One year ago, Tennessee football fans learned the extent of Jeremy Pruitt’s recruiting scandal when Knox News published an avalanche of award-winning investigative stories.
It was July 14, 2023, when the NCAA put UT football on probation for five years as punishment for more than 200 violations committed under Pruitt, the fired Vols coach.
On the same day, Knox News published dozens of stories that dug much deeper into the scandal from 2,500 pages of documents obtained through public records requests.
The investigative coverage didn’t slow down for weeks.
That coverage earned national and state sports writing awards for UT beat writers Adam Sparks and Mike Wilson, including first place for breaking news from the Associated Press Sports Editors and top 10 for investigative sports journalism and beat writing. Sparks won the Tennessee Sports Writers Association awards for investigative and news writing for his coverage of the NCAA case.
One year later, here’s a look at the crazy behind-the-scenes details the Knox News investigation revealed.
Text messages by Tennessee staffers exposed cheating
Sparks reviewed approximately 6,000 text messages exchanged between Pruitt’s coaches and staff members over three years. They were eye-opening and sometimes comical.
When George Floyd, Chick-fil-A, babysitter entered conversation
Pruitt tried to tell his side of the story to investigators during the NCAA probe. He referenced George Floyd, COVID-19 and mental health. And bank records showed that Pruitt carried wads of cash dating back to his time coaching at Alabama.
Pruitt’s wife was also entangled in the scheme, including enlisting the Pruitts’ babysitter to give payments to recruits, investigators found. And things got weirder from there.
Recruits accepted gifts, then played for other SEC schools
Some marquee recruits were implicated because they accepted money and gifts from Tennessee staffers. But then they played at other schools. Some are still on SEC rosters or playing in the NFL.
Walter Nolen, a five-star prospect from Powell High, was among the biggest names that Knox News uncovered. He eventually played at Texas A&M. He’s now at Ole Miss as one of the SEC’s top defensive linemen entering the 2024 season.
Assistant coaches blamed Pruitt and made strange excuses
Pruitt’s assistant coaches tried different strategies when confronted by investigators.
Defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley said Pruitt initiated and oversaw the cheating. Assistant coach Brian Niedermeyer, Pruitt’s star recruiter, denied wrongdoing, saying his large ATM withdrawals were due to an overspending girlfriend and his nosy parents.
What Phillip Fulmer knew – or didn’t know – about cheating
Former Tennessee football coach Phillip Fulmer was the athletics director during Pruitt’s recruiting scheme. But the NCAA did not implicate Fulmer in wrongdoing.
An internal university email, which Knox News obtained, revealed Fulmer’s state of mind as violations came to light and his plans to replace Pruitt with some prominent coaches who are still on college football sidelines.
Nail salons and secret passwords were behind the scenes of scheme
There were twists and turns that were almost stranger than fiction in this NCAA case.
The investigation started when a UT student worker joked about coaches paying for nail salon visits for recruits and their families. And then the probe revealed how recruits used passwords to access free parking during impermissible visits to campus.
Cash, cars and Heisman QB: Scandal was much bigger than anyone knew
When the full story came to light, it was wilder and more widespread than anyone could imagine.
The NCAA reported that at least 105 people were involved in more than 200 violations committed under Pruitt from 2018 to early 2021.
But Knox News uncovered documents that showed the circle was much larger – including recruits, family members or friends of recruits, UT players, high school coaches, boosters and even a “reservation checklist” Pruitt’s staff used to rope in Knoxville business managers complicit in violations.
Here’s what really happened and how it finally fell apart.
But Tennessee was savvy to avoid bowl ban. Here’s how
While Pruitt received a six-year show-cause penalty, Tennessee avoided a postseason ban through legal maneuvers and a savvy strategy behind the scenes.
Even Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti came to UT’s aid in its fight against the NCAA. Then in January, Skrmetti came to UT’s defense again by suing the NCAA over another probe into the Vols football program.
NCAA vacated wins under Jeremy Pruitt, who argued against bowl ban
UT had an unexpected ally in its effort to avoid a bowl ban: Jeremy Pruitt.
He argued in UT’s defense just as the NCAA prepared to vacate the Vols’ wins during his tenure. It was yet another odd turn in the case.
One more frustrating detail was uncovered
The Pruitt case seemed to go on forever. It started in November 2020, and the verdict was finally announced in July 2023.
It could’ve been over much sooner if not for the laborious process of an NCAA probe.
Two years before the NCAA verdict, UT offered a plea agreement of almost the same terms that it ultimately got….
Knox News | The Knoxville News-Sentinel
