Lots of chatter that Pruitt is the choice

[Coach34]

if he will accept. I hope Cohen/Keenum are sure about this before pulling the trigger

[mparkerfd20]

I'm all in on Pruitt IF he can bring in a top notch OC. Otherwise, meh.

[Lloyd Christmas]

if he will accept. I hope Cohen/Keenum are sure about this before pulling the trigger

I trust Cohen.

[ShotgunDawg]

I think this just speaks to how far along in the process Keenum & Cohen were before Dan left.

This decision seems quick, but for all we know, they have been vetting this for a month

[dawgs]

I want an offensive HC with the money to pay a stud DC. Statistically, that’s how to get the best results, especially at a non-elite program.

[Doggie_Style]

I'm all in on Pruitt IF he can bring in a top notch OC. Otherwise, meh.

Pruitt/Nappier I think is a winner.....HailState!

[Lloyd Christmas]

if he will accept. I hope Cohen/Keenum are sure about this before pulling the trigger

I hope Cohen told him he needs to start now..can't wait for bowl game/playoff prep

[Perpetual Underachiever]

I want an offensive HC with the money to pay a stud DC. Statistically, that’s how to get the best results, especially at a non-elite program.

I agree that is the ideal arrangement, but under these circumstances I think Pruitt would be an excellent hire...especially if he can land a quality OC.

[Anonymous]

I want an offensive HC with the money to pay a stud DC. Statistically, that’s how to get the best results, especially at a non-elite program.

Forgive me but I don't believe you have the statistics to back this up.

[bulldogcountry1]

I bet Cohen started researching immediately after he announced Cannizaro last year. This isn't a knee jerk decision.

[ScoobaDawg]

I hope Cohen told him he needs to start now..can't wait for bowl game/playoff prep

That's the potential hangup but I don't really see any chance of Bama being in the National Championship picture after this next weekend.
That's the only reason someone stays at another program.

I'd prefer to have similar as what we had.. an offensive stud especially at developing QB's and a 1+mil plus DC.
If we have to flip the script and have a stud DC as HC and then pay the money for a up and coming OC then I guess that works as well... we jsut all have to hope for the best.
I still get nervous.. this is the Hire that will make or break John... Baseball is his world so Cann was an easy thing to do. Sure he was in the room with Dan.. but just what does that mean..
We are finding out now...

[Churchill]

Could Pruitt have more than 1 offer to consider ?

[Dawgowar]

C34, that Dan was eying an exit could not have been a secret to Cohen. Suspect he kept a list and that phone calls testing interest went out last week. Could be an effective hire. Tying to keep an open mind on this. I just don’t want a check cashing retread. Pruitt definitely is not the tha. Hopefully, if hired we could find some good offensive minded coaches - cuz they ain’t on that Bama staff

[PMDawg]

I can't say I would be disappointed (or ecstatic), but I would hope they would interview more than one person.

[Spiderman]

I want an offensive HC with the money to pay a stud DC. Statistically, that’s how to get the best results, especially at a non-elite program.

Yes it is.

[cheewgumm]

I have apprehension about any Bama assisant. Tend to think its more Saban than them. Regardless, I have faith in Cohen, so let's see.

[Coach34]

C34, that Dan was eying an exit could not have been a secret to Cohen. Suspect he kept a list and that phone calls testing interest went out last week. Could be an effective hire. Tying to keep an open mind on this. I just don’t want a check cashing retread. Pruitt definitely is not the tha. Hopefully, if hired we could find some good offensive minded coaches - cuz they ain’t on that Bama staff

Oh, I know Cohen has been working for awhile on all this. He didnt just start yesterday. One guy told me he has been at it for a couple of weeks now. I'll support their choice- just would prefer an offensive guy.

[Liverpooldawg]

if he will accept. I hope Cohen/Keenum are sure about this before pulling the trigger

Looking at the list I?m good with that. There are several there I could live with. I hope Monken is just something that stemmed fro the plane rumor though. That would be.......underwhelming.

[ShotgunDawg]

I want an offensive HC with the money to pay a stud DC. Statistically, that’s how to get the best results, especially at a non-elite program.

