When Tennessee football fired Jeremy Pruitt with cause after the 2020 season, it enacted a ‘show-cause’ order that would follow him until 2029. This created a significant roadblock to Pruitt landing another coaching job within college football until then.
However, according to a report from Mike Rodak, the NCAA has accepted the terms that Jacksonville State proposed to add him as an analyst on the staff. Despite this, the agreement does not extend to any other school wishing to hire Pruitt before his show-cause expires.
According to the report from Rodak, Pruitt will be suspended from attending games for the remainder of this season. Rodak also reported that the NCAA said the Gamecocks must place ‘specific restrictions in areas where the [Committee on Infractions] previously concluded violations occurred’ and ‘implement a robust monitoring program with shared responsibilities involving the compliance staff, head football coach, director of athletics and university president.’
JSU must also submit reports of Pruitt and the university staying true to the agreement. It must also detail any game day responsibilities he may hold in future seasons.
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Pruitt has a strong connection with Jacksonville State head coach Charles Kelly. He coached alongside him at Florida State and Kelly was the special teams coordinator and safeties coach under Pruitt at Tennessee in 2018 before joining Alabama as an assistant defensive coordinator. This is Kelly’s first year as the Gamecocks’ head coach, where he has produced a 5-3 record.
At Tennessee, Pruitt missed bowl eligibility in his first season in 2018. The team finished 5-7, including a 2-6 mark in SEC play. To open the 2019 season, Pruitt’s team lost to Georgia State at home and then to BYU in overtime at home. However, the team responded with a win streak to end the year to go 7-5 and win the Gator Bowl against Indiana.
2020, the Covid year that featured a slate of just 10 SEC games, Pruitt had the team defeat South Carolina on the road and Missouri at home to reach the longest active win-streak in the country, dating back to the prior season. Things came crashing down, though, finishing with a 3-7 record.
After the season, Pruitt was fired after an investigation revealed recruiting violations.
Following his three years at UT, Pruitt spent the 2021 season as a senior defensive analyst with the New York Giants, but was not retained. In 2023, he was hired as a physical education teacher at Plainview High School in Georgia. There, he was the school’s junior high boys’ basketball coach.
