Jeremy Pruitt Named 247 Sports' Defensive Coordinator of the Year

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Coaches often relate stories how difficult it can be to work with Nick Saban.

In his return to Alabama, Jeremy Pruitt again seemed to navigate it well. He excelled in 2016 as the program’s first new defensive coordinator in eight seasons.

The Tide continued their era of defensive excellence, riding an athletic, versatile front seven to another national title game appearance. For three quarters — until Clemson and talented quarterback Deshaun Watson sprung to life — it appeared Bama would be on the way to its fifth championship in eight seasons.

It’ll have to settle for a third consecutive SEC title and a Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl victory against Washington.

Pruitt’s work made him a clear choice as 247Sports’ Defensive Coordinator of the Year. Prior winners include Clemson's Brent Venables and then-Michigan State DC Pat Narduzzi, now the head coach at Pitt. 

Pruitt, a former high school coach, got his start in college ball as Alabama’s secondary coach in 2010, going from there to win a national title as FSU’s defensive coordinator. He transition from there to take over the Georgia defense.

When Kirby Smart left the Alabama DC post to take over as Georgia’s head coach, bringing with him Bama assistant Mel Tucker to run the defense, Saban then brought back Pruitt to run the Tide defensive unit.

With all the moving parts, questions surfaced whether the Alabama defense — minus Smart — would take a step back. It didn’t happen, though, thanks to Pruitt and a talented front.

The best things that happened to Pruitt upon re-entry into Alabama airspace were the decisions by Tim Williams, Jonathan Allen, Reuben Foster and Eddie Jackson to return for another season. Those choices came even though the Tide had just won the preceding national title. The defensive standouts wanted more.

Allen, in particular, stood out in his final go-round. The lineman finished with 69 tackles, including 16 for a loss (10.5 sacks), landing on some Heisman ballots.

He scored one of 11 defensive touchdowns that the unit amassed during the course of the season, an amazing figure that often allowed the team to turn close games into blowouts.

Including the College Football Playoff semifinal victory against Washington, seven of the Tide’s 15 non-offensive touchdowns (also including special teams scores) came in the second quarter.

Even after Clemson’s late success in the title game, Alabama still allowed just 3.99 yards per play - first in the country by nearly a quarter-yard over Michigan. Alabama had not finished No. 1 in that key metric since 2011.

A jaw-dropping 2.01 yards-per-carry average allowed carried the group to that finish. The Tide gave up only 959 rushing yards (five touchdowns) in 15 games. The next closest Power 5 finisher was Louisville, which gave up a 1.1 additional yards per carry.

Allen, Williams and Foster included, coaches often noted that this was the fastest Alabama front seven they had ever seen — a sure nod to Saban adapting talent to better stop spread- and tempo-type offenses.

Pruitt and Saban have a great deal of defensive talent to replace. Good thing Alabama has held the top spot in the 247Sports Composite Team Recruiting Rankings the past seven years.

Something tells us that Pruitt and the Tide will be OK in 2017 (and beyond) — but it was a hearty welcome back in 2016 for the former Bama assistant.

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