Former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt cited George Floyd during investigation of violations

Jeremy Pruitt said that racial inequity and the murder of George Floyd were on his mind when he gave a player's mother $300 in a Chick-fil-A bag, according to a report in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

On Friday, the NCAA gave the former Tennessee head football coach a six-year show cause penalty for his role in recruiting violations that led to the Volunteers having to vacate all 11 wins in the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

In the matter of giving one player's mom a bag full of cash because she claimed financial hardship, the Sentinel reported what Pruitt told investigators:

“Then you throw in George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, okay, so you sit there as a white man and you see all of this going on and you can see these kids suffering,” Pruitt said.

“… (It’s) pitiful when you sit in a room and you hear grown men, and I’m talking about our coaches too, when they talk about growing up and the circumstances that they’ve been under, because it’s hard for a white man to understand, right.”

Investigators granted limited immunity to several players that would allow them to transfer and play elsewhere after their parents testified, leaving Pruitt to believe that some mothers complied to protect their sons. One of those parents was the one he gave the $300 to. She also said that she was given $3,000 for medical bills, something that Pruitt denied.

The NCAA said that more than 200 violations — including 18 major infractions — were committed during Pruitt's three-year tenure. Pruitt — as well as several former assistant coaches — was found to have illegally paid recruits and their families during unofficial visits. Tennessee dismissed Pruitt in January 2021, with former Hall of Fame coach Phillip Fulmer retiring as athletic director the same day. Although the school was fined $8 million for the total violations, the Vols were fortunate to not receive a postseason ban. Under Josh Heupel, the program has ascended back to the upper echelon in the SEC with an 11-2 campaign in 2022, including a win in the Orange Bowl.