By Jimmy Hyams
The Nick Saban tree has found its way to Knoxville again.
The last two times, it didn’t end well. Derek Dooley was fired after three years as Tennessee’s coach and his demise was defensive coordinator Sal Sunseri, who spearheaded the worst defense in Tennessee history.
This time around, Tennessee has landed Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt, news we broke last night. Pruitt, 43, was offered the job Wednesday, accepted it, then had his agent, Jimmy Sexton, finalize the details Friday morning.
After talking to other coaches and media that have covered Pruitt, there’s no doubt in my mind he is a much better hire than Dooley or Sunseri.
OK, call me Captain Obvious. But I talked to some of the same coaches who thought the Dooley and Sunseri hires would be a disaster and they don’t feel the same way about Pruitt.
In fact, many in the coaching fraternity highly endorse him.
One coach told me Pruitt has an excellent defensive mind, relates well to players, recruits at a top-notch level and sees the big picture.
Another coach said that Pruitt was able to get defensive players to play fast because they understand what he asked of them. His defenses are not so simple that they are easy to attack, but not so complicated that players didn’t know what to do.
It’s important that coaches know what their players know, and Pruitt has that ability.
Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, who covered Pruitt for two years, said Pruitt’s imprint on recruiting was all over the state of Georgia as he helped land linebacker Roquan Smith and receiver Micole Hardman.
Towers said it appears Pruitt was a “desperate hire’’ but could turn out to be a “great hire’’ for Tennessee.
Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News praised Pruitt’s ability to relate to players. He also said Pruitt is more of a gambler and blitzer on defense compared to former Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, now Georgia’s head coach.
Scarbinsky is also convinced Pruitt will bring a toughness to the Tennessee program that has lacked for several years.
Scarbinsky said Pruitt is a “`man of few words’’ who has an “edge’’ to him.
Scarbinsky said Pruitt is very demanding of players but still relates well to them.
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