Jeremy Pruitt’s take on The Cocktail Party being played in Jacksonville (he's not a fan)

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Jeremy Pruitt spoke up about Georgia’s facilities when he was on staff with the Bulldogs, and on Monday night he explained why the school is at another disadvantage with its scheduling model.



Prutt was the Georgia defensive coordinator for Mark Richt in 2014 and 2015 before returning to Alabama to win a national championship as the Tide's defensive coordinator and becoming the head coach at Tennessee from 2018-2020. Pruitt coached with the New York Giants last season, and is currently taking a year off from coaching.

“I do know that just from a recruiting standpoint if I’m one of the top players in the country … (Florida) is going to be a game that’s going to draw some of the best players in the country,” Pruitt said.

“These prospects are going to choose the games and decide what game do I want to go see Georgia play? What game do I want to see Alabama, maybe Clemson, LSU, whoever?”

This season is an example: The Bulldogs have only three SEC games in Athens: Auburn, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

The other games in Athens — Samford, Kent State and Georgia Tech — aren’t likely to attract elite recruits, either.

“That (Florida game) may be the only time that they possibly could get one of the best players in the country on their campus to see what a game-day atmosphere is in Athens,” Pruitt said.

Smart reiterated last fall the Bulldogs sacrifice a lot by giving up what would be a marquee SEC home game at Sanford Stadium.

There’s no interest in Georgia bringing recruits to the game in Jacksonville because there’s no time for the coaches or players to visit with them and those recruits aren’t going to drive 340 miles to visit the UGA campus or facilities that weekend.

Some recruits who attend the game, may, however, drive 69 miles to Gainesville to the Florida campus.

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