Sources: Vols again under NCAA investigation
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Pete Thamel, ESPN
The University of Tennessee is under NCAA investigation for violations related to name, image and likeness, sources confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday.
The investigation puts the Volunteers in the crosshairs for potential sanctions as a repeat violator. Tennessee is fresh off an NCAA ruling in summer 2023 in which it was charged with 18 Level I violations and fined a record $8 million.
The scope and breadth of the current allegations, according to sources, include the potential for the enforcement staff to charge multiple Level 1 and Level 2 violations. The case revolves around activity related to the Spyre Sports Group, which is Tennessee’s primary NIL collective, sources told ESPN.
The case is fundamentally tied to football, but the Spyre Sports Group sponsors athletes in other sports.
The NCAA’s investigation into Tennessee was first reported by Sports Illustrated.
Tennessee has pushed back against the allegations. A document obtained by ESPN shows Tennessee chancellor Donde Plowman told NCAA president Charlie Baker the allegations are “factually untrue and procedurally flawed.”
In the letter, obtained by ESPN through an open records request, Plowman calls the NCAA rules regarding NIL “intellectually dishonest” in how they are written.
This tension comes at a time when the NCAA appears to be focusing on rules tied to name, image and likeness. Recent cases that emerged at both Florida and Florida State were tied to NIL allegations.
Tennessee declined comment when reached by ESPN. The school has yet to receive a formal notice of allegations from the NCAA, sources said.
“I’d say there’s a real uptick in NIL cases, portal issues,” a source familiar with the NCAA space told ESPN. “They are the two main areas of enforcement staff inquiry. And those go hand-in-hand a lot of times. The NIL money is being used as transfer bait.”
Tennessee’s defense appears to be laid out in the scathing letter from Plowman to Baker.
“The NCAA’s allegations are factually untrue and procedurally flawed,” Plowman wrote in the letter. “Moreover, it is intellectually dishonest for the NCAA enforcement staff to pursue infractions cases as if student-athletes have no NIL rights and as if institutions all have been functioning post-Alston with a clear and unchanging set of rules and willfully violating them.”
Plowman hinted at the scope of the charges by defending Tennessee from a perceived “lack of institutional control.”
“It is inconceivable that our institution’s leadership would be cited as an example of exemplary leadership in July 2023, then as a cautionary example of a lack of institutional control only six months later,” Plowman wrote to Baker.
Lack of institutional control — one of the most serious charges that a school can face — could be tied to the potential of Tennessee falling under repeat violator status, which is an issue of contention for the university. Per NCAA bylaws, a repeat violator happens within a five-year window of the “starting date of a Level 1 or Level II penalty stemming from a previous case.”
Simply put, a repeat violator is at risk for significant additional penalties, as “a heading panel may depart upward from the core penalties.”
“The University of Tennessee complied with the interim NIL policy and guidance as it was put into place by the NCAA,” Plowman wrote in her letter to Baker. “No member institution could follow future guidance prior to it being given, let alone interpreted.”
Plowman added that no Tennessee employee has been named, nor has the collective or any athletes “broke any rule or guidance document as they existed at the time any actions were taken.”
“The NCAA enforcement staff’s intended processing of the proposed allegations is replete with legal and procedural defects, including unsettled and outstanding interpretive questions that require further attention and input from the NCAA membership, particularly given the novel nature of the issue and the gravity of such determinations,” Plowman wrote in the letter. “Further, some of the allegations are simply factually untrue.
“It is intellectually dishonest for the NCAA staff to issue guidelines that say a third-party collective/business may meet with prospective student-athletes, discuss NIL, even enter into a contract with prospective student-athletes, but at the same time say that the collective may not engage in conversations that would be of a recruiting nature. Any discussion about NIL might factor into a prospective student-athlete’s decision to attend an institution. This creates an inherently unworkable situation, and everyone knows it.”
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.
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Max Olson
FRISCO, Texas — A dynamic new quarterback, a new offensive system and two projected first-round picks up front have Utah coach Kyle Whittingham feeling enthusiastic about the Utes’ chances of bouncing back from a disastrous debut season in the Big 12.
