I’ve been out of pocket for a few weeks and am just now catching up on all the coaching changes. Wow! This is big. So far I give Pruitt an A+ because I think he’s getting the right guys into the right spots. A lot of times when you have old pros, so to speak, it can be tough to get those guys to do things “your way”, whether it’s on-the-field issues, personnel management, or in recruiting. Sometimes it can seem like things are just a bit out of sync. My early assessment is that the guys Pruitt is bringing in on defense will be more of a seamless extension of himself. I think we’ll be better at knowing what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and I also think we’ll be even better at recruiting on both sides of the ball. We’ve been trying to reunite Graham with Chaney since the end of the 2018 season. Mission accomplished. jmo.
The big thing about all these staff changes is that we probably aren’t changing anything schematically this year on either side of the ball. We are, however, still getting bigger, faster, stronger, more talented, and better. Last season, by most accounts we should have been 9-3 as a minimum but we incredulously stumbled right out of the gate. We fixed that and finished strong both on the field and in recruiting. I think with these coaching changes so far we will be able to better streamline the vision Pruitt has for our team, get everybody (staff) enthusiastically on the same page so that we minimize any indecision, hesitation, and confusion that sometimes infects our players if there’s even the slightest gap in what they’re hearing from their position coach, the coordinator, and the head coach. jmo.
Removing the possibility of even the slightest friction between the moving parts on our staff should allow our players to play a lot faster and with more confidence because they’ll be more connected to the coordinators and the head coach. That along with, as noted earlier, the likelihood of even better recruiting should pay huge dividends for us this year and going forward. jmo.
I’d like to salute the staff members who are moving on and express my genuine appreciation for their contribution to rebuilding our football team. We desperately needed their teaching experience for the roster that they inherited. Pruitt wasn’t going to be able to do everything in every position group by himself. Those departing staff members have provided for us a foundation of knowledge on our roster that was missing when they first arrived on campus. We are a better team for they having passed our way. jmo.