Former Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt isn’t the most popular guy in Knoxville, but I think even Vols fans can agree that what’s happening to him isn’t fair. 

Pruitt has been blacklisted by the NCAA over the recruiting violations at Tennessee that pale in comparison to the money flowing through college football in 2026 (an injunction Pruitt won earlier this year didn’t have the desired effect and he remains effectively banned from college football). Pruitt, who was fired in early 2021 due to the infamous Vols recruiting scandal, received a six-year show-cause ban in 2023. The violations reportedly involved around $60,000 in impermissible benefits.

That is nothing compared to what programs are spending right now.

There are some quarterbacks who are earning north of $5 million to play in 2026. Teams are fielding rosters that cost more than $40 million. NFL players might be returning college football in 2026. And Pruitt, who is objectively one of the best defensive coordinators in the sport, isn’t allowed to be part of college football because of $60,000.

It doesn’t make sense. Just like the Arion Carter suspension over a $400 plane ticket doesn’t make sense. I know there’s no reason to have much faith in the NCAA, but can we not use some common sense in these situations? Why are you penalizing Carter? Why are you penalizing Pruitt over something that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the money being thrown around in college football right now?

Jeremy Pruitt deserves to be allowed to coach again

There’s no denying that the results at Tennessee under Pruitt weren’t great. Now, that was in part because the Vols at the time were a mess in general. There wasn’t great alignment, and there were a lot of people pulling in different directions. It wasn’t a situation set up for success.

One of the reasons Josh Heupel was able to find success so quickly at Tennessee was because the whole thing was essentially burned to the ground and everybody got to start from scratch. The Vols made a really good hire in athletic director Danny White, who had a good feel for how to run an athletic department the right way.

That’s not to absolve Pruitt, who is currently on staff at Plainview High School in Alabama, from blame. He made plenty of mistakes as a first-time head coach. But when it comes to being a football coach, specifically a defensive coordinator, Pruitt is one of the best in the business, and he has been for a long time.

Quite simply, I think college football would be better if Pruitt was part of it. I think he cares deeply about his players. I think that showed with the way he handled the Jauan Jennings suspension in 2019 – when he publicly stood up for Jennings (much in the same way that Heupel stood up for Carter earlier this month). I think Pruitt develops talent at a high level. He would undoubtedly be an asset to any Power-Four college football program.

I don’t have any idea where Pruitt could land if he was allowed to coach right now, or who would be interested in hiring him. But if the NCAA cleared him and gave the go-ahead for him to be hired, I think he would be hired in a quick minute as an analyst this season, and then he would be a defensive coordinator in 2027.

The violations committed under Pruitt happened in a different era of college football. If this were still the same era, I’d understand it (even though we all know many schools were doing way worse at the time). But this isn’t the same era of college football — not even close. The NCAA needs to do the right thing and let Pruitt back into the sport.