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News out of Knoxville is making headlines this week involving former Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt. A report details his self-described reasoning for paying players against NCAA rule.
Unfortunately for Pruitt, it doesn’t appear many are buying those excuses and they’ve made it known online.
Pruitt was fired from UT amid a cheating scandal that included a number of high-level recruiting violations. In total, 200 total infractions were discovered, which led to a six-year show cause penalty being handed down on Friday.
That show cause means no university can hire Pruitt without being subjected to NCAA punishment themselves.
The head coach had unsuccessfully battled these allegations, and now, we might know why he didn’t win his case. When asked about one specific instance of paying a player, Pruitt referenced racial injustice.
In a report from Knox News, Pruitt said he “thought about racial inequity and the high-profile killings of Black people when he gave a player’s mother $300 in a Chick-fil-A bag.”
This particular payment came during the COVID shutdown in August of 2020.
Here’s a direct quote from the report on Pruitt.
Pruitt said his privilege, her race and social unrest were on his mind.
“Then you throw in George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, okay, so you sit there as a white man and you see all of this going on and you can see these kids suffering,” Pruitt said. “I’d do it again because I don’t think it’s breaking the rules.”
Fans weren’t buying it.
Many quickly posted reactions to the story online.
“I did not see this one coming,” one follower wrote.
Another said, “I legit cackled in a chiropractor waiting room reading this. And I hurt my back more…while still laughing…ow.”
This fan commented, “Pruitt was going to solve racial inequity for $300, one CFA bag at a time.”
Media members chimed in, too. Dan Wolken of USA Today wrote, “We need a full documentary on the Tennessee-Pruitt era.”
We need a full documentary on the Tennessee-Pruitt era @netflix https://t.co/lDTYgzfCrf
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) July 17, 2023
Mike Golic Jr. said, “College football is one of a kind.”
college football is one of a kind https://t.co/55kyYwCzy6
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr) July 17, 2023
Richard Johnson of SEC Network simply laughed.
hahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahhahahahahah https://t.co/vZ59GcIVCu
— Richard🇬🇾Johnson (@RJ_cfb) July 17, 2023
There were a number of other allegations, some of which Pruitt denied, including covering medical bills and vehicle down payments for players and families. It was determined that Pruitt and his wife made 75 cash withdrawals of four or five figures from 2018-2020, which he says was nothing new dating back to his time at Alabama.
This final show cause penalty should all but wrap up the Jeremy Pruitt controversy at Tennessee.