Has Tennessee paid the piper?

The answer is always no until they have decided it is in the best interests of their athletics department to shutter the program.

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Have they suffered enough?

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I hope that Fat Phil never sees another win by Tennessee over Alabama while he's alive

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This. Only when that bastard dies will a Tennessee
win over Alabama be tolerable.

I wanna see the streak hit at least 18. Why? Because frick Tennessee.

frick those bitches. They can continue to flounder for many years to come.

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Have they suffered enough?

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"As we have previously discussed, a public lawsuit with its related discovery, document productions, depositions, disclosures, and court filings is a no-win situation for UT," Lyons wrote in the letter, which was obtained by ESPN on Tuesday through an open records request. "Even if UT prevails on its claimed defenses to the contract, which is unlikely, the public revelations from the lawsuit will invariably embarrass UT, its athletics department and the administration. All of the parties to this dispute should try to avoid that."


Lyons warned in his letter that a lawsuit "could ensnare the parties for years to come, impugn the university's reputation further, and potentially cripple UT's athletic programs for years."

Furthermore, Lyons alleged in his letter that UT's upper administration "ignored and covered up" several self-reported NCAA violations during Pruitt's coaching tenure, and some violations that occurred before he was hired.

Lyons added in his letter: "We have learned that UT upper administration was involved in or encouraged impermissible recruiting tactics. We have also learned that several prominent UT boosters have been and are involved in efforts to impermissibly recruit student athletes across multiple sports spanning multiple coaching regimes -- some of which are still in place."

In a response to Lyons on Monday, Stinnett wrote that the university "declines to participate in any informal or formal settlement negotiations with your client. The University maintains that it had proper cause to terminate your client for breach of his employment agreement in January, and our position has only strengthened since then."

Stinnett noted in his response that the "evidence already gathered is sufficient to persuade any factfinder that your client's termination for cause was fully justified."

Sources have told ESPN that Tennessee has yet to receive a notice of allegations from the NCAA.

In his letter, Lyons requested that Tennessee and its employees preserve "all documents and communications regarding impermissible benefits provided by UT donors to student athletes" and the "use of any Foundation or organization in connection with providing benefits to student athletes or recruits." He also requested the preservation of documents related to Volunteers basketball coach Rick Barnes, former athletic director Phillip Fulmer, former football assistant coaches, specific boosters and other individuals.

Barnes responded Tuesday, criticizing Pruitt's actions.

"I'm really disappointed that Jeremy would throw people's names around that he knows did nothing but support him the entire time he was here and make these unsubstantiated claims," Barnes told ESPN. "I would invite the NCAA to come in any day of the week and investigate our program. I have too much respect for our players, our school and our administration for somebody to ever think we were not doing things right here and make such ridiculous statements.

"Jeremy is not here because of the decisions he made and the way he led his program. Here's what I know: Our university has done everything it possibly can in working with the NCAA to clean up the mess he left behind and bring this to closure."

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Damn, this is bad for all involved. Pruitt may not coach again, and ut may end up going into the abyss. The two are playing chicken and the stakes really couldn't be higher