I still think it’s something of a longshot that Jeremy Pruitt’s still on the staff next season (Josh Kendall is reporting that Colorado State’s defensive coordinator and safeties coach Tyson Summers is on Smart’s radar), but if he is, I think it’s important to realize that his role is bound to change.
Smart isn’t Richt. Pruitt won’t be given complete carte blanche to run the defense as was the case before the changeover. One reason is because of Smart’s background; no doubt he has some specific defensive concepts he’ll want adopted going forward. Another is based on the system he and Pruitt came out of.
And no, by that I don’t mean that you can expect Pruitt to become a mere functionary. What I mean is that I would expect Smart to set an overall strategy and allow Pruitt to figure out the best way to implement that.
That’s not to say one way is better or worse. Just different. But you have to ask if Pruitt’s willing to operate going forward on that basis.
Get The Picture 
If the guy from Colorado State comes, Bobo’s gonna be thinking ‘They send me off with good wishes and they’re already poaching me.’
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Summers is a former Georgia grad assistant and is from Tifton
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I’m curious about the structure of the offense as well. Even though Saban is known as a defensive guru, from what I’ve always read, the offense is determined by Saban as well. Not that Saban is calling the plays, but like you said about the defense, Saban determines the overall concepts/structure, then lets the OC implement it. Obviously the OC has some say as their offense under Kiffin is a bit different than it was under Nussmeier, and especially last year they used more spread concepts, but you can bet all that was only done with Saban’s blessing.
Pete Carroll was the same way at USC. He’s a defensive guy, but even Norm Chow, when he was at his peak at the USC OC, he said he was just running Carroll’s offense, it wasn’t his own offense that he was running. Didn’t matter if it was Chow, Kiffin, Sarkisian, whoever as the OC, it was always the same offense with the same terminology – all put in place by Carroll.
I’m curious if Kirby will have a similar philosophy, having control of the structure/concepts on both sides of the ball. Not to say one is bad and one is good, but that would be quite a contrast to Richt, who especially this past year, seemed to let Schotty implement his own offense (at least until the last 4 games). Let Schotty change the terminology, the route trees, the depth of routes, the blocking schemes, etc. And that was on Richt’s “side” of the ball. So Richt didn’t implement the concepts on either side of the of the ball last year – and probably didn’t really the last few years of Bobo’s tenure, it was just that there was already so much carryover from Richt’s offense from the beginning.
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You are correct about the Saban offense, Rev. It’s his offense and his playbook. The OC is charged with developing a gameplan and calling that game plan.
The latter is a problem that Applewhite and Nussmeier had. Once the game was heated, they would go into a shell to try to avoid Saban’s wrath if something didn’t go well. One of Kiffen’s better qualities is that he won’t do that.
My guess would be that Smart would want a similar pro-style offensive philosophy – one that would let his team run just about anything.
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Richt’s approach was an emulation of Bobby Bowden’s: The head coach is a CEO and the coordinators are responsible for implementing their respective plans (subject to HC approval). If you’ve got great coordinators and assistants, this approach can work well. If not, a hands off head coach is inviting trouble. (Conversely, a controlling head coach with bad ideas can ruin the good work of capable coordinators and assistants.)
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Yep, agreed. Just curious to see if Smart will go full-on Saban approach (setting the playbook for the offense as well), or give the OC more free reign to implement their own offenses. If it’s the former, that might actually might help more in recruiting Eason, especially since he really has this week to sell him (recruiting dead period begins 12/14). If he can say “Regardless of who I end up hiring, this is the offense we will be running”, that would provide more certainty for the Eason family to make their decision. Especially since the style of offense seemed to be as much a factor in his original commitment as much as anything.
I’m not suggesting Kirby should decide how he’s going to coach based on one recruit though. Just saying that how chooses to structure the offense could be a factor specifically for Eason.
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Good gracious that was poorly written. And I’m not even on my phone to be able to blame that. Hopefully you can read through all my extra words and missing words to get what I was saying. 🙂
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I hope we keep Pruitt and Kirby gives him a lot of autonomy. Unless Pruitt gets a nice offer from somewhere, we would have to fire him to let him go, or he wouldn’t get paid.
Together, I think they could create a really great defense, plus, it would look even better for Pruitt to show that he isn’t a walking time bomb and can adapt to leadership. I think he is going to be a great HC somewhere someday, but that might depend on how well he handles this adversity that he is now facing.
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It may not be up to him, but I think Pruitt could benefit from staying at Georgia for at least another year. If he does move on, he will be going to his 4th job in 5 years. Also, the people around here can’t be the only ones aware of his difficulty in getting along with others. Staying at Georgia for another year, having a good year on defense, and getting along with the staff and AD would be a good thing for him.
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I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m sick and tired of hearing about the Pruitt attitude or communication problem, or whatever the hell it is. He’s easily the best defensive football coach and recruiter we’ve had on the sideline in a decade or more. The players sure seem loyal. If the a.d. can’t handle it, replace the a.d. I don’t want to see CJP on the scu, aubie, fu or ut sideline.
