With the Alabama football season well underway, how does last year’s defense under Kirby Smart compare to this year’s group lead by Jeremy Pruitt?
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The days of “Third and Kirby” are long gone, but the Alabama football defense is chugging along quite nicely under the leadership of new defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. It’s only a small “sample size” to go by with just three games under Pruitt’s belt, but comparisons of the Crimson Tide’s current performance can still be made to the 2015 national championship winning defense.
When numbers are pulled together, its interesting to see how the two match up.
2015 – Kirby Smart
The 2015 Alabama football defense under Smart through the first three games was pretty fantastic. In 199 plays, the Tide allowed 218 rushing yards and 758 passing for a total of 976 yards. Also, the team held a respectable average of allowing just 4.9 yards per play and 325.3 yards per game.
That 2015 defense allowed 70 combined in the first three games (against Wisconsin, MTSU, and Ole Miss). Bama won the first two games by huge margins, and even in the loss to Ole Miss, the defense is what kept the Tide in the game.
When Kirby left the Alabama football program and headed to the Georgia Bulldogs, many believed the Tide’s defense would struggle without him.
Enter 2016 – and Jeremy Pruitt.
The 2016 Alabama football defense under Bama’s new defensive coordinator, Pruitt, put up some impressive statistics thus far. In the first three games, the D allowed 200 plays – just one more play than last season.
Opposing teams earned 188 rushing yards and 767 passing yards for 955 in total yardage. That’s a respectable average – and even better than the 2015 team – of 4.78 yards per play and 318.3 yards per game.
The Crimson Tide allowed just points 59 points in the first three games. Don’t forget that 43 of those points were against Ole Miss alone.
So…Is Alabama football actually better without Kirby?
After comparing the two defenses on paper through the first 3 games of the season, the 2016 defense gets the nod in terms of the numbers.
One could say that it’s not the X’s and O’s but the “Jimmy’s and Joes” that are making the difference. In other words, it’s not the play calling but the players themselves keeping the Alabama football defense on top week after week.
There is some truth behind that sentiment, but the 2015 defense had four players that are noticeably absent from this year’s squad. The NFL gained Tide leaders like Cyrus Jones, A’Shawn Robinson, Jarran Reed, and Reggie Ragland. Filling their shoes are new studs stepping up like Marlon Humphrey, Dalvin Tomlinson, and Reuben Foster.
While it’s certainly true that Alabama reloads season after season, it appears the term doesn’t just apply to players anymore. For Jeremy Pruitt to come in and not miss a beat speaks volumes about his coaching abilities. These aren’t “his” players like Kirby had “his” guys (one of which followed him to UGA), but that will come with time.
Pruitt not only held down the fort, so to speak; he fortified it with an even better defense.
All that said, we know the real identity of the man behind the curtains controling the puppets. This is Alabama football, and it is Nick Saban’s defense; always has been, always will be.
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The defensive coordinator absolutely makes a difference throughout the week and on game days. The Jimmy’s and the Joe’s aren’t preparing the game plans for Saturdays – THAT man is Jeremy Pruitt. Roll Tide, y’all.