Former Tennessee football assistants under Jeremy Pruitt get show-cause penalties, per report
Four former Tennessee football assistants under Jeremy Pruitt will receive show-cause penalties in the NCAA case that's spanned more than two years, according to a report.
SI.com reported that former Tennessee inside linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer, outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton, director of player personnel Drew Hughes and student assistant Michael Magness reached a negotiated resolution with the NCAA rather than go through a hearing.
They will receive show-cause penalties between three to five years. A show-cause penalty means they are not allowed to coach or recruit in college for a period of time unless their future employer could successfully argue otherwise to the NCAA.
A show-cause penalty shouldn't be an immediate issue for Felton and Niedermeyer, who coach in high school at Valdosta (Georgia) and IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida), respectively.
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Pruitt, former assistant Derrick Ansley and the University of Tennessee have not settled their portions of the case, which includes allegations of 18 Level I violations. And former staff members Bethany Gunn and Chantryce Boone were not mentioned in the report.
If Pruitt and Tennessee cannot reach an agreement with the NCAA on violations and penalties, they will head to hearing.
Their portions of the case can be separated, which is indicated by these show-cause penalties negotiated by Pruitt's former staff members.
Tennessee’s dispute over responsibility for the violations has delayed a resolution. That was evident in its 108-page response to NCAA allegations, which it submitted in November.
In eight of the violations, the school argued that the "weight and accountability for these charges should rest overwhelmingly with the involved individuals and not the institution."
Additionally, Tennessee argued that it was not guilty of the 18th violation − the most serious against the institution, failure to monitor the football program.
Instead, the school said Pruitt, his wife, Casey, and his staff knowingly concealed their malfeasance despite the university's best efforts to follow NCAA rules in monitoring the football program.