Pruitt's Monday press conference (video and notes)

[Freak]

 

[Freak]

Summarized.


-Alabama has to try hard not to score 100 most weeks.

[So far this sounds like an Alabama infomercial. ]

-On Maurer, should he have been pulled immediately after he hit his head? -- We didn't know he had a concussion until he came out. He jumped up and ran to the huddle and called the next play. People are out there having collisions every play. We could stop the game and evaluate everybody out there, but I don't think we have time for that.

-I didn't even know if we had orange pants. I asked, and we did, so I said let's wear them.

-We are changing the line of scrimmage more on offense. Still not where we need to be but we are improving.

-Brian took some reps last night at practice. He's going to be fine I'm sure.

-With Tee and Rumph on the sidelines. With Tee, we rotate a lot of guys at that position so having Tee on the sidelines gave us the best option for the substitution patterns of our receivers.

-Anybody that's been associated with this rivalry, it's a pretty special event. The third Saturday in October, whether you're on the Tennessee side or the Alabama side, this is the rivalry. This is the game. I grew up watching it, played in it, and have coached on it on both sides. It gets you going, so to speak.

-Ramel Keyton has made plays all camp going back to last spring. He's been a good playmaker. It's been hard to get some of the younger guys on the field. One of the reasons we moved Tee, we felt like our top three guys were playing more snaps than they should. We're working on about 67 scholarships right now, so those guys are playing special teams too.

-Flowers had a lower leg injury. We'll find out a little more this afternoon.

-Jerome Carvin played a lot of snaps last year and probably wasn't ready. We considered redshirting him this year. We've had so many moving parts this year, with the freshman, injuries, newcomers like Wright arriving in the fall, and the issues with Trey.

-On Warrior: I see a guy that has really deleloped over the last 22 months. His habits on and off the field, being a leader, in the classroom. He's matured. He's worked extremely hard. I see some confidence there that probably wasn't there when we first got here. I think he's playing his best football right now.

-On the game plan for this week. There's a high school team in Arkansas that onside kicks every time and never punts. We considered that this week. (I assume he's kidding but he didn't smile.)

/the end

 

[BloomuVol]

Thanks

 

[FranklinVFL]

-Alabama has to try hard not to score 100 most weeks.

So far this sounds like an Alabama infomercial.

-On Maurer, should he have been pulled immediately after he hit his head : We didn't know he had a concussion until he came out. People are out there having collisions every play. We could stop the game and evaluate everybody out there, but I don't think we have time for that.

-I didn't even know if we had orange pants. I asked and we did so I said let's wear them.

Agree on Maurer. He got up and went back to team. Did not appear groggy or out of it in any way. Initially did not see any signs of a concussion. If he staggered when he got up or went to MSST sidelines or was shaking his head trying to clear cobwebs, that would be one thing. But I don’t remember seeing those things immediately after.

 

[vollygirl]

Game plan: don't give 'em the ball.

LMBO!!!

 

[Gandalf]

-Alabama has to try hard not to score 100 most weeks.

So far this sounds like an Alabama infomercial.

-On Maurer, should he have been pulled immediately after he hit his head? -- We didn't know he had a concussion until he came out. He jumped up and ran to the huddle and called the next play. People are out there having collisions every play. We could stop the game and evaluate everybody out there, but I don't think we have time for that.

-I didn't even know if we had orange pants. I asked and we did so I said let's wear them.

-We are changing the line of scrimmage more on offense. Still not where we need to be but we are improving.

-Brian took some reps last night at practice. He's going to be fine I'm sure.

-With Tee and Rumph on the sidelines. With Tee, we rotate the guys at that position so having Tee on the sidelines gave us the best option for the substitution patterns of our receivers.

-Anybody that's been associated with this rivalry, it's a pretty special event. The third Saturday in October, whether you're on the Tennessee side or the Alabama side, this is the rivalry. This is the game. I grew up watching it, played in it, and have coached on it on both sides. It gets you going, so to speak.

