Bob Kesling had an interview with Pruitt on Vol Calls last night. I transcribed the interview for those who may have missed the broadcast or don’t have time to listen to the archived recording.
Vol Calls 09162020
Bob Kesling: Coach Pruitt, it’s been kind of uncharted waters so far in this preseason camp but you can see the start line. It’s a week from Saturday. That’s got to be a comforting note for you and the players and your staff.
Jeremy Pruitt: Well, I think it will be great for everybody in our program to have a chance to go compete and play against a well-coached football team. I know that the times are certainly a little different than most are used to but our players are working hard to make the most of it.
Bob Kesling: How difficult has it been in camp from an organizational standpoint, just making sure you can get enough guys on the field to practice every day? Has that been the biggest challenge?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well, obviously we’ve had a lot of guys that have missed practice days. I’ve said it numerous times, it’s been a lot Bob, so the only way you can get better at really anything is to do it over and over and over again. We’ve not had that luxury much during this fall camp but our kids have stayed positive. Our coaches have stayed positive. We’ve been creative in how we practice, trying to make the most of our opportunities. We’ll continue to do that. Hopefully we’ll get some guys back here in the next week and we’ll have a chance to play well next Saturday.
Bob Kesling: Is depth going to be a bigger issue this year than any other year you have coached because on Wednesday you might not know exactly who you’ve got out there so some of the people lower on the depth chart, they’ve got to be ready to step up, don’t they?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well, you know, over the last couple of years we’ve not had a whole lot of depth at any position so we do have some now, but with the circumstances, not all of them have had an opportunity to learn and grow and mature as a college football player should at this point in time, but the kids are working hard. They’re staying positive and I feel like we’ve had 3 or 4 really good weeks of practice, with good energy and the guys focused on what we’re trying to get done, but again, until you get out there and play, especially for some of these younger guys, we might not know exactly what we’re going to get.
Bob Kesling: With so much uncertainty in college football, the SEC has been pretty steadfast from the beginning that we’re going to play football. We don’t know what it looks like but we’re going to get on the field. Coach Fulmer has had that same message. So have you. Has that been a confidence boost for the players, knowing that you guys have got their backs and that you really want to get on the field?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well, you go all the way back to March, when really our circumstances changed, there’s not a lot of history, obviously, of this virus and definitely playing football is something that not anybody knew anything about so you’re trying to gather as much information as you possibly can and it’s our jobs, being in leadership positions, to try to find a way, not to throw our hands up and say we can’t do this, so that’s what we’ve been doing and obviously the circumstances change from day to day, and they have since March, so that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to be the problem-solvers and I appreciate the work and effort of our administration with Chancellor Plowman, Coach Fulmer, everybody associated with the University, to continue to be positive to try to find a way so we could actually put a product out on the field.
Bob Kesling: How do you gauge your team, a week and a half from kick-off? Are you where you want to be or is there any way to tell with everything that has gone on so far?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well Bob you know me good enough. You know we’re never going to be where I want to be. Right? But based off the circumstances I’ve been excited about our players and their attitude, their work ethic, and I know some of them have been frustrated because of their lack of opportunities to practice but it’s part of the circumstances and we’re figuring it out as we go. You’re always going to have adversity every year and we’ve got to figure out a way to overcome it.
Bob Kesling: On the field, the practice field, what have you liked about this team?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well they’ve been competitive. There’s some experience coming back. The guys have really tried to do what we’ve asked them to do. For the coaches, I’m sure it’s been a lot easier for us to handle these circumstances than it has been for the players. It’s just that the game of football wasn’t made to practice one day and then take seven days off. You have to create the right habits. You have to get accustomed to football shape. If you’re a guy who handles the ball, you’ve got to be able to secure the football, just the fundamentals of blocking and tackling and playing together, so there’s lots of things there that I’m sure has been frustrating for the players but they continue to work hard and keep trying to find a way.
Bob Kesling: It’s a physical game. Have you had enough hitting or it that a concern that maybe it hasn’t been as physical as you would have liked for it to have been in camp?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well, I think for some guys they’ve got plenty and that would be the ones that have not missed any practice time. There’s other guys that have got very little at all and that’s definitely concerning. It’s concerning on the offensive side if you’re handling the football. If you’re playing in the offensive line or tight end, you’re doing combination blocks or pass protecting, there’s nothing like live reps. Same thing on the defensive side, striking blockers, getting off blocks, finishing on tackling a guy in open field, finding ways to get the ball off of them. Absolutely, there is going to be rust if you don’t do it. If there wouldn’t why would we even practice? Right? It is what it is and as a coaching staff we’ve tried to find ways and we’ll continue to try to find ways to simulate these opportunities for the players in practice so they will be prepared to play come next Saturday.
