SEC Football (Coordinator Battles): Lashlee V Pruitt

Rivalries are a part of what makes sports great. Olajuwon-Robinson. Russell-Chamberlain. Braves-Phillies. The NL West. Already I have offended people by not including their favorite rivalry. As posted in the first article in this series, however, each post will contain some new rivalries in the introduction, so feel free to make a suggestion in the comments or tweet @southbounddown or @jcrichardson12 (still not great with “the twitter”) with your suggestions.

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If you have been following along with this series, you can skip to the voting portion. I have continued to include the following for first-time readers of this series. It is especially important to fans of programs that have not yet been mentioned or are being mentioned for the first time.

Originally I intended for this to be strictly SEC Football rivalries and coaches. Fortunately I realized my folly. If I were to limit this series to only SEC games, some great rivalries would get left out. Additionally, the SEC East would be done a huge disservice.

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Many SEC West teams have the (dis)advantage of having one of their biggest rivals be not only in the same division, but also in-state (Alabama-Auburn, Ole Miss-Mississippi State). Many teams in the SEC East, however, have one of their biggest rivalries with an in-state team that is not a part of the SEC (Georgia-Georgia Tech, Florida-Florida State, South Carolina-Clemson, Kentucky-Louisville…it counts).

I also thought the wording of the question was key. “Who would you rather have take over your program right now” eliminates coaches who may not be in the game very much longer. “Who would you rather have for one season” negates recruiting expertise to an extent. So it was settled that the question would be “Who would you rather have for the next 4 years?” That encompasses coaching and recruiting. It implies that the coach cannot retire after one season.

If you have a preference, you already know which way you are going to vote. The introductions and overview here will be kept at a minimum.

So without further ado, let us introduce our new coordinators for our ‘Rivalry Coaches’ series . . . instead of limiting the coordinators to rivalries, we changed the rules a bit. Instead, the rivalry will be for coordinator supremacy rather than a rivalry between the two schools being a requirement. This battle will key-in on two coaches that do in fact for rivals…they both work under impressive head coaches but have come to earn recognition from their coordinator position.

The Venue: The Alabama-Georgia State Line

Rhett Lashlee:

*cue announcer voice* Fighting out of the Orange and Blue corner and taking some final pointers from Gus Malzahn…he has slowly but surely gained more control of Malzahn’s offense and is has yet to miss a beat … If he can continue implementing Malzahn’s lessons he will be his own boss in a matter of years…he’ll spread his attack out and not limit himself to any single targets…he’ll punish his opponent with body blows (rushing) and then go for the haymaker (deep ball) finish….his supporters say he is the next Malzahn…his haters say he is only succeeding because of Malzahn…we’ll have to wait to see who is right….RRRRRRRRRRHHHHEEEEETTTTT “UUNNNNNNNNCERTAINTTTTYTYYYYYYYYY ” LLLLLAAAASSSSHHHHHHLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEE

Jeremy Pruitt:

*throat clear, cue announcer voice* Fighting out of the Black and Red corner and reminding people that he has 3 National Championship rings…he has risen from coaching high school football in Alabama to being one of the most sought-after defensive coordinators in all of college football …his defense is always exceptional, especially his counters (secondary)…he may have finally put the defensive touches on he and Richt’s gameplan to deliver Georgia’s first championship under Richt…his haters say his best success was under defensive masterminds (Saban and Fisher)…his supporters say this is the year he breaks out as a mastermind himself… JJJJEEEEERRRRRRRREEEMMMYYYYY “HHHOOOOOOOVVVVEEEEERRRRRR” PRRRRRUUUUUUUUIIIIIIIITTTTTTT

Take your pick. Share with friends. Make sure your coach comes out on top. Results for round 2 purposes will be taken a week after the publish date (8/30/2015). The poll will remain open and like LL Cool J said, “Don’t Call it a Comeback”

For more on SEC Rivalries, check out Barrett Sallee’s article: ‘SEC Football: Ranking the Conference’s Best Rivalries’

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