Jeremy Pruitt is now admitting to the rumor that he paid cash to a player’s mother in a fast food bag is true.
Earlier this year, Dan Patrick revealed on his radio show that, when Pruitt was coach of Tennessee, his staff handed money to recruits inside McDonald’s bags.
It was so far-fetched at the time, but now we have confirmation that it’s true. The Knoxville News Sentinel revealed that amusing detail Thursday after obtaining documents in the 108-page report covered the 18 violations that Pruitt allegedly committed in his time as the Tennessee head coach.
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According to Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel, the Chick-fil-A bag of cash transfer happened in August 2020. The $300 given to the mother of a Tennessee player was part of an alleged $12,707 in unauthorized benefits to the player and their family during recruitment and time on the UT roster.
Wilson added that another $3,000 was given to the mother to help “with paying a delinquent medical bill so she could schedule a hip surgery.”
The school alleges that Pruitt, his staff, and his wife concealed their wrongdoing despite the school’s best efforts to follow NCAA rules, per the News Sentinel. Pruitt and numerous staffers were fired in January 2021 after Tennessee became aware of the recruiting scandal.
“Despite the University’s monitoring efforts, athletics administrators and athletics compliance staffmembers were repeatedly deceived by the football program,” the school said in the response to the NCAA, per the News Sentinel. “The University respectfully submits that it is unrealistic to expect an institution to prevent, or immediately detect, the intentional and concealed misconduct that occurred in this case.”
Pruitt compiled a 16–19 record in three seasons at the helm for the Vols.
