Mississippi State’s Will Friend accused of paying recruits in Tennessee scandal, denied allegations

STARKVILLE — Mississippi State football offensive line coach Will Friend was accused of handing out small cash payments to recruits during his tenure as a Tennessee assistant under Jeremy Pruitt, according to a report from Knox News on Thursday.

But Friend was never swept up in the wild college football recruiting scandal. The NCAA couldn’t corroborate the allegations implicating Friend that were outlined in Tennessee’s internal investigation into Pruitt’s recruiting impropriety, and Friend denied any wrongdoing.

According to the report, Friend gave a Tennessee recruit $100 during a visit to his high school. The recruit asked for the money in a text message. Friend did not respond to the message but met the player in the cafeteria for payment. Friend then reprimanded the recruit for sending the text, according to the report.

Multiple players and recruits said Friend gave them small amounts of cash, according to the report.

“Whether it’s hiring new employees or signing prospective student-athletes, those processes in our department follow University, SEC and NCAA requirements and policies,” an MSU spokesperson said in a statement to the Clarion Ledger on Thursday.

Friend was among the 12 Pruitt assistants to appear in either the NCAA notice of allegations or UT investigation because they were alleged to have committed infractions or knew about them while coaching at Tennessee, according to Knox News.

Pruitt was among 10 staff members fired for cause in 2021 as a result of the internal UT investigation. The findings rolled into a multi-year NCAA probe, which concluded July 14 with Tennessee receiving an $8 million fine, scholarship restrictions and a five-year probation. Pruitt received six-year show-cause, and some of his assistants also received show-cause orders, effectively banning them from college coaching during the length of the penalty.

Friend was not penalized in the probe.

Friend left Tennessee in December 2020 to join Shane Beamer’s staff at South Carolina. Less than two weeks later, he left to be Auburn’s offensive line coach.

Friend was hired to Zach Arnett’s staff at Mississippi State in January,

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Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @skrajisnik3.