Recruit reaction to new UGA defensive coordinator (UPDATED)

Jan 15, 2014

There seems to a lot of positive reaction in the recruiting world about UGA's hiring of FSU's Jeremy Pruitt as defensive coordinator.

While Pruitt is new in the position of defensive coordinator (but won a national championship with his first year in the role), he arguably brings just as much to UGA with his recruiting reputation. In each of the previous two recruiting cycles, Pruitt was named National Recruiter of the Year by 247sports.com.

"He connects really well with recruits and their families, and he's tenacious," said 247sports.com's Kipp Adams.

"He's a guy who knows how to recruit at the collegiate level, and that's something Georgia didn't have with (former defensive coordinator) Todd Grantham – a proven recruiter."

Here was reaction from some of UGA’s top recruiting targets:

From Norcross High School defensive end Lorenzo Carter (who has UGA and Florida as his co-leaders, and is scheduled to take an official visit to FSU on Jan. 24): "It's a pretty good pickup. I heard something about it but I wasn't expecting them to make the change as fast as they did."
From M.L. King High School's Cortez Allen, coach of cornerback Wesley Green (who has UGA and South Carolina as his co-leaders): "It's a great hire. I would imagine that a lot of kids will be intrigued and supportive versus being upset about it. It's a major move by Georgia."
From Alabama LB commit Christian Miller of Columbia, S.C. He's still deciding whether or not to take an official visit to UGA: "It's a great hire for UGA. He should fit perfect." When asked how it would affect his consideration of UGA, Miller replied, "It won't."

From prospects already committed to UGA:

Former Grayson High School cornerback Shattle Fenteng, who now plays at Hutchinson junior college: "Everything happens for a reason. I believe that's a great pick for UGA."
Marist high school defensive lineman Kendall Baker: "He's a very good guy who did good things at FSU, and I expect the same now that he is here."
Brooks County High School's Maurice Freeman, coach of cornerback Malkom Parrish: "A lot of people think it was a home-run hire, a grand-slam, and I agree. It was a grand slam. Malkom is excited and ready to get there. He read about (Pruitt) on the Internet. Obviously, the guy has had a lot of success as an assistant coach. We pulled up where he had been the last couple of years, and he has done an outstanding job at Alabama and FSU. Malkom knows he was defensive coordinator for the national champs. (Pruitt) also has a good reputation as a recruiter, and that's important. If UGA doesn't lose so many kids to out-of-state teams, they really don't have to go anywhere else to recruit. There's a lot of the best football prospects in the country right here in the state of Georgia."
Pine Forest (N.C.) High School's Bill Sochovka, coach of defensive tackle Lamont Gaillard: "I think Lamont is more excited about (Pruitt) coming to Georgia than he was about losing (Grantham), if that makes any sense. Lamont was real impressed with FSU's defense with how big and fast they were this year. I would say he's pleased with how everything turned out."

Jeremy Pruitt may be the best recruiter in the biz. Was the #247Sports National Recruiter of the Year in 2012 & 2013 bit.ly/L88BOg—
Shannon B. Terry (@sbterry247) January 14, 2014

Mark Right just snagged his biggest recruit in new DC Jeremy Pruitt—
Jamie Newberg (@JamieNewberg) January 14, 2014

Will be interesting to watch if Jeremy Pruitt tries to poach commits away from #FSU, like Franklin has been doing to #Vandy—
Shannon B. Terry (@sbterry247) January 14, 2014

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