Pruitt, who only coached at Tennessee for three years, is being fired with cause.
The Tennessee football program is reportedly firing head coach Jeremy Pruitt with cause, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel's Blake Toppmeyer. Tennessee will not pay Pruitt's buyout because he is being fired for alleged NCAA violations under his watch.
The report comes about a month after Tennessee announced that its football program was being investigated for alleged recruitment violations. The Volunteers, who finished 3–7, had the No. 10 ranked recruiting class of 2020, according to 247Sports and the No. 15 class of 2021.
Additionally, athletic director Phillip Fulmer will retire, according to Toppmeyer, who adds that the two moves are not related to each other. Fulmer will not officially retire until after Tennessee finds an AD to replace him because he wants his successor to pick the next head coach, according to the report. Fulmer made the decision to retire on his own.
Pruitt was given a contract extension through 2026 just four months ago and has been with the Volunteers since 2018. He has compiled a 16–19 record and won his first and only bowl game in the 2020 Gator Bowl against Indiana.
Before taking the reins in Tennessee, Pruitt had assistant coaching jobs at Georgia, Florida State and Alabama—where he won five national championships in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017.
Phil Fulmer has been the athletic director for Tennessee since 2017 and played for the Volunteers in the 70s as an offensive lineman. After his playing days, he joined the Volunteers coaching staff and was head coach of the program from 1992 to 2008 and won a national championship in 1998.
Tennessee has yet to make an official statement.