Four former Tennessee football staffers have been given show-cause penalties by the NCAA for violations that occurred under former head coach Jeremy Pruitt, it was announced Tuesday.

According to a report by Sports Illustrated, those sanctioned include former inside linebackers coach Brian Niedermeyer, outside linebackers coach Shelton Felton, director of player personnel Drew Hughes and student assistant Michael Magness, all of whom were either fired by Tennessee in January 2021 or left under an NCAA cloud in late 2020. Niedermeyer and Hughes both also worked at Alabama during various points in the Nick Saban era.

The four staffers sanctioned all reached agreements with the NCAA on rules violations that occurred “over several academic years and involved cash payments to recruits and their families, impermissible recruiting contacts during a COVID dead period, and impermissible recruiting inducements during unofficial visits.” Others involved in the probe, reportedly including Pruitt and former defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley — both of whom also previously worked at Alabama — have disputed charges, so their cases have been separated by the NCAA.

“By separating the cases, the Division I Committee on Infractions publicly acknowledges the infractions case and permits the individuals to immediately begin serving their penalties while awaiting the committee’s final decision,” the NCAA release read. “That decision also will include any findings and penalties for the school and remaining individuals who have contested the violations and/or penalties. This is the third case where the committee has used multiple resolution paths.”

The four other staffers have agreed to accept show-cause penalties ranging from 3-5 years. Should any NCAA member institution choose to hire any of them during that time, both the school and the individual would have to meet with the NCAA Committee on Infractions.

Niedermeyer was a graduate assistant at Alabama in 2016 and assistant director of recruiting operations in 2017 before following Pruitt to Tennessee. He was tight ends coach and later inside linebackers coach with the Volunteers, and was named National Recruiter of the Year by both 247Sports and ESPN in 2019.

Hughes, a Montgomery native, was a recruiting specialist while a student at Alabama from 2007-11. He also worked at Central Florida, North Carolina State, Florida and South Carolina in addition to his time with the Volunteers.

Felton, a Troy graduate, was a long-time high school coach in his native Georgia before joining the college ranks at Chattanooga in 2017. He was an analyst at Tennessee in 2018 and outside linebackers/defensive line coach at Akron before re-joining Pruitt’s Volunteers staff as OLBs coach in 2020.

Magness was a student assistant in the recruiting department while a student at Tennessee from 2017-20. He is now out of football.

Niedermeyer is an assistant coach at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., one of the top prep football programs in the country. Hughes now works as player personnel coordinator for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, while Felton succeeded the infamous Rush Propst as head coach at Valdosta (Ga.) High School in 2021.

Pruitt, a Rainsville native who played safety at Alabama in the mid-1990s and was on Saban’s Crimson Tide staff from 2007-12 and 2016-17, was fired by Tennessee in January 2021 as news of the alleged NCAA violations broke. He spent the 2021 season as a senior defensive analyst with the NFL’s New York Giants, but did not work in football this past season.

It was widely reported that Saban considered re-hiring Pruitt for Alabama’s vacant defensive coordinator position before settling on Kevin Steele earlier this month. The Crimson Tide also had an opening for inside linebackers coach, but Saban first hired Southern Miss’ Austin Armstrong and then Liberty’s Robert Bala when Armstrong left to become defensive coordinator at Florida.

Ansley, a Tallassee native who played college football at Troy, was a graduate assistant at Alabama in 2010-11 and defensive backs coach under Saban and Pruitt from 2016-17. He was defensive coordinator at Tennessee and now holds that same position with the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.

Last July, the NCAA charged Tennessee with 18 NCAA violations allegedly committed under Pruitt, who was hired as head coach in 2018. Among other things, Pruitt was accused of personally making $9,000 in payments to the mothers of two recruits, and also with directing his wife, Casey, to give $15,000 to another Volunteers player and his mother.

In November, Tennessee released its response to the NCAA, in which it argued that Pruitt and his former staffers “deceived” university officials during the school’s internal investigation. Pruitt and nine others were fired for cause, negating Pruitt’s $12.6 million buyout.