Don't Be Shocked by Alabama Rookie Coach Leading the Defensive Backs

Larry Burton (Panama City Beach, FL) I've had friends call me in a panic asking what Nick Saban must be thinking to move Kirby Smart away from the defensive backs to linebackers and put in a rookie college coach at the position where Alabama, at least on paper, has the most new players and the biggest problems.

The reason is simple. He knows his job, rookie or not, and he's a rookie only at this level, not as a coach and certainly not a rookie as that position coach.

Jeremy Pruitt's pedigree reads like a blueprint toward this job. As a high school athlete he was a great defensive back in his own right and after playing two years for Middle Tennessee State where he started as both a safety and corner back, he transferred to Alabama, and fulfilled a lifelong dream of getting to wear Crimson.

There he played in 16 games and was part of a team that was Western Division Champions and beat Michigan in the Outback Bowl.

But his life with the Tide was not yet over.

The next year, he started his coaching career by being a student assistant coach with Alabama. He worked under Curly Hallman as a defensive backs coach. Then he left and spent a year on his father's staff at Plainview High, his old alma mater, as defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator before leaving for one year to go to West Alabama to finish his B.A. degree and also serve as their defensive backs coach.

After getting his degree he went back to Plainview for a year, and then set off for Ft. Payne, Alabama to coach again with his father and was there from 2001 to 2003, serving as defensive backs coach as well as defensive coordinator.

Then he moved to Hoover, a huge 6-A school with high hopes. He was there from 2004 to 2006 coaching the defensive backs for three years, and serving two years as defensive coordinator. During this time they had back-to-back championships.

In 2007 he was tapped as Director of Player Development by Nick Saban and most thought this was like a coach-in-waiting position with a background like that.

The players of course already know and respect him as a man and a coach and he brings years of great defensive back experience with him. So what seemed like a risky move on Saban's part at first glance by a casual fan now seems like a great choice with closer scrutiny.

Jeremy brings a wealth of experience, both as a player and coach, and the players know he understands what they go through in practice and those nervous moments when you're one-on-one with a ball in the air.

So just like with the players Nick Saban has brought in over the years, the same can be said of the coaching staff; he doesn't rebuild it, he simply reloads it.