You can only hire coaches that are on the market.

It's far more important to hire the best coach than to hire a profile

[Big4Dawg]

Saw this staff and got excited:

OC/QB - Billy Napier (ASU OC)
RB - Robert Gillespie (Tenn RB coach)
WR - Greg Knox
Co-OC/OL - Will Friend (Colorado State OC)
TE - Looney

[Liverpooldawg]

I have apprehension about any Bama assisant. Tend to think its more Saban than them. Regardless, I have faith in Cohen, so let's see.

Kirby Smart says hello.

[Coach34]

I have apprehension about any Bama assisant. Tend to think its more Saban than them. Regardless, I have faith in Cohen, so let's see.

Smart is killing it and for all the shit Mac got at Fla- he is 44-28 as a HC. Throw Kiffin's 9-3 in there this year and Bama assistants are doing well

[Cary Hudson's little bro]

Could Pruitt have more than 1 offer to consider ?

Arky? UT? A&M? no way man...he's born and raised in alabama...

[ShotgunDawg]

I have apprehension about any Bama assisant. Tend to think its more Saban than them. Regardless, I have faith in Cohen, so let's see.

I do as well, but Pruitt has succeeded at FSU, UGA, & Bama. It ain't just Saban

[Leroy Jenkins]

I have apprehension about any Bama assisant. Tend to think its more Saban than them. Regardless, I have faith in Cohen, so let's see.

Pruitt had a job before he was a “bama assistant”. He was good then too.

[WeWonItAll(Most)]

Any promising offensive coordinator we hire will be picked up as a head coach somewhere or as an offensive coordinator for a school that can throw a stupid amount of $$ at him after a year or two. We'd have to hope that we could continuously make good offensive coordinator hires every two years or so. I'd prefer an offensive minded coach because I'd prefer stability on offense over stability on defense.

[BrunswickDawg]

Saw this staff and got excited:

OC/QB - Billy Napier (ASU OC)
RB - Robert Gillespie (Tenn RB coach)
WR - Greg Knox
Co-OC/OL - Will Friend (Colorado State OC)
TE - Looney

Definitely a step up from the Country Club

[Ari Gold]

I want an offensive HC with the money to pay a stud DC. Statistically, that?s how to get the best results, especially at a non-elite program.

Tcu disagrees .

[Sacrifice]

I?m good with Pruitt, I like the fact that he?s been successful everywhere he has been. I know he?s had elite talent but I?ve seen plenty of times where coaches have great talent and do nothing with it.

My only concern is besides Saban and Smart this year, I can?t think of a lot of DCs that are successful head coaches. I could be wrong but it seems like most HCs are former OCs now.

[Ari Gold]

Definitely a step up from the Country Club

Not a fan of Knox at WR coach. with a brand new staff I want a True WR coach.
Just time for Knox to move on.

[BrunswickDawg]

I?m good with Pruitt, I like the fact that he?s been successful everywhere he has been. I know he?s had elite talent but I?ve seen plenty of times where coaches have great talent and do nothing with it.

My only concern is besides Saban and Smart this year, I can?t think of a lot of DCs that are successful head coaches. I could be wrong but it seems like most HCs are former OCs now.

From what I see, we have elite talent on D. That means Pruitt steps in with a ready made team that would fit him. OC being able to work with our Run-Spread Option talent is more concerning.

[Spiderman]

Any promising offensive coordinator we hire will be picked up as a head coach somewhere or as an offensive coordinator for a school that can throw a stupid amount of $$ at him after a year or two. We'd have to hope that we could continuously make good offensive coordinator hires every two years or so. I'd prefer an offensive minded coach because I'd prefer stability on offense over stability on defense.

yep

[BrunswickDawg]

Not a fan of Knox at WR coach. with a brand new staff I want a True WR coach.
Just time for Knox to move on.

I'd see Knox as a bridge coach - helps maintain next class or two then moves on. Knox was a WR coach for most of his career - Dan is the one who moved him to RB so Gonzo could come on board.

