New Georgia defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt had the same role last season at Florida State, which won the national championship.
University of Georgia NCAA college football coach Mark Richt speaks to members of the media in Athens, Ga., in this file photo.Georgia football coach Mark Richt insisted his secondary under first-year defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt was improving, even after the Bulldogs surrendered 264 passing yards and three aerial touchdowns to Tennessee’s Justin Worley on Sept. 27.
The two performances since would indicate that’s indeed the case.
After allowing 188 passing yards to Vanderbilt in a 44-17 romp on Oct. 4, the Bulldogs held Missouri to 97 yards through the air in last Saturday’s 34-0 skunking. Georgia had an interception for a touchdown against the Commodores and picked off four passes against the Tigers.
“I think the communication in the back end is getting better and better,” Richt said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “I just think they’re understanding more of what Pruitt wants back there, and they’re doing a good job of getting everybody on the same page. Every once in a while it may not be exactly what you’ve practiced, but if everybody communicates and is coordinated, you’re still sound in what you do.
“The problem is when one guy thinks you’re playing one thing and another guy thinks you’re playing something else. That’s when things get crazy.”