Former Tennessee assistant embroiled in scandal lands Alabama high school coaching job

Former Tennessee assistant coach Brian Niedermeyer is now the defensive coordinator at Tuscaloosa County High School, the school announced Monday.

Niedermeyer was once the tight ends and, later, the inside linebackers coach at Tennessee, but investigators uncovered several recruiting violations inside then-Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt's program that led the Vols to clean house.

In January 2021, Josh Heupel was hired away from Central Florida as Pruitt's replacement.  

Pruitt was fired for cause in 2021 and received a 6-year show-cause from the NCAA, effectively banning him from coaching within the association.

Niedermeyer, whom investigators said regularly made cash withdrawals on the dates of impermissible recruiting visits and whom players testified kept said cash in the drawers of his desk, received a 5-year show-cause. 

He served as an assistant coach at St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and as the defensive coordinator at IMG Academy over the past two seasons. 

Pruitt and a third coach show-caused by the NCAA, Shelton Felton, have all taken high school jobs since being placed on professional exile. 

Niedermeyer spent two seasons across town from Tuscaloosa High in 2016-17, serving first as a GA at Alabama and then as the Crimson Tide's director of recruiting operations for the 2017 national title team.

Pruitt brought Niedermeyer with him to Knoxville as tight ends coach in 2018. ESPN and 247Sports both named him their national recruiter of the year in 2019.

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