Tennessee fans needn’t worry about the NCAA busting up their recent good time. Why? Because the Vols are in the club and know how to stay there.
The Vols are as good at self-reporting as any school has ever been. It’s a tradition like the checkerboard end-zones, except less colorful. Former Tennessee athletic director Doug Dickey started the tradition of dodging NCAA bullets by self-reporting potential NCAA violations in the mid-1980’s.
Tennessee knew they could be in trouble when they fired Jeremy Pruitt for cause following the 2020 season. They had heard the jokes about cash being handed out in McDonald’s bags. They knew things had gone awry.
As it turns out, Pruitt and his staff did buy some prospects food at McDonald’s, but there was no cash – just fries. As it turns out, Pruitt, his wife and his staff handed out money without the funny fast food tie in, according to the NCAA’s report.
Big Mac or not, Pruitt had gotten very sloppy in providing inducements to recruits that were considering the Vols. That wasn’t a big secret. There were strong rumors among recruiting circles that Pruitt was desperate and would do most anything possible to save his job. So what’s $60,000 when you’re trying so salvage a few million?
The ongoing aftermath
Pruitt gets to walk away mostly unscathed, except for the fact that he won’t likely ever see his $12 million buyout. It’s pretty apparent that Tennessee has dug its heels into the ground. Pruitt can coach in the NFL and make a handsome salary. However, he should never coach in college again if what has been alleged at Tennessee is true. For a lifelong college coach, that must sting. Sorry, life is hard.
Tennessee is left holding the bag as far as the NCAA is concerned. UT’s athletic department could, theoretically, be hit with major sanctions considering the scope of the Pruitt payment plan. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.
In case you hadn’t heard, the NCAA is about as tough as a wet paper towel right now. It’s hard to imagine the NCAA coming down hard on anyone right now. It’s especially hard to imagine the NCAA hammering a program that has been helpful in the investigation, as it appears Tennessee has been.
It also doesn’t hurt Tennessee to have the SEC on its side. In this case, the conference seems stronger than the governing body assigned to control it.
The NCAA doesn’t want any of its schools to get into trouble, get punished and suffer the consequences. Why? Because that hurts college football as a whole.
Why Tennessee isn’t Southern California?
The NCAA loses a bit of exposure every time a program is hit with major sanctions. Southern California is a great example. Look at what happened to the Trojans after they got walloped by the NCAA in 2010. USC is just now getting back on its feet, but still needed a Big Ten bailout to compete with the country’s other elite programs.
Let’s also remember that USC boosters bought houses for players, not combo meals. There is a big difference between a house in Los Angeles and $60,000. The latter looks like chump change compared to what Reggie Bush was receiving and the Vols’ tally is a collective total. Bush’s property taxes were probably higher than $60,000. It’s a good thing he didn’t have to pay them.
The cheating reported at Tennessee, which was first reported by Knox News, was certainly too widespread, but this doesn’t feel like a big league scandal. It feels like a coach who got in over his head. It’s important to also remember that Southern California was winning championships by paying players. Fair or not, that can raise the stakes with NCAA investigations. No one wants to get beat by a cheater.
What should Tennessee expect?
So what’s the worst that could happen to the Vols? There could be some recruiting restrictions placed on some of its coaches. There could be a small scholarship reduction, although I find that very unlikely. Even if there is a scholarship reduction, the transfer portal can remedy that short-term problem.
In case you haven’t heard, The NCAA is on unsteady ground for a number of reasons. They have one foot steeped in tradition and the other foot beginning to climb its way out. It would seem a bit odd to punish Tennessee for paying players now that players can be paid.
I understand that paying prospects is much different than paying proven players. However, the mindset shift that has taken place makes Pruitt’s actions somehow less dastardly in 2022 than they seemed in 2021. Paying any athlete anything just doesn’t feel as wrong.
I’ll be the first to say that I thought that Tennessee should just pay Pruitt and be done with it. Give him the buyout, make a clean break and part company as quickly as possible. I was wrong.
Tennessee made the right move by standing up to Pruitt. By doing so, the Vols declared that the current administration had no idea what was going on under former Tennessee athletic director Phillip Fulmer, who carries some of the blame since he hired Pruitt.
Tennessee, which has spent well over $1-million in legal fees fighting to not pay Pruitt’s buyout, might have had integrity or pragmatics on its mind when it decided to draw a line in the sand on Buyout Beach. Either way, it should work out well for the Vols. The current administration clears their name and stays in the good graces of the NCAA by fighting against rules infractions. Whatever the motivation, the plan seems to be working.
Disclaimer time: The NCAA is unpredictable. There is always a chance that the NCAA could come down hard on Tennessee to make an example out of the Vols, although I don’t know why they would as long as Tennessee has been cooperative. There, that’s done.
It wasn’t that long ago that Pruitt’s lawyer was giving Tennessee a deadline to pay up or face the consequences. That didn’t work and, so far, he hasn’t added any fuel to the fire as he threatened that he could and would do.
That was in October. I wonder what that guy is up to. I hear McDonald’s is hiring.
