Tennessee fires head football coach Jeremy Pruitt

The University of Tennessee fired head football coach Jeremy Pruitt for cause following an internal investigation into the program that was launched in November.

Several reports say that the inquiry was focused on potential recruiting violations and illegal benefits to players.

Pruitt, who came to Tennessee from Alabama, was 16-19 in his three years in Knoxville. The school reportedly owes Pruitt $12.6 million as part of his contract but UT will likely not be on the hook for a multi-million dollar payout because of a clause in the coach’s contract that rescinds the deal due to a program investigation by the NCAA.

The Volunteers went 3-7 in 2020. Pruitt becomes the fourth coach in the SEC to be dismissed in as many months.

University leadership will conduct a press conference today at 3pm ET. It will be streamed live on https://t.co/7xAMLhqNjy.https://t.co/dvBXwxfaSa

— Tennessee Athletics (@Vol_Sports) January 18, 2021

(IMAGE: University of Tennessee / UT Athletics)