Former Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt is one step closer to returning to big-time college football.

247Sports’ Mike Rodak reported on Monday that a judge granted Pruitt a preliminary injunction that prevents the NCAA from enforcing its six-year show cause ban against the former Tennessee head coach.

Pruitt was hit with the six-year show cause ban as a result of the recruiting scandal that cost him his job at Tennessee.

The Alabama native hasn’t coached in college football since getting fired by Tennessee in early 2021. He spent the 2021 season as a senior defensive assistant with the New York Giants (oddly enough, former Vols head coach Derek Dooley was the tight ends coach for the Giants in 2021).

Can Jeremy Pruitt officially return to coaching?

Due to the injunction, the NCAA can’t enforce its show cause ban against Pruitt.

According to AL.com, the “injunction is in place through the resolution of the lawsuit or further court order”.

Since this isn’t a permanent solution, it’s unclear how schools will view hiring Pruitt for now.

Still, it appears that Pruitt is getting closer to a full-time return to major college football.

This is purely speculation, but if Pruitt is hired by a Power-4 program this offseason, it would make sense for it to be for an analyst role. And then once a permanent ruling is in place, we could see Pruitt return to an on-field role.

Pruitt made some mistakes at Tennessee, but he’s one of the best defensive minds in college football. I’m sure plenty of programs will show some interest in him.

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