-Ramel Keyton has made plays all camp going back to last spring. He's been a good playmaker. It's been hard to get some of the younger guys on the field. One of the reasons we moved Tee, we felt like our top three guys were playing more snaps than they should. We're working on about 67 scholarships right now, so these guys are playing special teams too.

-

"There really arent many weaknesses on the Alabama offense" I know its true but I hate to hear him saying it. Would be nice to hear something like "and that's where we are working to get to" or something of the sort.

Meanwhile, we only have 67 scholly guys? Dang, no wonder we are thin. We are missing almost a quarter of the team. That means we could "load up" with the full 25 allowable this year and if we lose 14 srs, we are still 7 short of full strength (85). That doesnt count any others we are redshirting or lose to general attrition or injury. Seems like it is going to be 2021 before we even get a full roster of scholly players.

 

[GTBATV]

I did appreciate his sarcasm on telling them that guys are on the field running into each other on every play.

 

[FranklinVFL]

"There really arent many weaknesses on the Alabama offense" I know its true but I hate to hear him saying it. Would be nice to hear something like "and that's where we are working to get to" or something of the sort.

Meanwhile, we only have 67 scholly guys? Dang, no wonder we are thin. We are missing almost a quarter of the team. That means we could "load up" with the full 25 allowable this year and if we lose 14 srs, we are still 7 short of full strength (85). That doesnt count any others we are redshirting or lose to general attrition or injury. Seems like it is going to be 2021 before we even get a full roster of scholly players.

Yep. The 25 signed annual Max really prevents teams from a quick roster turnover. This is a long rebuild to championships. That being said, I do expect bowl games annually. Expected it to start this year, but fully expect it to start next year at the latest.

 

[OG.V83]

Alabama has zero to gain and everything to lose going into this game

Tennessee has zero external expectations to win and nobody outside the program thinks they will.

Nobody has more all time wins vs Alabama than Tennessee.

Though the series has been lopsided for a while now, the most competitive games in recent years have been in Tuscaloosa.

With our solid defensive showing this past Saturday, and the probability of them looking past us, I feel slightly optimistic and again, nothing to lose other than another game. They lose and their season is pretty much over, and they will need therapy and counseling to recover. No real stress on our side

 

[HooahVol]

As a PCP I can tell you we have a standard concussion protocol and numerous test to perform on the sideline (like the ImPACT quick test) to determine if a player needs to be removed from the game and sent to a higher level of care. Of course, there has to be a reason to perform these tests and if Maurer was showing no signs of cognitive changes no one would have done one.

 

[orangegrass]

"On the game plan for this week. There's a high school team in Arkansas that onside kicks every time and never punts. We considered that this week. (I assume he's kidding but he didn't smile.)" LOL - that was hilarious!

If that could work - do it!

 

[IndianaVol]

"On the game plan for this week. There's a high school team in Arkansas that onside kicks every time and never punts. We considered that this week. (I assume he's kidding but he didn't smile.)" LOL - that was hilarious!

If that could work - do it!

Still not sure we would win, but damn it would be entertaining !!!

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

I think the onside kick strategy just might be our best option....along with 10 minute TD scoring drives.

 

[VOL_Lyfe]

 

[gisman]

Yep. The 25 signed annual Max really prevents teams from a quick roster turnover. This is a long rebuild to championships. That being said, I do expect bowl games annually. Expected it to start this year, but fully expect it to start next year at the latest.

The 25 annual recruiting class max needs to be addressed. It does kind of need to be managed (see Ole Miss), but it effectively keeps teams that are down, down, much longer. They almost need to an exception if you drop below a certain number of overall scholarships. Maybe you can sign 30 for 2 years if you drop below 70 scholarships.

We basically have a self assessed probation with only 67 scholarship players. I didn't know we were that low.

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

"There really arent many weaknesses on the Alabama offense" I know its true but I hate to hear him saying it. Would be nice to hear something like "and that's where we are working to get to" or something of the sort.

