He looked at ease at the podium, the University of Alabama’s first-year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt walked naturally between his return to the place where he played and later coached and what he learned during his three-year stint away from Tuscaloosa.

Perhaps the 42-year-old Pruitt would not have been so comfortable in front of the media had he not gone to Georgia, where under Mark Richt he met with reporters once a week. That experience served him well Sunday afternoon at Alabama’s Media Day.

“I was thinking walking down the hall about when we were recruiting T.J. Yeldon, and I think the final selling point on him was we said, ‘Hey T.J., Coach Saban won’t let freshman talk to the media.’ He was like, ‘I’m all in on that.’ That’s kind of the way it is with the coaches, no disrespect to you guys,” Pruitt joked during his opening remarks.

Pruitt has large shoes to fill in replacing Kirby Smart, who was in Tuscaloosa with head coach Nick Saban for nine seasons, eight of which as the defensive coordinator. But Pruitt is no shrinking violet; he comes with his own set of impressive credentials, including a national championship as Florida State’s defensive coordinator in 2013 and helping Georgia become the top-ranked pass defense last season.

He inherits an impressive roster of talent, from Reuben Foster to Jonathan Allen to Eddie Jackson, leaders at all three levels of the defense.

“There’s guys here who have some experience,” Pruitt said. “To me, as Coach Saban, when he recruits guys, he’s looking for the right intangibles. There’s a certain criteria for each position. The guys wouldn’t be here if they didn’t meet those criteria.”

It was an easy hire for Saban with Pruitt the only candidate he considered. It was a popular one for some of the players, too, especially a few of the veterans.

“I was happy. That played a big part in me coming back,” senior outside linebacker Ryan Anderson said. “He’s just a player’s coach. He’s not a coach that is always going to do that yelling and stuff. He’s going to talk to you, he’s going to coach you.”

There is a belief that Pruitt will be even more aggressive on defense, not that the Crimson Tide’s defense has ever been accused of having a lack of aggression. After all, UA’s defense registered a national-best 52 sacks in 2015.

With speedster Tim Williams and Anderson on the edge, the pass rush is again expected to be good this season.

Pruitt isn’t going to make a prediction about the pass rush because he knows it’s more than just about sacks. It’s about getting pressure on the quarterback.

“A lot of that has to do with the quarterbacks that you play, the type of offenses you play,” Pruitt said. “You play some triple-option teams, they can sway your stats or your passing stats.

“There were some guys who had success rushing the quarterback last year, some of that goes into getting guys into the right downs and distances so you have to play well on first and second down. And you have to cover them in the back end, because when guys are running open the ball is going to come out of the quarterback’s hands.”

The corners have also noticed Pruitt’s style.

“I think we’ll be pretty aggressive,” sophomore Marlon Humphrey said.



Reach Aaron Suttles at aaron@tidesports.com or at 205-722-0229.