Alabama Football: Auburn can’t handle Jeremy Pruitt
By Ronald Evans
Alabama football has a coach who as a Defensive Coordinator is 4-0 against Auburn. So far, Jeremy Pruitt has Auburn’s number.
Here’s a question Alabama football fans would like Danny Kanell, Booger Mcfarland, Clay Travis, Tim Brando and Colin Cowherd to answer. If Gus Malzahn is an offensive genius, what does that make Jeremy Pruitt?
As a Defensive Coordinator, Jeremy Pruitt has four wins from blowing out the tires on the ‘Gus Bus.’ Once with Florida State, twice with Georgia and last season with Alabama, Pruitt has matched wits with Gus and won.
So to all those opinionated loudmouths who seek fame and fortune dissing Alabama football, it’s about time to call Jeremy Pruitt a defensive genius.
Waffle if you must. Claim that all Alabama football defensive coordinators are nothing more than Saban clones. Not that we agree, but maybe that might have been true of Kirby Smart. But it is not true of Pruitt. Just ask yourself, how many times have Jimbo Fisher and Mark Richt been described as defensive geniuses? Even college football’s biggest bloviators must admit, the answer is never.
From ‘Two-A-Days’ to asparagus confusion to a National Championship
As a rising assistant working under the mercurial Rush Probst at Hoover High in Birmingham, Pruitt’s first national exposure was in the documentary Two-A-Days. One scene showed Jeremy seated at a meal asking his companion to identify a food item. The item is question was asparagus. In Jeremy’s defense, there are no restaurants on Sand Mountain in Rainsville, AL that serve asparagus, unless they fry it.
After Rainsville, Pruitt played football in the mid-nineties at Middle Tennessee State and Alabama. After the end of his Alabama football career, he spent one season in Tuscaloosa as a graduate assistant. Following that was nine seasons coaching high school football.
Nick Saban hired Jeremy in 2007 as director of player personnel. Three years later he was promoted to defensive backs coach. Three years after that Jimbo Fisher hired him as defensive coordinator for FSU. After FSU’s 2013 national championship, Pruitt then not yet 40-years old, had earned three national championship rings. For anyone counting, that would be two more than Gus Malzahn.
After two seasons as defensive coordinator at Georgia in 2014 and 2015, Pruitt returned to Alabama. So what does Pruitt bring to the Tide? Check these stats: in the last three games he has called defensive signals against Auburn, the Tigers averaged less than 10 points and less than 250 yards per game.
Tide players have confidence in Pruitt
One of the reasons for Pruitt’s success is how his players respond. From Aaron Suttles of the Tuscaloosa News, Tide defenders Anthony Averett and Anfernne Jennings said.
"(Averett) “I like how he makes the game simple. Our defense can be very hard, but he makes it simple for us.”(Jennings) “He’s always calm. He’s always on to the next play. He’s a great coach.”"
On Saturday afternoon in Auburn, when a frantic Gus Malzahn implores his offense to snap the ball at warp speed, Jeremy Pruitt’s calmness is the perfect antidote.
Next: Why Alabama Will Beat Auburn
At the end of hopefully another Crimson Tide championship run, Jeremy Pruitt will be considered for head coach openings. Maybe Jeremy will be picked by another SEC school giving him a chance to continue to stymie Gus Malzahn.