[UMCDawg16]

Oh, I know Cohen has been working for awhile on all this. He didnt just start yesterday. One guy told me he has been at it for a couple of weeks now. I'll support their choice- just would prefer an offensive guy.

I get what people are saying concerning wanting an offensive guy. But we all know the SEC is ruled by defense. These flash in the pan offensive guys will only take you so far. I?d much rather have a proven winner that knows the SEC and knows recruiting.

[Dallas_Dawg]

Which one of you already updated Pruitt?s Wiki page?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Pruitt

[Really Clark?]

Smart is killing it and for all the shit Mac got at Fla- he is 44-28 as a HC. Throw Kiffin's 9-3 in there this year and Bama assistants are doing well

Dantonio has been pretty good at MSU as well. Jimbo has a natty

[Spiderman]

I get what people are saying concerning wanting an offensive guy. But we all know the SEC is ruled by defense. These flash in the pan offensive guys will only take you so far. I?d much rather have a proven winner that knows the SEC and knows recruiting.

I'd like a proven winner that knows the SEC and recruiting too.

How many games has Pruitt won as a HC at any college football team?

[Dawg Tired]

Not a fan of Knox at WR coach. with a brand new staff I want a True WR coach.
Just time for Knox to move on.

I don?t know how good of a job he did, but Knox was WR coach at Auburn around the Cam days.

[Cary Hudson's little bro]

I'd see Knox as a bridge coach - helps maintain next class or two then moves on. Knox was a WR coach for most of his career - Dan is the one who moved him to RB so Gonzo could come on board.

I hope Knox stays bc he is our New Orleans guy. Been in the SEC for 20 years. hope he stays!

[MeridianDog]

If our new DC goes with Dan and he likely did, then we need a good defensive coach (either HC or DC). Bama has a great D and we should benefit from that decision.

Now the OC becomes critical, both from performance and recruiting.

I have no idea what kind of recruiter Pruitt would be. I just know we need to keep good classes coming in over the next few years if we plan on actually moving well past OM and gaining on Bama, LSU and Auburn. If we want to contend in SECW, all of those things must happen. The future will be equally important to game day performance.

[MetEdDawg]

These offenses in this league can all put up points except for a couple. We are one that can put up points. But why did we win 8 games this year? Because of defense. In our 4 losses, we gave up 31, 49, 31, and 31. In our wins we gave up 0, 21, 7, 10, 7, 14, 23, and 21.

Tell me defense isn't the difference. In our losses, we gave up 35.5 points per game. In our wins we gave up 13 points per game. Tell me defense isn't more important to be an upper echelon team in this league. Grantham helped us some, but the recruiting aspect that Pruitt can bring to the table will help us on defense. We are great in our front 7. But we need secondary guys to stop these teams from scoring over the top. Dude knows DBs. He was one in college, he coached them in college, and learned from the master at Alabama about the secondary. This is the guy we need.

Add the pedigree of having coached under Saban, Fisher, and Richt, plus having coached at the biggest hot spot of talent in the state of Alabama in Hoover, and you make for one hell of a head coach.

[confucius say]

I'd like a proven winner that knows the SEC and recruiting too.

How many games has Pruitt won as a HC at any college football team?

Like who? A proven winner as a HC who knows the sec and is a + recruiter. Who is that? Give me Pruitt over sumlin.

[Percho]

Oh, I know Cohen has been working for awhile on all this. He didnt just start yesterday. One guy told me he has been at it for a couple of weeks now. I'll support their choice- just would prefer an offensive guy.

Is the old adage that defense wins championships wrong. I believe it is still correct but one does have to score more points than one used to.

Defense still wins but the scores are higher.

[Coach34]

Boom at SC is doing well
Odom is turning Mizzou back around
Stoops has Kentucky playing better and back in bowls
O was a success in Year 1
Patterson at TCU

Just some off the top of my head from this season

[MeridianDog]

Pruitt would not be my first choice, but I can get behind him quickly. Just worried about O side of the team - both recruiting and game day performance.

[BrunswickDawg]

I'd like a proven winner that knows the SEC and recruiting too.

How many games has Pruitt won as a HC at any college football team?

