NCAA penalizes Tennessee for major violations in football

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s football program committed hundreds of recruiting violations over several years, including payments to athletes and their families, leading the National Collegiate Athletic Association to impose millions of dollars in fines and restrict scholarships and recruiting visits.

The association’s Division I Committee on Infractions also punished the university’s former football coaches who were responsible for the violations by putting restrictions on their ability to work at other NCAA institutions.

The NCAA fined Tennessee $8 million, the amount it estimates the university would have forgone had the association barred the Volunteer team from postseason competition for two years. The NCAA has recently begun avoiding penalties that negatively affect current players, like bans on playoff participation, and instead directing sanctions at the institution itself.