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Bob Pruett (former Marshall coach)

Pruett back as an assistant at age 64.

si.com

Ex-Marshall coach hired as UVA asst.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Former Marshall coach Bob Pruett has been hired as assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Virginia.

"I realized the good Lord's called me to coach. That's all I've ever done is work with young people," Pruett told The Associated Press on Friday in a telephone interview from his home in Sarasota, Fla.

He and Cavaliers head coach Al Groh have been friends since 1970 when Pruett was coaching high school football in northern Virginia and Groh was coach of Virginia's freshman team. Groh was also head coach at Wake Forest when Pruett was an assistant there in the mid-1980s.

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bad news for Marshall and Pruett, now the DC at Virginia.

sportsline

Court documents tie ex-Marshall coach Pruett to academic fraud

Court documents filed Friday portray former Marshall coach Bobby Pruett as having direct involvement in academic fraud and overpayment of athletes working while at the school.

Affidavits filed as part of an ongoing lawsuit by former Marshall compliance director David Ripdath tie Pruett to violations that Marshall was penalized for in 2001. Pruett was not named in the original NCAA infractions report.

Ridpath originally sued Pruett and Marshall administrators in 2002 after he was reassigned from his compliance job to director of judicial affairs three months before the NCAA penalties were handed down. Ridpath disputes that the reassignment was listed as a "corrective action" by Marshall in the NCAA case.

The defendants are seeking summary judgment of the lawsuit. The affidavits emerged after Ridpath's lawyers filed a resistance to summary judgment last week in West Virginia federal court.

Pruett, now the defensive coordinator at Virginia, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mike Jenkins, a former Marshall flexibility coach, says in his affidavit
"Coach Pruett assured the staff that certain football athletes ... would be eligible for the Fall 2000 season because 'they were guaranteed to get A's ...' "

Jenkins is now on the strength staff at Memphis.

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I always hated that cheating SOB. Marshall was one of the worst places to play in the MAC while they were there mainly because they were good and their fanbase is made up of hilljack assholes.
 
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This isn't really news; it's a lawsuit that's been ongoing for five years now, and Pruett is an original defendant in the case. Have to wonder why these accusations are being made now instead of when the lawsuit was filed. Or even better, if this is such a career-killer for the guy Ridpath who's making the accusations, why he didn't scream this stuff from the mountaintop when Marshall pointed the NCAA in his direction when the investigation was going on.
 
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Tracking the story for the record, although not everyone considers it 'news'. :wink2:

sportsline

Pruett denies involvement in violations in lawsuit deposition

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Former Marshall football coach Bob Pruett has denied allegations he was involved in an academic scandal and a jobs program for athletes that drew NCAA violations in 2001.

Pruett refuted the claims in a sworn deposition he gave in May in a lawsuit filed by David Ridpath, Marshall's former NCAA compliance officer.

Earlier depositions by two players and a former strength coach implicated
Pruett in the grades scandal involving a physical education class and a booster's high-paying jobs program for freshman players.

Pruett denies those claims or any direct involvement in the 2003 firing of Ridpath.

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si.com

Virginia D.C. Pruett announces retirement

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Virginia defensive coordinator and former Marshall head coach Bob Pruett announced his retirement Wednesday.

Pruett, 65, was hired last February as Virginia's defensive coordinator, three years after stepping down at Marshall, where he was the most successful coach in the history of the program.

Pruett was 94-23 at Marshall, with five Mid-American Conference championships and five bowl wins.

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