The NCAA's Committee on Infractions has issued its ultimate findings in its probe into the University of Tennessee football program under disgraced former head coach Jeremy Pruitt, but the Vols have been spared from a postseason ban.
Released Friday morning by the NCAA, the report from college athletics' governbody outlined the breadth and depth for which the Volunteers' program had operated outside the NCAA's rules during Pruitt's ill-fated three-year reign on Rocky Top.
The NCAA ruled that Tennessee committed a whopping 18 Level I violations -- the most significant -- under Pruitt's purview -- or lack thereof -- as part of more than 200 individual rules violations.
However, UT -- which in January 2021 at the guidance of chancellor Dr. Donde Plowman fired Pruitt and forced then-athletics director Phillip Fulmer into retirement -- was cited by the NCAA as being a model of "exemplary cooperation."
"The school notified NCAA enforcement staff of the need for further inquiry and imposed significant corrective measures just a few months into its investigation, including terminating several coaches and staff involved in the violations and implementing scholarship reductions and recruiting restrictions."
So, what are the penalties levied against Tennessee Volunteers football?
In pointedly noting that it would not ban the Vols' program from postseason play due to a rules change made in 2022, the NCAA revealed the following formal penalties -- several of which UT already had self-imposed:
-- Five years' probation for the football program
-- A reduction of scholarships over a multi-year period to number 28. (UT already has reduced its scholarships each year under third-year coach Josh Heupel, including playing with more than a dozen vacated scholarships in Heupel's debut 2021 season on Rocky Top.)
-- An $8 million fine also has been levied against UT
FootballScoop in late-April delved into the NCAA-UT case on the heels of Tennessee officials' and former coaches' and staffers' appearances in Cincinnati for the final formal hearings on the probe, which started almost three years ago. FootballScoop at that time noted UT could face a fine of up to $8 million and also cited, per its sources, that Tennessee had leaned heavily into its "swift response" and cooperation.
Meanwhile, the NCAA hammered Pruitt -- who had risen through the coaching ranks as a decorated defensive coordinator at Alabama, Florida State and Georgia.
The association slapped Pruitt with an six-year show-cause penalty and five-year show-cause for the program's former recruiting director.