Jeremy Pruitt was in his early 30s working as the defensive coordinator at Hoover High School when he got a phone call from Kevin Steele.

The year was 2007, and Alabama’s then-first-year coach Nick Saban had hired Steele to be his defensive coordinator.

Steele, who was responsible for recruiting Hoover, asked Pruitt if he’d welcome hearing from Saban.

Um … yeah, definitely.

Pruitt became Alabama’s director of player development, sparking his college coaching climb.

“Coach Saban was the head coach and eventually hired me, but I think Kevin probably recommended me to him,” Pruitt, Tennessee's first-year coach, said Wednesday.

Steele is in his third season as Auburn’s defensive coordinator.

Tennessee (2-3, 0-2 SEC) will play at No. 21 Auburn (4-2, 1-2) on Saturday (noon ET, SEC Network).

Steele was Saban’s defensive coordinator in 2007 and inside linebackers coach in 2008.

“That first year, we spent a lot of nights together — me just trying to help him in any way I possibly could,” Pruitt said of Steele on Wednesday. “I was a young guy and excited about the opportunities, excited about the people I was working with and learned a whole lot."

Steele was among the candidates Vols athletic director Phillip Fulmer considered for UT’s coaching vacancy after taking over the coaching search from John Currie, who was ousted amid the search. Fulmer settled on Pruitt.

Steele played at Tennessee for Johnny Majors and also had two stints as a Vols assistant in the 1980s.

“Kevin was very patient with me as a young coach and very instrumental in helping me kind of get going a little bit in my career,” Pruitt said. “I’m very thankful for that opportunity, and he’s a good friend of mine.”

Injury update

Vols starting safety Micah Abernathy has been slowed this week by an ankle injury, but Pruitt says he'll play against Auburn.

“Micah has practiced. He’s got a banged-up ankle. He’ll be ready to play," Pruitt said.

Tennessee's safety depth already took a hit with key reserve Trevon Flowers undergoing surgery for a broken collarbone. The injury occurred during practice last week and Flowers will be sidelined for a few weeks.

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