2019 SEC Media Days: 5 things for Vols fans to focus on

3. Tennessee-Georgia-Alabama-Kentucky coordinator carousel

Jeremy Pruitt, Mark Stoops, Kirby Smart and Nick Saban take the stage at SEC Media Days having poached staff members from each other. Saban pried Charles Kelly away from the Tennessee Vols to really have the same role with the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Meanwhile, Pruitt’s defensive coordinator, Derrick Ansley, worked under him and Saban at Alabama and also spent time with the Kentucky Wildcats. His is less dramatic, though, since he was pulled from the Oakland Raiders and got a promotion.

The big heist, however, was Jim Chaney leaving Smart and the Georgia Bulldogs to become Pruitt’s offensive coordinator. Chaney took on the exact same role he had in Athens, showing he basically preferred being on Rocky Top, where he spent four years as an offensive coordinator from 2009 to 2012 under Lane Kiffin and Derek Dooley while winning one game as interim head coach.

You can bet that the coaches will be asked about that. Smart and Pruitt have an odd relationship to begin with. Obviously, Pruitt was Smart’s secondary coach when he was Alabama’s defensive coordinator from 2010 to 2012. But when Smart became Georgia’s head coach, he didn’t retain Pruitt as defensive coordinator. So Pruitt went back to Alabama in the same role.

You wonder how this all works out now that they have both taken part in some serious battles. It started on the recruiting trail, and now it has moved on to assistants. This is all very interesting and worth paying attention to this week.