KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Jeremy Pruitt is out as Tennessee’s football coach, ending one of the worst tenures in program history.
Pruitt was fired for cause Monday for alleged NCAA violations under his watch, according to people at the University of Tennessee with knowledge of the situation. Firing for cause means the university will not pay his buyout. The people requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.
According to a copy of the contract obtained by USA TODAY Sports, the buyout owed Pruitt would have been $12.6 million. That does not include another $200,000 he would have received as of Feb. 15 in a retention payment.
Pruitt lasted just three seasons and leaves behind a program that is under investigation for alleged NCAA rules violations.
Additionally, athletics director Phillip Fulmer will retire, those people said, after UT hires an AD to replace him, because he wants his successor to choose the next football coach. Fulmer made the decision to step down, and his departure is not tied to the investigation.
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Pruitt’s firing comes while the university is conducting an investigation of the football program into allegations of recruiting violations. The university retained lawyers Mike Glazier and Kyle Skillman to assist with the investigation. The Kansas-based lawyers are considered experts at representing universities during college athletics investigations.
Less than four months ago, Tennessee awarded Pruitt a contract extension that included a raise beginning this year and an increased buyout. He was under contract through Jan. 31, 2026.
Pruitt, 46, compiled a record of 16-19, including a 3-7 mark in 2020 against a conference-only schedule.
W.H. Britton and Derek Dooley are the only Tennessee coaches since World War I who compiled a worse overall winning percentage than Pruitt. Britton went 4-5 in 1935, his lone season, and Dooley went 15-21 from 2010-12.
Pruitt’s contract includes more than 30 fire-for-cause provisions. Among them, he can be fired for cause if he engaged in conduct likely to result in an NCAA finding of a Level I or Level II rules violation, or if someone who reports to Pruitt engaged in conduct that constitutes a Level I or II violation or is likely to result in such a violation and the university determines Pruitt was negligent in his oversight or lacked reasonable preventative compliance measures.
Additionally, he can be fired for cause for a failure to promote and maintain an atmosphere of compliance or a failure to monitor employees who report to him.
A successful defensive coordinator at Florida State, Georgia and Alabama, Pruitt showed shortcomings as a CEO of a program. This was his first head coaching opportunity at any level.
Tennessee’s offense ranked among the SEC’s worst throughout his tenure, and Pruitt and his staff failed to develop quarterbacks.
Pruitt went 0-9 against Alabama, Florida and Georgia, including eight losses to those rivals coming by more than 20 points. He came under criticism in October after he claimed following a 31-point loss to Alabama that the Vols were closing the gap with the Crimson Tide.
Just as damaging were losses in games Tennessee is expected to win.
The Vols opened the 2019 season with a 38-30 loss to Georgia State, a 26-point underdog from the Sun Belt Conference that had gone 2-10 the previous season and received $950,000 to play in the game. The loss began a 2-5 start to the season.
Pruitt’s woes in 2020 began in earnest with a 34-7 loss to Kentucky on Oct. 17, during which the Vols had four turnovers, including two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. It marked Tennessee’s first home loss to the Wildcats since 1984.
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