KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — After being handed a significant NCAA penalty for his role in football recruiting violations at the University of Tennessee, former Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt has returned to his high school alma mater as a teacher.
Dekalb County Schools Superintendent Wayne Lyles confirmed that Pruitt has been hired as a physical education teacher at Plainview High School in Rainsville, Alabama. He will also work as a junior high boys’ basketball coach.
His father, Dale, currently serves as Plainview High School’s head football coach.
He was an all-state defensive back at the high school in the 1990s. After working as a graduate assistant at the University of Alabama, Pruitt joined his father’s coaching staff at Plainview as a defensive backs coach in 1998 and as defensive coordinator in 2000.
Pruitt was issued a six-year show-cause penalty by the NCAA earlier this month for ‘hundreds’ of football recruiting violations that occurred during his three-year tenure as Tennessee’s head football coach.
The show-cause penalty means the NCAA would have to approve his hiring by a member school for the next six years. Three other unnamed football personnel received show-cause penalties ranging from two to 10 years.
Tennessee was also forced to officially vacate all 11 wins from the 2019 and 2020 seasons under Pruitt as part of the sanctions. His official final record at Tennessee is now 5-19, and the school’s all-time record is 856-410-53.