New Tennessee head football coach Jeremy Pruitt speaks to the audience before the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2017, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Calvin Mattheis)NEW ORLEANS - Just after 8 a.m. last Saturday, Alabama co-defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi sat at a circular table in the corner of an end zone in the Superdome with a sheet of diagrammed football plays peeking out from under a notebook.
The offical reason of business at this early hour two days before the Sugar Bowl was a media day, and the Crimson Tide had drawn the early shift of the two-hour event.
But just in case there were a few moments between reporters approaching him to talk about Alabama's College Football Playoff preparation, Lupoi had his study guide to ensure no second was wasted as the Clemson game inched closer.
It was a subtle indicator of how seriously the Tide defense has taken preparation under the leadership of Jeremy Pruitt.
"It's been an honor for me to compete with him for two years," Lupoi said. "The way he prepares for opponents, there are a lot of things in preparation for the defense that he's just done a really, really nice job with. It's been really neat for me to be a part of."
Pruitt and Lupoi engineered an impressive defensive showing in Alabama's 24-6 win over Clemson on Monday night. The victory ensured Pruitt will spend one final game as the defensive coordinator of the Crimson Tide before he devotes his full attention to his new role as the head coach at Tennessee.
Colleagues of Pruitt at Alabama and three Clemson coaches who were on staff at Alabama when Pruitt was a player there in the mid-1990s spoke to the Times Free Press over the weekend about what defines him as a football coach and what the Volunteers can expect from the man charged with restoring them to glory.
Alabama linebackers coach Tosh Lupoi works his linebackers through drills during football practice, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2017, at the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Vasha Hunt/AL.com via AP)Their assessments of the 43-year-old northeast Alabama native boiled down to three themes: Pruitt has a deep understanding of football schematics, an obsessive work ethic and great people skills.
"The biggest thing I would say about Jeremy is he was a very smart player and instinctive player, a tough guy," said Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, who was an Alabama graduate assistant and then the wide receivers coach while Pruitt played at Alabama during the 1995 and 1996 seasons.
Following their time at Alabama, Swinney and Pruitt continued to cross paths as Swinney recruited the areas where Pruitt earned his start as a high school assistant coach. The two climbed the ranks of the profession, and in recent times Swinney has seen Pruitt on the opposite sidelines as the defensive coordinator at Florida State, Georgia and Alabama.
"He's a great coach," Swinney said. "He's been well-groomed, and he's going to do a good job at Tennessee."
Swinney noted that Pruitt is the son of a legendary high school coach. By the time Pruitt transferred to Alabama from Middle Tennessee State for the 1995 season, his understanding of the game was evident to Mickey Conn.
"He came in and he knew how to line up," said Conn, who was a graduate assistant at Alabama at the time and is now the safeties coach at Clemson. "And he knew how to line everybody else up, too. That's the biggest thing I remember about him. It was like having another coach on the field."
Even with the title of defensive coordinator, Pruitt takes it upon himself to line players up at Alabama practices now, according to his colleagues.
Alabama defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley called Pruitt "a technician" on the practice field.
"He's hands-on," Ansley said. "He's got a lot of fire, a lot of energy. He knows exactly how he wants it and holds his players to that standard and gets them to do it."
Ansley knows Tennessee, having served as defensive backs coach under Derek Dooley in 2012. He said he expects Pruitt to bring a professional attitude and stability to the head coaching position in Knoxville.
"I think he's going to bring an edge with toughness to the program," Ansley said. "Tennessee is a great place and has every resource to be successful. I think he's going to tap into that and reunite the fan base, the old Vol Nation and get everybody pulling in the same direction."
Ansley praised Pruitt for his ability to understand the types of coaching that individual players need, saying he can coach a player hard or pull him aside and give one-on-one instruction.
Lupoi agreed.
"At times, when he needs to, he does a very good job of holding the guys accountable," Lupoi said. "Whatever is necessary to do that, he's a leader, and it's clear to see guys are going to follow a good leader."
Conn also had a chance to see Pruitt's communication and people skills from a unique vantage point. After he was an Alabama graduate assistant during Pruitt's playing days, he spent 16 successful season at Grayson High School in Loganville, Ga., before joining Swinney's staff at Clemson.
While working in the high school ranks, Conn saw Pruitt as a recruiter.
"Number one, work ethic," Conn said. "I think he's got a great work ethic, which he had at Alabama as a player, too. Then I think his people skills. I think he's really good with high school coaches and communicating with them and knowing how to reach those guys in recruiting. I think his people skills are great. I think he's a really smart coach.
"He understands the game really well. I mean, he was born into it. I'm proud of him for this opportunity he's getting it."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.
Later this week: Alabama defensive starters share what it's like to play for Jeremy Pruitt