Meanwhile, we only have 67 scholly guys? Dang, no wonder we are thin. We are missing almost a quarter of the team. That means we could "load up" with the full 25 allowable this year and if we lose 14 srs, we are still 7 short of full strength (85). That doesnt count any others we are redshirting or lose to general attrition or injury. Seems like it is going to be 2021 before we even get a full roster of scholly players.

He could be also referring to those that are injured and out for the season (Buchanan, Gooden, Flowers, CFA, ?).

Plus we have transfers Hill QB and Gibbs WR/DB that have to sit out this season.
Add to the list those that have left the team, kicked off or transferred: Niehaus, Ignont, Banks, Jaq Jones, Shannon Reid.
And of course medical retirements: McBride, Brooks, Kirkland, Chance Hall, Eric Crosby, Antonutti and James I Feel Good Brown.

That's 18 plus at least 4 injured up and we came close on losing Bryce Thompson and Kenneth George Jr.

Also of those 67, I'm sure there are many redshirts, 8-12, to include Brandon Johnson, Lampley, Simmons, etc.

In addition to the 25 for 2020, I believe we can back count some schollys to 2019 and Blueshirt? a few to 2021.

I hope we don't lose any Juniors to the draft. We will have enough transfers at seasons end.

I'm surprised CJP hasn't given some one semester schollys to walk-ons.

 

[BadgerVol!]

I just want to give them even a reasonable game for a little while. I can even handle a Georgia outcome if we can hang and be competitive for 1.5 quarters and it shows that we just lack the depth.

 

[RollinVol]

Do we only have 67 scholarship players, or only 67 healthy scholarship players?

 

[IPleadInsanity]

"On the game plan for this week. There's a high school team in Arkansas that onside kicks every time and never punts. We considered that this week. (I assume he's kidding but he didn't smile.)" LOL - that was hilarious!

If that could work - do it!

No point in giving these people the long field, it will just allow them to get synced up and wear out our defense. Go 4 down, run the football and grind it out, give it to them on the short field. Bam bam they score and do it all over again. Keep that offense off the field and run clock. Its like stopping an assassin who is willing to die to get the job done, not easy to stop.

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

"There really arent many weaknesses on the Alabama offense" I know its true but I hate to hear him saying it. Would be nice to hear something like "and that's where we are working to get to" or something of the sort.

Meanwhile, we only have 67 scholly guys? Dang, no wonder we are thin. We are missing almost a quarter of the team. That means we could "load up" with the full 25 allowable this year and if we lose 14 srs, we are still 7 short of full strength (85). That doesnt count any others we are redshirting or lose to general attrition or injury. Seems like it is going to be 2021 before we even get a full roster of scholly players.

He could be also referring to those that are injured and out for now/the season (Gooden, Flowers, Buchanan, ?) . Plus you have WR/DB Gibbs and QB Hill who have to sit out this season.

In addition to the 25 for 2020, I believe we can back count some schollys to 2019 and Blueshirt? a few to 2021.

I'm surprised he hasn't given some one semester schollys to walk-ons.

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

I'm surprised that coach is high on Nigel Warrior as our NegaVol coaches around here think he stinks at football

 

[MadWorld]

They have a rule in TN HS where the clock doesn't stop in the 2nd half if one team is 28 points ahead.

I hate Bama as much as anyone, but I kinda wish this were in play Saturday.

 

[joevol33]

"On the game plan for this week. There's a high school team in Arkansas that onside kicks every time and never punts. We considered that this week. (I assume he's kidding but he didn't smile.)" LOL - that was hilarious!

If that could work - do it!

That's how I always played tecmo Superbowl, and I've never lost!

 

[cgrish]

I'm surprised that coach is high on Nigel Warrior as our NegaVol coaches around here think he stinks at football

He made some very good plays sat

 

[DocVOLiday]

lol @ the orange pants thing