Why Vols football may avoid NCAA hammer

University of Tennessee leaders said they moved swiftly to do the right thing as soon as they caught wind of serious recruiting violations in the football program under coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Now they're hoping the NCAA follows their lead.

So far, the signs are positive. In the 51-page document detailing the allegations against UT obtained Friday by Knox News, the NCAA goes out of its way to praise the way university leaders have handled the scandal, noting "exemplary cooperation" in the case.

The NCAA report went on to say "the actions taken by the institution during the investigation should be the standard for any institutional inquiries into potential violations."

When Chancellor Donde Plowman announced in January 2021 she had fired Pruitt, two coaches and seven support staff members after an internal investigation, she told Knox News, “We've tried to do this the right way. While we're disappointed in what we found, we're not going to hide it from anyone. Eventually this will all come out when this investigation is over.”

Now that the NCAA has detailed the 18 violations it found — all of them the most serious in its four-tier system — Tennessee is counting on its cooperation from the start to spare it the worst punishments: a postseason ban and the loss of a significant number of scholarships for players over several seasons.

UT is pointing to a change made early this year to the NCAA constitution that encourages leniency toward programs that root out cheating themselves. Specifically, the proposed NCAA rules changes discourage punishing current athletes for violations that occurred before they were part of the program. The new constitution goes into effect Aug. 1, well before the NCAA'S judgment on Tennessee's recruiting violations will be finalized.

“In every step of this process, the university's quick and decisive actions have exemplified the longstanding values of the NCAA that are reiterated in the membership's new constitution,” Plowman said in a statement.

But there are still a lot of unknowns. The university and the people named in the NCAA report have 90 days to respond to the notice of allegations. Then the NCAA enforcement staff has 60 days to reply to those responses.

Though UT can't assume the NCAA will opt for a light punishment, there are reasons to believe it's a possibility.

In addition to the NCAA crediting UT for self-reporting violations and its “exemplary cooperation” in the investigation, it also did not find that the university lacked institutional control, one of the worst findings and one most likely to lead to severe punishment.

By moving fast and hard against Pruitt, assistant coaches and other staff members who ultimately were named in the NCAA report, UT followed the concepts embraced by the new NCAA constitution, which is supposed to reward schools for cooperating with investigations and ousting so-called bad actors who commit infractions.

UT'S alleged violations occurred from 2018-21 under Pruitt, at least a year before the new constitution was ratified. But it appears to have done all the things prescribed in the new approach to enforcement.

“The NCAA Division I Board of Directors recently endorsed the significant reforms to the infractions process proposed by the Transformation Committee, including clearly and meaningfully incentivizing the type of responsive institutional actions we took in this case – self-detection and reporting, self-accountability, exemplary cooperation, and the active involvement of the institution's chief executive," Plowman said.

"The NCAA enforcement staff recognized the university's 'exemplary cooperation' in the case and stated that 'the actions taken by the institution during the investigation should be the standard for any institutional inquiries into potential violations.' "

How Vols could avoid bowl ban

UT did not self-impose a bowl ban because it does not want to punish players for actions of coaches and staff no longer in the program.

Instead, UT leaders think penalties should focus on the area of the violations – in this case, recruiting. That's why the football program quietly selfimposed recruiting restrictions and scholarship reductions during the 2021 season, sources close to the situation told Knox News.

That's consistent with the new NCAA constitution, which includes amended language to “ensure to the greatest extent possible that penalties imposed for infractions do not punish programs or student-athletes innocent of the infraction(s).”

What’s next in penalty phase for UT?

UT faces three possible paths in response to notice of allegations: Summary disposition track, negotiated resolution or hearing track.

A summary disposition track is like pleading guilty without a sentence attached. UT and the NCAA agree to facts of the case and level of violations. NCAA'S committee on infractions panel issues penalties. UT can appeal penalties.

A summary disposition is common in lower-level cases. But UT faces 18 Level I violations, so this might not a possible route.

Plus, UT can't guarantee that Pruitt and the other coaches will agree to the NCAA ruling, which makes this track less likely.

UT could settle the case with a negotiated resolution. It's like pleading guilty with a sentence attached in a plea bargain. UT and the NCAA would agree on the violations and penalties. If NCAA'S committee on infractions panel approved it, and the case would be closed.

Otherwise, UT will get an NCAA hearing, which is like a trial.

Under that scenario, UT would challenge the NCAA enforcement staff 's allegations. Both parties would review the allegations with the NCAA'S committee on infractions panel, which decides violations and penalties that UT could appeal.

Reach Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @Adamsparks.