TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Jeremy Pruitt is well-known for being a players coach.

As top-ranked Alabama gets set to travel to Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Oct. 20, to face its former defensive coordinator, who is now the head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers, several of the Crimson Tide’s players shared fond memories of playing on Pruitt’s defense.

Redshirt senior outside linebacker Christian Miller jokingly recalled how Pruitt says “aiiight.”

“I was pretty close with him,” Miller said. “He was always a great coach. He’s definitely a players coach. He’d always have the players’ best interest (at heart). He looked out for us in terms of if we were ever down, you could talk to him. He’s one of those kind of guys. You could reach him on a personal level. He did a lot for us. And like I said, a great coach.”

But the one player on Alabama’s current roster that might have been closest to Pruitt during the coach’s most recent stint in Tuscaloosa (2016-17) was junior inside linebacker Mack Wilson.

“We have a great relationship,” Wilson said. “Me and him stay in touch pretty well. I always text him and congratulate him whenever they win or whatever. I feel like our relationship will always be there. I bonded well with his wife and his kids, so he’s more like a father figure to me. I look up to him. And obviously, he’s a great coach.”

Filling roles as a player, staffer and assistant coach, Pruitt has had multiple stints at Alabama, including as a graduate assistant in 1997, as a director of player personnel from 2007-09, as a defensive backs coach from 2010-12 and most recently as a defensive coordinator from 2016-17.

Throughout his career, relationships with players have been important to Pruitt.

“Everywhere I’ve coached, I’ve really had one goal, and that was to help the players get what they want,” Pruitt said Wednesday on the SEC coaches teleconference. “I think it’s why we’re in the business. We’re in it for the players. It gives us a great opportunity to give back to them. I know me as a player growing up, I was very fortunate to play for a lot of really good coaches that not only helped me as a football player but helped me off the field.

“... You build relationships when you get vested in something, and when you spend as much time as we all do together, you build relationships. And there’s good times and there’s tough times, and I think you grow in that as you build teams and as you build relationships. I have lot of good memories of the guys that I’ve coached at Alabama, the relationships that we have will last forever. Just like the ones at Florida State and Georgia and the ones I had in high school and the guys that we have here at Tennessee.

“So, I think that’s what coaching’s all about, and to me, it’s why I’m in the business.”

Pruitt was Wilson’s position coach the last two seasons and took over the 5-star’s recruitment when Kirby Smart accepted the head coaching job at Georgia. So, having already experienced a coach leaving for an SEC East school prepared Wilson for another change this year.

“I think he just understands that it’s part of college football,” said Wilson’s trainer, Tracy Tyrome Varner of Madhouse Athletic Training. “He’s experienced it with Kirby. He was really close with Kirby. Kirby recruited him longer than Jeremy Pruitt did. He was with Pruitt with two years, but Mack and Kirby were really, really close. So, he understood it. I mean, he’s been through it.

“He played a national championship last year and Kirby’s over there. It’s like anything else. That’s your friend over there, but you want to beat. You respect him, but you want to beat him.”

That is the focus this week as Wilson and the Crimson Tide defense look to build off a strong performance against Missouri. The Montgomery, Ala., native will look to do that with a new position coach, first-year inside linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator Pete Golding.

Just like Smart and Pruitt, Wilson has already developed a close relationship with Golding.

Wilson with Alabama ILB coach and co-defensive coordinator Pete Golding.

“He really likes Pete,” Varner said. “He talks about how detailed Pete is with everything, and Mack’s still learning. He’s like, ‘I pick up different stuff from Coach Golding all the time.’ He really, really keys in on detailed stuff. Him and Pete have a really good relationship, a real open relationship. Mack calls him anytime, and Pete’s real good with Mack.

“He knows how to deal with Mack -- that’s not to say in a bad way. He knows how to get through to Mack in certain ways. So, he speaks highly of Pete. He likes Pete a lot.”

Wilson said he sees similarities in Golding and Pruitt after playing for both the last three years.

“For me, I kind of compare him to Coach Pete because they’re both high-energy, they’ll joke with you,” Wilson said. “Once you get to know them, it’s just like a brother kind of relationship. I love Coach Pruitt and Coach Pete. They both are kind of laid-back, chill, they’re going to coach you hard, they know football and you can talk to them about anything because I feel like that’s the type of relationship they want to build with their players.

“... When Coach Pruitt was here, he always used to say he was going to coach us hard. We can do what we want to do off the field, we can chill, we can laugh, we can joke. But at practice, it’s business time, that’s no time to play. And that’s the same with Coach Pete. When it’s football, it’s football. When we’re off the field, it’s whatever, basically.”

On the field this weekend, though, the Alabama-Tennessee game will be all that matters.

“I wish him nothing but the best because, at the end of the day, he’s a great coach,” Wilson said. “When he was here, we were very close. He coached me hard, so I know he’s coaching them hard over there. It’s not going to be anything personal. I’m going to hug him before the game, hug him after the game. So, I’m just going to play the game, basically.”

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).

*** Don't miss a VIP update with our FREE trial of BamaOnLine. Sign up HERE ***