Former Alabama safety Will Lowery knows exactly who he wants to see be added to the 2026 Crimson Tide defensive coaching staff after watching them get plastered by Indiana, 38-3 in the Rose Bowl on Thursday.
It is time to bring home Jeremy Pruitt!!! I hear a judge has lifted his show-cause. I am not saying Kane nor anyone else on staff currently needs to go, that’s not my job. All I know is that Pruitt immediately adds championship value in numerous ways to whichever organization… https://t.co/nBP7gHdF6e
— Will Lowery (@jwlowery29) January 2, 2026
Former Alabama DB Will Lowery makes the case for Kalen DeBoer to hire Jeremy Pruitt
This long-awaited request by Lowery to bring Pruitt back to the sidelines in Tuscaloosa to join Kane Wommack and Alabama's defensive staff comes after experiencing almost 3 seasons of watching the same combination of glaring deficiencies continue to plague them defensively.
One of those issues happens to be situational run defense. That flaw reared its ugly head once again yesterday, with Alabama giving up 215 yards to Indiana's rushing attack. Wommack and his defensive unit were also outmatched by the Hoosiers' physical and patient offensive approach, as Heisman-winning QB Fernando Mendoza went 6-of-6 against the blitz for 93 yards and carved them up for three touchdowns.
Of course, Wommack's job appears to be safe, and he deserves praise for the job the improvements his unit made in 2025, holding opponents to 288.5 yards and 17.9 points per game, but these preexisting deficiencies haven't changed much under his watch since he took over in 2024. Pruitt's potential addition to the staff could restore the feeling and give the Alabama defense the backbone it's been lacking in the past couple of seasons.
Pruitt's track record in Tuscaloosa is proven, coaching a pair of Alabama's best defenses in program history during his days under Saban. Those defenses went on to produce two National Championships and players that would go on to be NFL standouts like Minkah Fitzpatrick, Marlon Humphries, Da'ron Payne, Jonathan Allen, Ruben Foster, Eddie Jackson, Rashaan Evans, Ryan Anderson, among tons of others.
Pruitt worked for Saban at Alabama from 2007-2012, before becoming the defensive coordinator at Florida State and then Georgia. He returned to Alabama as the Crimson Tide's defensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017, replacing Kirby Smart. Pruit left the Tide after the 2017 season to take the head coaching position at Tennessee.
Lowery's idea could be music to the ears of Alabama fans, with Kalen DeBoer hinting at potential changes coming to the program yesterday to reporters in Pasadena at the post-game press conference.
"You’ve got to go back to starting over from scratch with putting the people around you, the right people, committing to something, a common goal together, and the actions following it," DeBoer said.
These comments from the second-year Alabama head coach appear to be more than regular postgame "coach speak."
Those potential changes could hint at Alabama's pursuit for top talent in the NCAA transfer portal as it opened officially today on January 2nd. But to Lowery's point, those words could also hint at a potential coaching addition or subtraction to DeBoer's staff on either side of the ball. If so, the dynamic of bringing Pruitt back to Tuscaloosa to team up with Wommack in 2026 could help bring Alabama back closer to some of the foundational roots laid under Saban during his historic 17-year tenure as college football's true perennial powerhouse.
As of now, being less than 24 hours removed from the Crimson Tide being shell-shocked by another one of Saban's former disciples in Curt Cignetti and Indiana yesterday, time will only tell for DeBoer and company as he enters a pivotal third season as Alabama's head coach.