Tennessee football program hit with massive fine, penalty for over 200 infractions

The NCAA announced on Friday that it has hit the Tennessee football program with a massive penalty for more than 200 individual recruiting infractions over a three-year period during the tenure of former head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Tennessee was able to avoid a postseason ban as part of the punishment, but it has been placed on probation for five years, will be fined more than $8 million and will lose 28 football scholarships over the duration of the probation period, including at least two each season.

The program will also be banned from purchasing any advertising space during the 2023-24 academic year for any postseason game the team is participating in. 

It will also be subjected to a yearly compliance review by an external group with an emphasis on recruiting operations. 

The NCAA's report on its investigation said the program committed hundreds of infractions, including 18 level I violations (the most severe violations) that mostly revolved around recruiting and improper payments to athletes and their families, totaling more than $60,000.

The full report can be read here.

The fine is one of the largest handed out by the NCAA.

One of the reasons Tennessee was able to avoid a postseason ban was that the school was very cooperative in the investigation and had already self-imposed some punishments for violations. 

Even without the postseason ban, that is still a hefty price to pay, and any loss in scholarships is going to be significant in the highly competitive SEC. 

Pruitt coached the Volunteers between the 2018 and 2020 seasons, compiling a very disappointing 16-19 record with only one postseason appearance (the 2019 Gator Bowl).

He was replaced at the start of the 2021 season with Josh Heupel who has rapidly turned the program back into a top team. Heupel is 18-8 in his first two years, including a strong 2022 season that saw Tennessee win 11 games, including a 31-14 win over Clemson in the Orange Bowl. The highlight of the season was an October win over then-No. 3 ranked Alabama.