BAMANEWSBOT
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Jeremy Pruitt is one of 13 Saban assistants with the Tide with at least one national title.
Some coaching staffs lose the reigning national recruiter of the year in December, and some fans bases might waver between worry and panic. Alabama loses Jeremy Pruitt to Florida State - a year after Pruitt helped land his biggest fish in T.J. Yeldon - and Crimson Tide fans respond matter-of-factly in unison.
Next.
They’ve learned something in the six years that Nick Saban has been the Alabama head coach.
Continuity on a coaching staff can be highly overrated.
If the deal gets done, Pruitt will become the 11th assistant coach to leave Tuscaloosa since Saban got there, but it’s hard to turn down a promotion. The Alabama secondary coach will become the Florida State defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.
Jimbo Fisher is placing a tremendous amount of faith in a young coach who’s been on the field as a college assistant for only three years. Fisher’s expertise is on offense so it’ll be up to Pruitt - who last coordinated a defense at Hoover High School - to maintain FSU as the force on that side of the ball it became under Mark Stoops.
It speaks volumes about Fisher’s faith in Saban that he would take this calculated risk on Pruitt. Not everyone who works for Saban is a chip off the old coach - see Derek Dooley - but Fisher, Will Muschamp and Mark Dantonio have turned out OK.
Pruitt’s departure keeps Saban’s perfect record intact. He’s lost at least one assistant coach after every one of his Alabama seasons. The numbers year by year, starting after the 2007 season: 2, 2, 1, 3, 2 and, if Pruitt’s the only departure this year, 1.
That means Pruitt’s successor will be the 19th different coach to work for Saban at Alabama because Lance Thompson is in his second tour of duty. Thompson was the first assistant Saban hired when he took the Alabama job. He stayed two years, left for Tennessee - fooled by Lane Kiffin like a lot of people - stayed in Knoxville with Dooley, then returned this year to replace Sal Sunseri, the man who’d replaced him.
Ran into Thompson on the field in the Georgia Dome after Alabama’s win over Georgia clinched the SEC title and punched the Tide’s ticket to the BCS Championship Game. Asked him if getting to experience that moment was why he returned.
After all, Thompson helped recruit the heart of the 2008 and 2009 signing classes that became the program’s foundation but missed out on the 2009 and 2011 BCS titles.
All smiles, he replied: “Yeah. I had to come back to coach some of the guys I signed.”
Given Thompson’s walk in the Tennessee wilderness, only two of Saban’s original on-field assistants have been with him in Tuscaloosa from the start: running backs coach Burton Burns, who never gets the credit he deserves for developing the talent at that position, and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart.
Saban is the most important constant, of course. He’s known for his ability to recruit players, but don’t overlook his track record of replacing quality assistants with quality assistants. He’s been able to find guys willing to put their egos aside to do the work behind the scenes, which isn’t easy in a world where coordinators have become rock stars and web sites hand out awards for national recruiter of the year.
Be honest. How many of you had ever heard of Chris Rumph or Jeff Stoutland before they were hired after the 2010 season when Bo Davis left for Texas and Joe Pendry retired? Have the Alabama defensive and offensive lines been any good the last two years?
Curt Cignetti left that same year to become the head coach at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania. While the Alabama wideouts haven’t missed a step since Mike Groh took over, Cignetti just led his Crimson Hawks to the Division II quarterfinals. They finished 12-2 ranked No. 7 in the nation.
There used to be a perception that nobody wanted to work for Saban. Urban legend said he was too hard on his assistant coaches. He allowed them no life and precious little margin for error. They did a lot of the work and he got all the credit.
Funny thing about credit.
Of the 18 assistants that’ve worked with Saban at Alabama, 13 of them have been a part of at least one national championship. Thompson and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier can add to that number Jan. 7.
Shortly afterward, when Saban goes looking for Pruitt’s replacement, a lot of candidates will want to join the crowd.
Some coaching staffs lose the reigning national recruiter of the year in December, and some fans bases might waver between worry and panic. Alabama loses Jeremy Pruitt to Florida State - a year after Pruitt helped land his biggest fish in T.J. Yeldon - and Crimson Tide fans respond matter-of-factly in unison.
Next.
They’ve learned something in the six years that Nick Saban has been the Alabama head coach.
Continuity on a coaching staff can be highly overrated.
If the deal gets done, Pruitt will become the 11th assistant coach to leave Tuscaloosa since Saban got there, but it’s hard to turn down a promotion. The Alabama secondary coach will become the Florida State defensive coordinator, according to multiple reports.
Jimbo Fisher is placing a tremendous amount of faith in a young coach who’s been on the field as a college assistant for only three years. Fisher’s expertise is on offense so it’ll be up to Pruitt - who last coordinated a defense at Hoover High School - to maintain FSU as the force on that side of the ball it became under Mark Stoops.
It speaks volumes about Fisher’s faith in Saban that he would take this calculated risk on Pruitt. Not everyone who works for Saban is a chip off the old coach - see Derek Dooley - but Fisher, Will Muschamp and Mark Dantonio have turned out OK.
Pruitt’s departure keeps Saban’s perfect record intact. He’s lost at least one assistant coach after every one of his Alabama seasons. The numbers year by year, starting after the 2007 season: 2, 2, 1, 3, 2 and, if Pruitt’s the only departure this year, 1.
That means Pruitt’s successor will be the 19th different coach to work for Saban at Alabama because Lance Thompson is in his second tour of duty. Thompson was the first assistant Saban hired when he took the Alabama job. He stayed two years, left for Tennessee - fooled by Lane Kiffin like a lot of people - stayed in Knoxville with Dooley, then returned this year to replace Sal Sunseri, the man who’d replaced him.
Ran into Thompson on the field in the Georgia Dome after Alabama’s win over Georgia clinched the SEC title and punched the Tide’s ticket to the BCS Championship Game. Asked him if getting to experience that moment was why he returned.
After all, Thompson helped recruit the heart of the 2008 and 2009 signing classes that became the program’s foundation but missed out on the 2009 and 2011 BCS titles.
All smiles, he replied: “Yeah. I had to come back to coach some of the guys I signed.”
Given Thompson’s walk in the Tennessee wilderness, only two of Saban’s original on-field assistants have been with him in Tuscaloosa from the start: running backs coach Burton Burns, who never gets the credit he deserves for developing the talent at that position, and defensive coordinator Kirby Smart.
Saban is the most important constant, of course. He’s known for his ability to recruit players, but don’t overlook his track record of replacing quality assistants with quality assistants. He’s been able to find guys willing to put their egos aside to do the work behind the scenes, which isn’t easy in a world where coordinators have become rock stars and web sites hand out awards for national recruiter of the year.
Be honest. How many of you had ever heard of Chris Rumph or Jeff Stoutland before they were hired after the 2010 season when Bo Davis left for Texas and Joe Pendry retired? Have the Alabama defensive and offensive lines been any good the last two years?
Curt Cignetti left that same year to become the head coach at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania. While the Alabama wideouts haven’t missed a step since Mike Groh took over, Cignetti just led his Crimson Hawks to the Division II quarterfinals. They finished 12-2 ranked No. 7 in the nation.
There used to be a perception that nobody wanted to work for Saban. Urban legend said he was too hard on his assistant coaches. He allowed them no life and precious little margin for error. They did a lot of the work and he got all the credit.
Funny thing about credit.
Of the 18 assistants that’ve worked with Saban at Alabama, 13 of them have been a part of at least one national championship. Thompson and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier can add to that number Jan. 7.
Shortly afterward, when Saban goes looking for Pruitt’s replacement, a lot of candidates will want to join the crowd.
