One former college football head coach is ready to take the NCAA to task for his getting fired several years ago. And he’s demanding a king’s ransom to boot.
According to college sports insider Ross Dellenger, former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt is suing the NCAA for $100 million. Per the report, Pruitt has claimed that the NCAA “conspired with Tennessee” to make him a “sacrificial lamb” for various rules violations that led to his ousting in 2020.
Pruitt is seeking $100 million in lost wages stemming from his firing and the six-year show-cause currently against him that has kept him from getting other jobs in college football.
Pruitt alleges in the lawsuit that Tennessee had been illegally paying players since before he even arrived. He claims that he informed then-athletic director Phillip Fulmer about this problem back in 2017 when he was first hired by the program.
He alleges that Fulmer told him he’d handle the situation himself.
Pruitt was the head coach of Tennessee from 2018 to 2020, going 16-19 but ultimately having 11 wins vacated in 2023. Tennessee football fans were probably happy to see him lose his job under any circumstances given his struggles.
In the years since Pruitt’s dismissal, head coach Josh Heupel has nearly restored the program to the greatness it enjoyed under Peyton Manning and Tee Martin. He’s 37-15 with three straight top-25 finishes and led the Vols to their first-ever College Football Playoff appearance this past season.
Pruitt’s last job in football at either the college or pro ranks was a senior defensive assistant role with the New York Giants in 2021.
He currently works for his father at Plainview High School in Alabama.