But don’t get me wrong, if CKS wants somebody else then so be it. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with the staff. I fail to see any proven DCs on the market who can match Pruitt as coach or recruiter.
And I like the call to arky for OC Enos. Maybe McG can make that happen, but I doubt it.
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The “Pruitt attitude problem” is real. And it’s spectacular.
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Senator,
You think this quote is in reference to all the “communication Problems” we were having in October with the staff? Primarily Pruitt.
McClendon “We hit a patch throughout the season where a bunch of things were going on and the only way that we made it out was understanding that we understood the importance that everything needed to be about those guys and making sure those guys were in the best possible place as they can.”
That sounds like he is talking about how the staff was functioning.
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Senator, you’ve always been infuriatingly cryptic on this point. Can you be more specific? What, exactly, is the problem with the guy?
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I can’t elaborate without breaking a few confidences, sorry.
Suffice to say Pruitt’s been a loose cannon in more than one way and that Richt bears some blame for not managing him better.
I will say it’s my understanding that Pruitt realized he crossed a line, is genuinely remorseful about that and would like to stay.
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OK, I can understand keeping your word. Can you say whether you believe Pruitt is capable of genuine remorse and salvaging the situation? Is it, to your mind, salvageable given the characters involved? If Richt bears some blame, well, he’s not here anymore. Pruitt may be an idiot savant — “savant” when it comes to recruiting and coaching college defenses and a big “idiot” in practically every other respect — but I sure would like to see more of what we saw on that side of the ball this year.
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Well, like I said, word is he’s remorseful. Salvageable is a different story. I doubt it.
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I wonder if he is that person who goes berserk when somewhat inebriated and acts like a pussy cat when sober.
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Then just take that moonshine away from him, LOL.
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Hardly.
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If he looked like Teri Hatcher, it wouldnt be a problem. 🙂
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Teri Hatcher is one of the 10 most overrated “lookers” in that industry. Kind of a Grantham….you’re told she’s hot, for a while she seems hot, then you realize she’s just not.
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Kind of like Kate Upton, eh?
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Yes. This is one unattractive woman…
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Well played, sir. 🙂
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But if Georgia likes championship, the system just have to tolerate some of his crankiness.
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Terri Hatcher for the win!
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Boo hoo, somebody got their f%#king feathers ruffled. Whomever is behind this needs to come forward with the accusations, or get over it and STFU. This innuendo and whisper campaign is a crock of shit.
Pruitt has 3 championship rings this decade. He’s easily been UGA’s top recruiter and coach during his time in Athens. Apparently his accusers aren’t man enough to step into the light of day and speak up. That says more to me than all the trash being thrown Pruitt’s way.
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Arrrgh!
What is that line from?
“They’re real and they are spectacular”
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Seinfeld. See the Teri Hatcher reference above…and below. 🙂
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LOL sorry didn’t see yours first, my bad.
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Of course, the other side is: what if Smart/Jimmy Sexton have already achieved what Pruitt set out to do in the first place? With Smart on board Pruitt has to feel at least some sort of validation and comfort level given where they both came from. Now instead of fighting to build IPFs he can leave it to the head coach and just focus on defense. And if Kirby does turn out to be Saban 2.0, Pruitt can ride that wave and have his pick of head coaching jobs in 3 years. Doesn’t sound like a bad strategy to me.
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Jeremy Pruitt simply isn’t the only person in the country who can run a great defense. I don’t know why Georgia fans act like he is. We acted the same way in the first two years of Todd Grantham, too, before we were proven wrong. We’re bringing in a great defensive mind in the head coach now. Chances are he’ll be able to select a coordinator who will help him craft a smothering defense. This idea that we have to have Pruitt stay on or we’re sunk doesn’t really hold water for me.
Also, while I’ve been impressed overall with his performance I’ve also watched two consecutive years where Pruitt’s defense simply got used by horrible Florida offenses so I’m not prepared to say we can’t do better.
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If Pruitt isn’t on by now, I think its a really long shot. If CKS wanted him, I think all it would take is a brief conversation. Would be really surprised if Pruitt hangs on now, and if he did, it would have sort of a ‘fallback plan’ feel to it. That wouldn’t be good for either party.
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Given the fact the Pruitt worked for Smart at Alabama (at least on the organizational tree) I’m sure he is VERY familiar with all his pluses and minuses. It will be interesting to see if he fights to keep him (whether he ends up staying or not) or just lets him move on. I have always thought it was a little strange that he Pruitt left FSU after only 1 year as DC and they did not fight harder to keep him. Had he burned his bridges there also?
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I just don’t want to see Pruitt at Auburn…
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If Smart makes the call on Pruitt, no problem. If McGarity makes the call on Pruitt or any assistant, big problem.
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Yes and we won’t know whose decision it is if he goes. Plenty of SEC D jobs open this year.
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AND there it is!
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