That is a mighty small list of potential hires there. Kiffen? Not a culture fit. Sumlin? Won no more than the last guy with infinite resources. Richt? Ain't Leaving Miami. McIllwain? Won at UF, but the crook culture there killed the team. Tubberville? LOL. Miles? All Hat, No Cowboy. Freeze? Boatz and Hoes Part II. Meyer? Yeah, right. Franklin? Leave PSU, really? Who else you got on that vast list of proven winners who know the SEC??

[mstatefan91]

Pruitt is a good choice if Pruitt can guarantee a good OC. If he doesn't have a name or multiple names in his interview with Cohen, then I think we should move on.

I think he will have a few guys already picked out though.

[Token Bammer]

Smart is killing it and for all the shit Mac got at Fla- he is 44-28 as a HC. Throw Kiffin's 9-3 in there this year and Bama assistants are doing well

Jimbo and Boom too. Boom did well this season at USCar and went 11-1 at UF without a QB.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Saw this staff and got excited:

OC/QB - Billy Napier (ASU OC)
RB - Robert Gillespie (Tenn RB coach)
WR - Greg Knox
Co-OC/OL - Will Friend (Colorado State OC)
TE - Looney

I could get on board with that. Lets begin today.

[dawgs]

Forgive me but I don't believe you have the statistics to back this up.

Pretty sure there was a fivethirtyeight article breaking it down a couple years ago. Will have to figure out the right google terms to find it later, but ultimately offensive minded HCs had a significantly higher winning % than defensive minded HCs. Clearly someone like Saban is an exception and there?s been offensive minded failures.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

if he will accept. I hope Cohen/Keenum are sure about this before pulling the trigger

So Sexton is Pruitts agent I hear. Hear we go again. I bet this plan has been in the works for awhile.

[shoeless joe]

So Sexton is Pruitts agent I hear. Hear we go again. I bet this plan has been in the works for awhile.

At this point I think it's clear that sexton wasn't the issue.

[Liverpooldawg]

Tcu disagrees .

So does Alabama.

[Liverpooldawg]

Pretty sure there was a fivethirtyeight article breaking it down a couple years ago. Will have to figure out the right google terms to find it later, but ultimately offensive minded HCs had a significantly higher winning % than defensive minded HCs. Clearly someone like Saban is an exception and there?s been offensive minded failures.

Croom says there certainly have.

[Anonymous]

Pretty sure there was a fivethirtyeight article breaking it down a couple years ago. Will have to figure out the right google terms to find it later, but ultimately offensive minded HCs had a significantly higher winning % than defensive minded HCs. Clearly someone like Saban is an exception and there?s been offensive minded failures.


I mean you certainly weed out more competition on the way to becoming an OC. Typically you have 5 offensive coaches and 4 defensive, only one from each side works up to become the coordinator, which should mean that generally offensive coordinators are better that defensive coordinators.

This is a level above that though, we are talking about arguably the best DC in the country.

[preachermatt83]

I will be 100 percent sold on Pruitt if he hires a top notch OC.

[Coach34]

I will be 100 percent sold on Pruitt if he hires a top notch OC.

if the offensive staff from Page 1 of this thread is true- make the hire

[dawgs]

Tcu disagrees .

TCU was about to fade back into irrelevancy before Patterson committed to scoring 50 points every week.

[BeardoMSU]

if the offensive staff from Page 1 of this thread is true- make the hire

This. I'm actually super excited about this happening. Could be absolutely huge.

[dawgs]

These offenses in this league can all put up points except for a couple. We are one that can put up points. But why did we win 8 games this year? Because of defense. In our 4 losses, we gave up 31, 49, 31, and 31. In our wins we gave up 0, 21, 7, 10, 7, 14, 23, and 21.

Tell me defense isn't the difference. In our losses, we gave up 35.5 points per game. In our wins we gave up 13 points per game. Tell me defense isn't more important to be an upper echelon team in this league. Grantham helped us some, but the recruiting aspect that Pruitt can bring to the table will help us on defense. We are great in our front 7. But we need secondary guys to stop these teams from scoring over the top. Dude knows DBs. He was one in college, he coached them in college, and learned from the master at Alabama about the secondary. This is the guy we need.

