Officials in Tennessee have not renewed assistant football coach contracts and have paused the hiring of coaches for vacancies as the volunteers continue to investigate if there were recruitment violations within the program, sources told ESPN on Thursday.
Earlier this week, the university announced that it had hired attorneys Mike Glazier and Kyle Skillman to assist its internal counsel and compliance officers with the internal investigation. The lawyers interviewed current players this week about alleged improper benefits and other violations of the rules, sources told ESPN.
“We take our institutional commitment to NCAA compliance seriously and are investigating regulatory issues that have been brought to our attention,” University spokeswoman Tyra Haag said in a statement this week. “As part of that process, we are currently working with attorneys Kyle Skillman and Michael Glazier with Bond, Schoeneck & King. We will provide additional information when needed.”
Last month, ESPN reported that compliance department officials had interviewed current players, recruits, assistant coaches, student volunteers and other athletics department officials involved in recruiting football. The sources said the interviews began in November.
The sources told ESPN that Tennessee’s recruitment of Amarius Mims, the No. 3 offensive tackle and No. 19 player in the 2021 ESPN 300, is part of the compliance department’s investigation. Mims signed with Georgia.
Sophomore tailback Eric Gray, the team’s lead rusher with 772 yards and four touchdowns, was also held out of the regular season finale against Texas A&M for undisclosed reasons. Sources told ESPN that Gray’s absence was related to the compliance investigation.
While Tennessee officials wait for the investigation to close, the athletics department has not renewed or renewed assistant coaches’ contracts, some of whom have deals due to expire at the end of this month, including running backs coach Tee Martin and inside linebackers- coach Brian Niedermeyer.
The volunteers also have at least two vacancies after head coach Jeremy Pruitt fired defense line coach Jimmy Brumbaugh after four games and offensive line coach Will Friend left for South Carolina last month.
Pruitt, 46, has a record of 16-19 among the volunteers for three seasons. The Volunteers went 3-7 this season, losing seven of their last eight games.
After leading the volunteers to an 8-5 record in 2019, Pruitt was awarded a two-year contract extension that boosted his annual salary to $ 4.2 million. The contract will run through the 2025 season. If Tennessee fired Pruitt for no reason, it would owe him a buyout of approximately $ 12.8 million, or 60% of the remaining money under the deal. is due.
Pruitt will receive a $ 200,000 retention bonus on February 15.
Under the terms of Pruitt’s contract, if the university justifiably fires him, he is “ not entitled to any further salary, compensation, benefits, perks or any other athletic-related income or benefits obtained by virtue of the coach’s position as chief football coach , from the university. “
A handful of Tennessee’s best players have left the program or announced plans to leave in recent weeks, including junior cornerback Bryce Thompson (eight interceptions in his career), who entered the NFL draft earlier this week. Running Ty Chandler and tight Austin Pope are among eight players who have entered the transfer portal since December. Quarterback JT Shrout was transferred to Colorado, and star defensive end Deandre Johnson moved to Miami.