Former Tennessee football coach Jeremey Pruitt sounds like he’s gearing up for a war with the Volunteers.
Tennessee announced Monday that Pruitt was being fired for cause after alleged recruiting violations were discovered, and that means the program won’t have to pay his $12.6 million buyout. Well, don’t expect the former coach of the Vols to just give up and go home. It sounds like he’s preparing for action. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Chancellor Donde Plowman said on Monday Pruitt would be fired for cause. That keeps him away from his $12 million+ buyout. The question of how much Pruitt gets paid appears to be far from over.
— Louis Fernandez Jr (@LouisWBIR) January 19, 2021
Pruitt’s attorney Michael Lyons said the following in part about the situation, according to a Monday night statement obtained by Brett McMurphy.
We believe the decision to be the culmination of an orchestrated effort to renege on contractual promises made to Coach Pruitt upon his hiring in 2017 and reiterated less than five months ago…The timing of the University’s actions and decision appear to bee preordained and more about financial convenience and expedience than a fair and complete factual determination by the University.
You can read the full statement below.
Statement provided to @Stadium from attorney Michael Lyons representing former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt pic.twitter.com/mAgCsaOC6S
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) January 19, 2021
Welcome to the world of college football and coaches being fired. With more than $12 million on the line for Pruitt, you better believe he’s going to put up a fight.
He’d be absolutely insane not to. That’s a huge chunk of cash.
UT Chancellor Donde Plowman outlines the reasons for firing head football coach Jeremy Pruitt today: pic.twitter.com/8erSExOqwm
— Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) January 18, 2021
If I had to guess, this situation is going to get incredibly ugly. The letter from Pruitt’s attorney accuses the school of orchestrating this situation to get out of paying the coach his money.
This situation has lawsuit written all over it, and that means we’re just starting. This isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning of the chaos.
Tennessee in its termination letter to Jeremy Pruitt: “Your failures are likely to lead to significant penalties to the University and has jeopardized the eligibility of our student athletes.”
— David Ubben (@davidubben) January 18, 2021
We’ll see what happens, but I can promise you this isn’t going away anytime soon.