Add the pedigree of having coached under Saban, Fisher, and Richt, plus having coached at the biggest hot spot of talent in the state of Alabama in Hoover, and you make for one hell of a head coach.

What about a program that keeps losing games 14-10 because the can’t score? ::glances at LSU::

[DLGDawg]

if the offensive staff from Page 1 of this thread is true- make the hire
But Lindsey over Napier IMO

[Coach34]

But Lindsey over Napier IMO

agreed- but I would be shocked if he left.

[NCDawg]

Definitely a step up from the Country Club

I remember when we recruited Will Friend to come to State. He turned us down and went to Alabama.

[1bigdawg]

Ideally, you want continuity on both sides of the ball. I don't understand people saying we might lose an OC every couple of years. We lost a DC virtually every year and that hurts, too. Also, our D recruiting has been better than our O recruiting...

[yjnkdawg]

Pruitt and Lindsey would be a homerun hire in my opinion. If Pruitt could convince him to leave Auburn?

[basedog]

I would take Jeff Brohm if he was interested.

[ShotgunDawg]

I would take Jeff Brohm if he was interested.

He has a ginormous buyout as does the Iowa State guy

[dawgs]

Ideally, you want continuity on both sides of the ball. I don't understand people saying we might lose an OC every couple of years. We lost a DC virtually every year and that hurts, too. Also, our D recruiting has been better than our O recruiting...

More reason to have a stud offensive mind as the HC imo. Being able to consistently develop QBs can mask a lot of other deficiencies, and we were looking at being set at QB for over a decade between dak, fitz, and whoever took the reigns between Thompson/Mayden and Mayden/Jones. Jones already decommitted. We need the consistency of QB development to make sure our down years are still 6-7 W seasons.

[PMDawg]

He has a ginormous buyout as does the Iowa State guy

So what? We aren't poor anymore. It comes down to how bad do we want to win.

This isn't directed at you, but I hope Cohen and company don't run from a steep price at the expense of our success.

[bstate]

Pruitt and Lindsey would be a homerun hire in my opinion. If Pruitt could convince him to leave Auburn?

What does Auburn pay Lindsey?

[mstatefan91]

Now being reported that Pruitt has indeed interviewed for the job.

[Really Clark?]

What does Auburn pay Lindsey?

The pay is irrelevant. They can pay as much as they want. It would be about issues earlier this year between him and Gus and his is buds with Pruitt. Doesn't mean we will get him but people get too hung up on the money part when looking at coaches in this conference. Schools in this league can spend as much and in several cases much more than we can for assistants. If Auburn wants him they can offer enough to keep him, unless he just wants out it wouldn't be about money.

[War Machine Dawg]

What does Auburn pay Lindsey?

Don't know, but money is only a part of the way I'd try to sell him. I'd appeal to his ego and tell him he's only ever going to get partial credit for Auburn's offensive success as long as Gus is the coach. Tell him he'd get all the credit here and basically be the HC for offense with minimal interference. Go do his thing and score points. Do that in 3ish years, take a HC job as one of the hottest names in the land.

[Spiderman]

Don't know, but money is only a part of the way I'd try to sell him. I'd appeal to his ego and tell him he's only ever going to get partial credit for Auburn's offensive success as long as Gus is the coach. Tell him he'd get all the credit here and basically be the HC for offense with minimal interference. Go do his thing and score points. Do that in 3ish years, take a HC job as one of the hottest names in the land.

Why not just hire him as HC instead of Pruitt? His offense fits our personnel, he's young, he's been in the SEC, he always has good offenses, and he whipped Pruitt's ass Saturday.

Makes more sense to me. Not saying it matters because he may write us off anyway no matter what,but who would have a better chance to keep Mayden committed? Which one can sit down and say here's the film of what I run and here are the results? Pruitt or Lindsey?

[dawgs]

If we don’t hire the right coach, keyteon Thompson transferring would set off a rick ray type era where we are wandering through the wilderness when we should be capitalizing on OM being nuked by the NCAA. That’s what I fear if we hire a defensive coach.