Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Ex-coach threatens to sue UT
Things are never dull at Tennessee.
One night it’s some Volunteers’ fans going crazy and throwing debris on the field at Neyland Stadium to delay the Tennessee-Ole Miss game in Lane Kiffin’s homecoming appearance.
A couple of days later, it’s a lawyer representing Jeremy Pruitt threatening to sue Tennessee and taking shots at Rick Barnes, the Vols’ basketball coach, and Phil Fulmer, Tennessee’s former football coach and athletic director.
Michael Lyons, who is Pruitt’s lawyer, told the Knoxville News-Sentinel that unless his client and UT reach a financial agreement, Pruitt will file a lawsuit after being fired as the Vols’ football coach in January for cause and not receiving a buyout.
“On behalf of my client, I can tell you that he’s not happy that this is the only choice they’ve left him with,” Lyons said. “But he’s not going to walk away without getting his day in court.”
According to the News-Sentinel, Lyons has told Tennessee officials they must reach a settlement with Pruitt by Oct. 29 — a week from Friday — or face a lawsuit that Lyons said could “cripple UT’s athletic programs for years.”
Tennessee fired Pruitt after officials said an internal investigation uncovered NCAA violations involving the football program.
That claim by Tennessee officials meant the school could avoid paying Pruitt — who was 16-19 in three seasons as the Vols’ coach — more than $12 million in buyout payments he would have been owed otherwise.
A letter by Lyons to Tennessee requested documents from current and former UT administrators and coaches, including Barnes, so that he can inspect them. Lyons said his law firm had discovered “startling information” of NCAA violations dating back several years and across multiple sports, and mentioned Barnes by name.
“I’m really disappointed that Jeremy would throw people’s names around that he knows did nothing but support him the entire time he was here and make these unsubstantiated claims,” Barnes told ESPN. “I would invite the NCAA to come in any day of the week and investigate our program.
“I have too much respect for our players, our school and our administration for somebody to ever think we were not doing things right here and make such ridiculous statements.”
Barnes then took a shot at Pruitt.
“Jeremy is not here because of the decisions he made and the way he led his program,” Barnes told ESPN. “Here’s what I know: Our university has done everything it possibly can in working with the NCAA to clean up the mess he left behind and bring this to closure.”
In a letter obtained by the News-Sentinel, Tennessee general counsel Ryan Stinnett wrote to Lyons that UT has no intention of reaching a financial settlement with Pruitt, who is now a defensive analyst for the New York Giants.
“Your letter contains no denials of your client’s actions,” Stinnett wrote. “Instead, you raise vague and unsupported allegations of other violations by the University and threaten to embarrass the University publicly by revealing these alleged violations.
“The University emphatically denies these allegations and will not be intimidated into settling with your client based on your unsupported assertions.”