Jeremy Pruitt Ready to Lead Alabama’s Defense [VIDEO]

When longtime defensive coordinator Kirby Smart departed Alabama to become the head coach at Georgia, the Crimson Tide turned to a familiar face to take over the defense in 2016.

Jeremy Pruitt, who worked in multiple capacities for Nick Saban from 2007 to 2012, made his first appearance in front of the media as the Alabama defensive coordinator on Sunday.

The former Georgia defensive coordinator spoke about the importance of Alabama in his life and how he learned a lot about football during his previous stint in Tuscaloosa.

"Alabama is very special to me," Pruitt said. "It's very easy to walk into a young man's house and sell The University of Alabama."

The trademark of a Saban coached team has always been its hard-nosed defense. Saban worked closely with Kirby Smart for years, but now that responsibility moves to Pruitt. He made it clear that the strategy on defense starts with the head coach.

"This is Coach Saban's defense. Everything in this program is Coach Saban's. When I left here, went to Florida State, I installed the defense that I learned here. As a coach, you gotta take your little wrinkles that you've learned over time."

You can watch Pruitt's entire press conference in the video above. This will be the only time until after the regular season that he will speak to the media.