Jeremy Pruitt files lawsuit against NCAA, claims $100 million in lost wages

Jeremy Pruitt has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking $100 million in lost wages.

Pruitt’s lawsuit says the NCAA and Tennessee conspired to make him a “sacrificial lamb” for rules violations at UT. Tennessee fired Pruitt in early 2021.

Jeremy Pruitt is one of the coaches who has been subject to an unfair, wrongful, and inconsistent NCAA investigation and ruling with potentially career-ending penalties,” the suit reads. “The NCAA conspired with the University of Tennessee (“UT”) and others to make Jeremy the sacrificial lamb for conduct that long preceded his tenure at UT.

The suit takes aim at the process of looking into Tennessee’s NCAA violations under Pruitt.

With a direct financial stake in the outcome, and in the face of a glaring conflict of interest, the NCAA empowered the University of Tennessee to use its own attorneys to investigate the University, including Pruitt, and to determine the scope of the investigation into alleged rules violations during Coach Pruitt’s tenure as head coach. UT had a vested interest in the pre-determined outcome of the one-sided “investigation,” so that it could justify its failure to pay Jeremy the millions of dollars due under his buyout and other incentives stipulated in his contract. The investigation was intentionally limited to avoid examining historical misconduct at UT, which long preceded Jeremy and was hidden from him.

Pruitt’s suit challenges the NCAA’s ability to apply a showcase in 2023 for impermissible benefits in light of the 2021 US Supreme Court ruling in the Alston case.

The NCAA punished Pruitt for something that is no longer illegal,” the suit reads. “At the time of the hearing and punishment, the NCAA knew that the rules it was purporting to enforce were effectively made invalid by ruling of the United States Supreme Court. Jeremy Pruitt may be the last coach in America to be punished for impermissible player benefits.

Pruitt also claims Tennessee was paying players before his arrival. The former Volunteer head coach says he discovered payments to players early in his tenure and notified then-athletic director Phil Fulmer.

In December 2017, UT hired Jeremy as its head football coach. Less than one week after being hired, Pruitt discovered that payments were being made to some players. At the time, NCAA rules precluded those payments, even though court cases had already called into serious question whether such payments could be prohibited.

“Pruitt immediately reported what he learned to the Athletic Director, Phillip Fulmer. The Athletic Director told Pruitt that “he would handle it” and deal with the University’s Compliance Department, which was charged with ensuring that the University of Tennessee was complying with NCAA rules.

“After his termination from the University, Jeremy learned that one or more individuals in the UT Athletics Department or boosters had systematically engaged in making payments to players at a time when NCAA rules did not allow such payments.

Pruitt coached Tennessee from 2018-20. He was previously an assistant under Nick Saban at Alabama, Jimbo Fisher at Florida State and Mark Richt at Georgia. Pruitt was on staff with the New York Giants in 2021 and has since returned to coaching at the high school level.

Former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt has sued the NCAA in DeKalb County, Alabama, claiming that the association “conspired with Tennessee” to make him the “sacrificial lamb” for rules violations resulting in his firing and a 6-year showcause.

He’s claiming $100M in lost wages. pic.twitter.com/H0b69vvAK5

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) March 27, 2025

Andrew Olson

Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.