Pros of Hiring Pruitt
Elite Recruiter
Pruitt has been one of the best recruiters in the SEC over the last few years. According to 247Sports, Pruitt has been responsible for bringing in 11 five-star players and 28 four-star players as a coach. He’s been the main recruiter on players like Jalen Ramsey, Derrick Henry, T.J. Yeldon, Roquan Smith, and Rico McGraw. Pruitt knows how to relate to players and has been recruiting at a high level for years, not just at Alabama.
Great Defensive Mind
If you’re a good coach, you can coach at any level. It remains to be seen just how well Pruitt’s time as a coordinator and assistant will translate to being a head coach, but he’s shown to be an excellent coach so far. Pruitt became a defensive coordinator in 2013 with Florida State, and since then none of his defenses have ever finished outside the top 20 nationally in yards allowed or points allowed in a season. Pruitt brings a gritty defensive personality to a school that’s been dominated by offensive-minded coaches.
Learned Under the Best
Pruitt has been a coordinator under Nick Saban at Alabama, Mark Richt at Georgia, and Jimbo Fisher at Florida State. His father has been a football coach for decades as well. Pruitt may not have any head coaching experience himself, but he’s learned under some of the best minds in college football over the last few years.
SEC Experience
One of the biggest knocks on Butch Jones and his staff when he brought them in was a lack of SEC experience. That’s not an issue at all for Pruitt. He’s coached at both Georgia and Alabama and has spent all but one year of his 11 years of collegiate coaching in the SEC. And that one year was at Florida State.
