Who is Jonathan Skrmetti? How a bespectacled library lover became a Vols folk hero | Toppmeyer

Jonathan Skrmetti loved his library card as a fifth grader growing up in southeast Connecticut – so much so that he wrote a winning essay about the topic.

“My library card is my key to other worlds,” Skrmetti wrote in a first-place essay in 1988 as part of his local library’s “Why I Love My Library Card” contest.

As a high schooler, Skrmetti’s letters to the editor were published in a leading Connecticut daily newspaper.

On the day of Skrmetti’s 18th birthday in 1995, he attended Connecticut Gov.-elect John G. Rowland’s inaugural ball. Skrmetti had been active in Rowland’s gubernatorial campaign, and he used $160 in Christmas and birthday money to purchase tickets to the ball for himself and a guest.

“This is really exciting for me,” Skrmetti told a newspaper reporter the night of the ball. “I don’t think I’ll ever be at a more fancy event. This is definitely the tops. I’ve wanted to be a politician longer than I can remember. My whole life has been dedicated to the goal of becoming a good politician.”

A young Jonathan Skrmetti was undeniably going places – and he did: to George Washington, then to Harvard Law, and he’s now Tennessee’s attorney general.

Perhaps the only unpredictable twist in Skrmetti’s ascent is his new role as paladin for the Tennessee Vols.

Skrmetti teamed with Virginia’s AG in an antitrust lawsuit that alleges the NCAA’s meager NIL guidelines run afoul of the Sherman Antitrust Act, a federal law that protects free competition in commerce. A judge heard arguments Tuesday at a preliminary injunction hearing. The judge’s ruling on the injunction is expected in the coming days.

Tennessee’s chief legal officer emerged from a Greeneville courthouse Tuesday as the Chief Protector of the Vols.

“We’re going to keep fighting for student-athletes in Tennessee,” Skrmetti, 47, said after the hearing.

If the judge grants the injunction, the NCAA’s NIL guidelines would be frozen for an undetermined time that could extend for many months until the case concludes. Even if the attorneys general fail to secure the injunction, they could win the overarching case in what would amount to a vicious blow to the NCAA’s attempt to govern NIL deal-making.

The timing and nature of Skrmetti’s lawsuit are no coincidence. His legal action came as a counterpunch at the NCAA while it investigates whether the Vols violated the NCAA’s guidelines that prohibit NIL deals being used as recruiting inducements.

Why Jonathan Skrmetti's lawsuit helps Tennessee

By arguing that the NCAA’s NIL guidelines are illegal, Skrmetti is planting his flag with UT. If the metaphor isn’t enough, a Vols fan raised a literal Power T flag outside the courthouse Tuesday.

Battle lines are drawn, and Skrmetti is fighting for State U. If he wins the lawsuit and helps boot the NCAA off coach Josh Heupel's lawn, he'll become an honorary Vol For Life.

“This hits close to home,” Cam Norris, a lawyer arguing on behalf of Skrmetti’s office, told Knox News after the court hearing. “(The NCAA) is coming after our largest school.”

A state’s attorney general has become the new X-factor for a powerful college football program, and Skrmetti has proven willing and able to repeatedly flex for UT and take on the NCAA.

In the old days of NCAA enforcement – like, as recently as a few years ago – schools generally took one of two avenues if their athletics programs came under NCAA investigation: Either they cooperated with the investigation in hopes of receiving some mercy from the NCAA during sentencing, or they’d maintain their innocence, deploy clever defense strategies, and try to wriggle off the hook.

Now, there’s another avenue: Call the AG in from the bullpen, and sue the NCAA.

Formerly the big, bad wolf, the NCAA is now the toothless, bumbling buffoon – a crumbling institution whose approval rating is so bad it would make Joe Biden and Donald Trump blush.

Fighting for Tennessee Vols is winning politics

Skrmetti taking up on behalf of the Vols in their time of need is winning politics in a state where UT enjoys vociferous support in corners far and wide.

Some Vols fans have even inquired how they can support Skrmetti’s re-election – never mind that Tennessee’s AG is not an elected official but rather appointed to an eight-year term by the state Supreme Court.

Skrmetti painted the NCAA as a hostile adversary, even telling Knox News that he believes NCAA enforcement unfairly targeted Tennessee in this investigation as “payback” after the Vols skated past the stiffest penalties last year in an unrelated case, which pertained to recruiting violations that occurred during coach Jeremy Pruitt’s tenure.

“This is a pick-and-choose situation. ... Anything that UT does appears to come under significant scrutiny,” Skrmetti said before the injunction hearing, a quote that must have intoxicated Vols message board posters who smell a witch hunt.

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I detect no NCAA witch hunt. Rather, Tennessee’s NIL collective found itself in the crosshairs after failing to show even a hint of discretion while swimming amid the murky waters surrounding NIL and collectives.

While the NCAA’s investigation doesn’t surprise me, that doesn’t mean I think the NCAA enjoys the high ground.

As the old lawyer joke goes, if the facts are against you, argue the law – and antitrust law would seem to be in Tennessee’s corner.

Legal experts, including Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, have warned the NCAA that their tactics are bound to tie them up in antitrust lawsuits.

“The law is what the law is, and we have very strong arguments on behalf of Tennessee student-athletes,” Skrmetti told reporters Tuesday.

The NCAA is in danger of being tied into a pretzel by a bespectacled library aficionado, turned Vols folk hero.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfiltered newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Who is Jonathan Skrmetti? How a Tennessee AG became a Vols folk hero