Lafayette) and South Carolina coach Shane Beamer.
The list is sloppy and incomplete with misspelled names. It suggests the email was Fulmer’s notes rather than a completed presentation.
Nevertheless, the nature of Fulmer’s arguments imply he was not grasping why Pruitt’s job was in jeopardy.
Fulmer thought Pruitt wanted crackdown of NCAA rules
UT told the NCAA that Pruitt deceived athletic administrators, and Fulmer’s email suggests he was among them.
Fulmer portrayed Pruitt as wanting a tighter crackdown on NCAA rules within the football program.
Pruitt “does not think (football compliance director Andrew Donovan) is aggressive enough”, Fulmer wrote. “… (Athletic administrators, including compliance) were comfortable in doing things their way. Jeremy has made them more accountable and responsive.”
Fulmer wrote that Pruitt has a “temper problem,” but that his passion had led to better communication between compliance and coaches.
“Compliance communication … (is) improved because of Jeremey’s [sic] insistence and our staff follow up,” Fulmer wrote. “So yes … he has ruffled lots of feathers to get support groups where he wants them.”
And Fulmer wrote that Pruitt got into a heated argument with UT faculty athletics representative Don Bruce, apparently about compliance issues.
“Compliance has an OK relationship,” Fulmer wrote. “… (Pruitt) and Don Bruce had some strong words face to face. It was great for both of them. He respects Don.”
In his response to the NCAA, Pruitt said he met with Fulmer regularly about compliance and promoted a high standard in the football program.
Pruitt also told investigators that when evaluating staff, the "most important" factor was their ability to follow NCAA rules.
Fulmer’s final defense of Pruitt was mind-boggling
Fulmer wrapped up his email about Pruitt by demonstrating how oblivious he was about the serious nature of the situation.
In his final defense about Pruitt’s job performance, he argued that the Vols would’ve had a winning record in 2020 if four or five plays had been taken away from the Kentucky, Arkansas and Auburn games.
In 2020, Pruitt had a 3-7 record. UT lost to Kentucky 34-7, Arkansas 24-13 and Auburn 30-17.
If those games had gone in Pruitt’s favor, Fulmer wrote, “we would all feel different about the year.”
Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. Twitter @AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tennessee NCAA violations: Was Phillip Fulmer fooled by Jeremy Pruitt?