Bob Kesling: You’ve had to replace 2 guys, wide receivers, that were really productive last year. Can you talk about some of the young guys stepping up at wide receiver? How do you think that group is coming along right now?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well I feel like we have talent at that position but lots of inexperience. That’s been one of the positions that’s been hit the hardest when it comes to contact tracing. We’ve practiced the last 4 or 5 practices with maybe only 4 scholarship wide receivers, maybe not even that many. It’s been tough to really evaluate these guys. We’ve had some of them that have practiced very little in fall camp. I guess the best way to say it is there’s a lot of talent there but a lot of inexperience and really a lot of unknowns for us as a coaching staff.
Bob Kesling: So unknowns for a coaching staff, what does that mean for your quarterback? How has Jarrett dealt with this situation because that’s a rhythm position and trying to work together with your wideouts. Has that been a concern so far?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well the good thing for Jarrett is back in July he had an opportunity to throw with these guys during the summertime, to create a little bit of rhythm. There’s been a lot of these guys that have been out during fall camp and they’re coming back now so over the next 10 days we’ve got to spend a lot of time to create timing to where we’d have confidence throwing the football.
Bob Kesling: How about Jarrett Guarantano? What kind of camp has he had? Have you liked his leadership ability so far? Has he taken control of the team?
Jeremy Pruitt: Yeah, I feel like Jarrett has really improved every day. He continues to have a better understanding about what Coach Chaney wants him to do offensively. Again, the big thing to me, as a quarterback how do you impact the people around you, talking about the other 10 guys out there on the field? Do we take care of the football? He’s working hard to eliminate any mistakes.
Bob Kesling: Henry To’o To’o had a tremendous freshman year. What kind of step can he take this year and how important is he to your defense right now?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well, he needs to be the signal caller, to kind of be the quarterback of the defense. You definitely can see that it’s his second year in the system. There’s some familiarity there. He’s a guy that goes and trains every single day to be the best that he can be, whether it’s in the classroom, in the weight room, or on the football field. He’s almost like an extended coach. He’s always up here. If he has free time he’s in here studying film trying to find out how he can be a better player.
Bob Kesling: He’s really mature for his age isn’t he? He was mature last year as a freshman.
Jeremy Pruitt: Yeah, I think it goes back to his family with Iese and Miss Rima, the background, the accountability that he grew up in. He played at a really good program there in De La Salle so when he got here he was used to working. He was used to being held accountable and very dependable and it showed.
Bob Kesling: Have you been able to install as much of your defense as you would like with maybe some of the limitations in practice? Are you happy with where you defense is right now?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well, we’ve been able to put everything in because we’ve had a lot of these walk-thrus in July so we were really ahead of schedule there. With losing some guys in and out the technical part of playing with good technique, good pad level, getting off blockers, the whole thing again with a good football team is keep your edges, don’t let the ball get thrown over your head, and don’t give up ones for ones. Don’t let one of their guys block one of yours. If you can do that you’ve got a chance to have a good defensive team. We’ve really got to work hard about getting off of blocks, setting edges, keeping receivers cut off in the deep part of the field, and finding a way to get some turnovers.
Bob Kesling: Have you had to develop more patience to get through all of this than you’ve had in the past? I mean have you had to understand this is something we can’t control; we’ve got to make the best of it? How tough has that been for you?
Jeremy Pruitt: Well Bob I really kind of consider myself a very patient man. Just ask Casey. We knew what we were getting into when we started this deal. Our number one priority has been to maintain the safety of everybody in our organization. I feel like Dr. Klenck and Jeronimo have done an outstanding job doing that, educating our players, our staff, our parents. We’ve really focused on that and football has really kind of been the second deal. When we’ve had opportunities to do it, we’ve done it as hard and as fast as we can, and we’ll continue to do that.
Bob Kesling: Now you get into South Carolina prep a little bit and game week next week on Monday so it’s coming up on us isn’t it?
Jeremy Pruitt: It is and it’s interesting because you do a lot of offseason studies on your opponents, looking at their personnel. I think South Carolina was originally our game 5 and right before we started it got moved up to the first game so there’ll be lots of unknowns there. The offensive coordinator, Mike Bobo, is a guy that I’ve worked with before. I feel like he’s one of the best offensive coordinators in the country so it’ll definitely be challenging for us to be able to handle what they do offensively and you’ve got coach Muschamp on the defensive side so they’ll be very well coached. They have a talented roster. It’ll definitely be a huge challenge for us.
Bob Kesling: Coach, have a productive rest of this week and we’ll talk to you next week on game day.
Jeremy Pruitt: Alrighty Bob.
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