Pruett returns after three-year absence

By Andy Bitter Media General News Service
Published: August 14, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — After three years away from coaching football, Bob Pruett had developed an intense itch to get back in the game.
The former Marshall head man had plenty of overtures. Anyone with a national championship to his credit is sure to be pursued by a bevy of football programs, but in Pruett’s mind the job had to be just right, in position and placement.
He knew he found his match when old friend Al Groh called last winter looking for a defensive coordinator.
“It had to be the special situation,” said Pruett, adding the perfect Groh-ism to cap it off. “And I think this is one that fits my set of circumstances.”
After 40 years of friendship, the two are so close even their vocabularies match. From their time trying to gain a foothold in the coaching industry in the mid-’60s to a four-year run on the same staff at Wake Forest in the mid-’80s to running their respective college programs after the turn of the century, Groh and Pruett have maintained a close relationship, both personal and professional.
So when Groh needed a like-minded individual to fill his defensive coordinator position after Mike London took the head job at Richmond in January, he didn’t need to look far.
“I’d say that you could pretty much say we think along the same lines in everything,” Pruett said.
While a departure from Groh’s previous coordinator hires at UVa — Al Golden, Ron Prince, Mike Groh and London were all up-and-comers when they were hired — the 65-year-old Pruett, who was 94-23 in nine seasons at Marshall before retiring for health reasons in the spring of 2005, is in no way a stopgap solution.
He’s a resource, and a valuable one at that.
“He’s definitely one of those guys who you really can’t help but respect,” Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim said. “From where he’s been and what he’s done, just everything he says you soak it up like a sponge.”
“I’ve learned so much more from him this past offseason than I might have learned in the past two years,” senior safety Byron Glaspy said. “His knowledge is overwhelming, just the little things he can teach you.”
Though he oversees the entire defense, just as he did in previous stops of his coaching career at Marshall, Wake Forest, Tulane and Florida, Pruett’s specialty lies in the defensive backfield.
Glaspy was impressed with Pruett’s attention to detail. He’ll critique footwork with a dissecting eye, making sure a defensive back backpedals correctly, keeping his shoulders squared to the line at all times.
“He’s real nitpicky,” Glaspy said, “but he definitely knows what he’s talking about.”
Groh has made the defensive calls the last few years, something that doesn’t figure to change, since Pruett has not run a 3-4 system in decades. Pruett has no problem with that.
“Your responsibility as an assistant coach is to develop a picture that the head coach wants,” he said. “And if you don’t like that, then you go and get another job. As long as you’re there, you have to develop his picture, because he’s the one who has the whole scope of what he wants in the whole program.”
That extends to recruiting, where Pruett has been a boon. Known as a tireless recruiter, Pruett hasn’t slowed down with age. His contacts in the state date back 40 years, when he was a head coach or assistant at five different Northern Virginia high schools from 1963-78.
Though assigned to the Tidewater area — a hot bed for Virginia Tech the last few years — Pruett has already made inroads. The Cavaliers have more than kept pace with the Hokies in the 757 area code for 2009, securing three commits (DB LoVante’ Battle from Phoebus, DB Laroy Reynolds from Maury and RB Perry Jones from Oscar Smith).
“I think it’s a lot of fun because I try to be a people person,” Pruett said. “I really enjoy interacting with the coaches and when it’s time, with the parents and the players.”
He’s maintained that passion on the practice field as well. Though more low key than the boisterous London, who was known to throw a chest bump or two, Pruett still has an enthusiastic streak.
“The season hasn’t started yet,” Sintim said. “We’ll see if he does a back flip or a chest bump.”