An NCAA notice of allegations and the University of Tennessee's response to the notice revealed that former Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt provided the mother of a Volunteers football player with money in 2020.

According to Mike Wilson of the Knoxville News Sentinel, the notice and response divulged that Pruitt met the player's mother outside an on-campus football facility in August 2020 and gave the woman either $300 or $400 in a Chick-fil-A bag.

Pruitt admitted to the violation in March 2022 when he told investigators he gave the woman the money because "it was the human thing, the right thing to do."

Pruitt was fired in January 2021, and Tennessee received the NCAA notice of allegations in July.

The NCAA alleges that Tennessee's football team committed 18 violations and that the university failed to monitor Pruitt and his coaching staff. Seven of Pruitt's assistants were also fired in January 2021.