Utah was voted No. 1 in the Big 12 preseason poll last year after joining from the Pac-12, but a brutal run of injuries and inconsistency resulted in a seven-game conference losing streak and a 5-7 finish — the program’s first losing season since 2013.
After weeks of contemplation about his future and what was best for the program, Whittingham, the third-longest-tenured head coach in FBS, decided in December to return for his 21st season with the Utes.
“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note,” Whittingham told ESPN at Big 12 media days Wednesday. “It was too frustrating, too disappointing. As much as college football has changed with all the other factors that might pull you away, that was the overriding reason: That’s not us, that’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”
“The bottom line and the final analysis was I couldn’t step away on that note. It was too frustrating, too disappointing. … That’s not us. That’s not who we are. It just left a bad taste in my mouth. I did not want to miss the opportunity to try to get that taste out.”
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on going 5-7 in 2024
Whittingham and Utes defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley conducted a national search for a new offensive coordinator and quickly zeroed in on New Mexico‘s Jason Beck. Then they managed to land Devon Dampier, Beck’s first-team All-Mountain West quarterback, via the transfer portal.
After finishing 11th nationally in total offense with 3,934 yards and 31 total touchdowns and putting up the fourth-most rushing yards (1,166) among all FBS starters, Dampier followed his coach to Salt Lake City and immediately asserted himself as a difference-maker for a program that had to start four different QBs in 2024.
“He’s a terrific athlete,” Whittingham said. “He’s a guy that, if spring is any indication, he’s an exciting player, and we can’t wait to watch him this season. … He’s got that ‘it’ factor. He’s a leader. Needless to say, very excited to see what he does for us.”
They’ve surrounded Dampier with 21 more newcomers via the transfer portal and will protect him with two returning starters at tackle in Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, who are projected first-round NFL draft picks by ESPN’s Matt Miller.
“We feel they’re the best tandem in the country,” Whittingham said. “The offensive line in general, I feel, it’s the best since I’ve been there. And that’s quite a statement. We’ve had some really good offensive lines. We’ve got two first-rounders and three seniors inside that have played a lot of good football for us. That better be a strength of ours, and that’s what we’re counting on.”
Whittingham has previously said he did not want to coach past the age of 65. Now that he’s 65, he acknowledges that he might’ve arrived at a different decision about his future had the Utes ended up winning the Big 12 in 2024. He is reenergized about getting them back into contention, but he’s not ready to say whether this season might be his last.
“The best answer I can give you is, right now, I’m excited and passionate about going to work every single day,” Whittingham said. “As soon as that changes, I’ll know it’s time. I’m just counting on knowing when the time is right. I can’t tell you exactly what the circumstances will be other than losing the fire in the belly.”
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Jesse Rogers
The automated ball-strike system is coming to the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.
MLB officials added the feature to the annual exhibition game knowing it could be a precursor to becoming a permanent part of the major leagues as soon as next year.
The same process used this past spring training will be used for the Midsummer Classic: Each team will be given two challenges with the ability to retain them if successful. Only a pitcher, catcher or hitter can ask for a challenge and it has to happen almost immediately after the pitch. The player will tap his hat or helmet indicating to the umpire he wants to challenge while any help from the dugout or other players on the field is not allowed.
MLB officials say 72% of fans who were polled during spring training said the impact of ABS on their experience at the game was a “positive” one. Sixty-nine percent said they’d like it part of the game moving forward. Just 10% expressed negativity toward it.
MLB’s competition committee will meet later this summer to determine if ABS will be instituted next season after the league tested the robotic system throughout the minor leagues and spring training in recent years. Like almost any rule change, there were mixed reviews from players about using ABS but nearly all parties agree on one point: They prefer a challenge system as opposed to the technology calling every pitch.
As was the case in spring training, once a review is initiated, an animated replay of the pitch will be shown on the scoreboard and the home plate umpire will either uphold the call or overturn it. ABS uses Hawk-Eye system technology which tracks the pitch trajectory and location in relation to the strike zone, providing an instant assessment which can be relayed to the home plate umpire.
The All-Star Game will be played at Truist Park in Atlanta on Tuesday.
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