Tennessee officials have not extended the contracts of assistant football coaches and have suspended the hiring of coaches for vacancies as volunteers continue to investigate whether violations of recruitment have occurred under the program, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the university announced it was hiring attorneys Mike Glazier and Kyle Skillman to assist its internal counsel and compliance officers in the internal investigation. Lawyers interviewed current players this week about alleged inappropriate benefits and other rule violations, sources told ESPN.
“We take our institutional commitment to NCAA compliance seriously and look at the regulatory issues that have been brought to our attention,” university spokeswoman Tyra Haag said in a statement this week. “As part of this process, we are currently working with attorneys Kyle Skillman and Michael Glazier with Bond, Schoeneck & King. We will provide additional information as appropriate.”
Last month, ESPN reported that compliance department officials interviewed current players, recruits, assistant coaches, student volunteers and other athletics department officials involved in recruiting football. Sources said the interviews began in November.
Sources told ESPN that the recruitment of Amarius Mims from Tennessee, striker no. 3 offensive and number 19 overall in ESPN 300 from 2021, is part of the compliance department’s investigation. Mims signed with Georgia.
Top striker Eric Gray, the team’s tallest player with 772 yards and four touchdowns, was also kept out of the regular season against Texas A&M for undisclosed reasons. Sources told ESPN that Gray’s absence is linked to the compliance investigation.
While Tennessee officials are awaiting completion of the investigation, the athletics department has not renewed or extended the assistant coaches’ contracts, some of which have offers expiring later this month, including quarterback Tee Martin and quarterback Brian Niedermeyer.
Volunteers also have at least two vacancies after head coach Jeremy Pruitt fired defensive line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh after four games and offensive line coach Will Friend left for South Carolina last month.
Pruitt, 46, has a 16-19 volunteer record in three seasons. The Volunteers have been 3-7 this season, losing seven of their last eight games.
After leading volunteers to an 8-5 record in 2019, Pruitt was rewarded with a two-year contract extension that increased his annual salary to $ 4.2 million. The contract is valid until the 2025 season. If Tennessee fired Pruitt for no reason, it would owe him a purchase of about $ 12.8 million or 60% of the remaining money owed in the transaction.
Pruitt is scheduled to receive a $ 200,000 retention bonus on Feb. 15.
According to Pruitt’s contract, if the university fires him for reasons, he “will not be entitled to additional salary, compensation, benefits, benefits, or any other income related to sports or benefits derived from the coach’s position as head coach of football, from the University . “
A handful of the best players in Tennessee have left the program or announced that they will leave in the last few weeks, including junior defender Bryce Thompson (eight career interceptions), who entered the NFL draft earlier this week. Runner Ty Chandler and tight Austin Pope are among eight players who entered the transfer portal in December. Defender JT Shrout moved to Colorado, and defensive star Deandre Johnson moved to Miami.