Report: Hearing Scheduled For Tennessee Football’s NCAA Infractions Case

The NCAA infractions case against Tennessee football is headed to a contested hearing, Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger reported Tuesday morning.

The report comes just over a month after four former Tennessee assistants — including Shelton Felton and Brian Niedermeyer — came to an agreement with the NCAA on their sanctions. The four assistants accepted show cause penalties that will effectively keep them out of the college game for the next three-to-five years.

While a handful of Tennessee assistants came to an agreement with the NCAA on sanctions, Jeremy Pruitt, former defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley and the University of Tennessee haven’t reached an agreement with the NCAA.

The hearing — which will take place from April 19-21 in Cincinnati — will allow all three parties to make their case in front of the Committee on Infractions. According to Dellenger’s reporting, the dispute has become “somewhat contentious” between the three parties and the NCAA.

A ruling on the three cases is expected to come six-to-eight weeks after the hearing but could come later.

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Pruitt is currently out of coaching after spending a year in the New York Giants’ organization while Ansley is currently the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Tennessee has had an abundance of success in the two years since moving on from Pruitt. Josh Heupel led the Vols to wins over Florida, LSU and Alabama last season on their way to an 11-2 season and an Orange Bowl win.

The NCAA handed Tennessee 18 Level I violations in its Notice of Allegations in July. Tennessee avoided the dreaded “lack of institutional control” in large part due to its compliance with the NCAA’s investigation and its own investigation.

Heupel and his team are in the midst of spring practice before the “Orange and White game” on April 15 at Neyland Stadium.