Tucker Pruitt, Appling County coach
Today’s interviewee is Appling County coach Tucker Pruitt, whose team can clinch the Region 3-2A championship tonight with a victory at Pierce County. Pruitt is in his first season at Appling, a 2024 Class 2A semifinal team that made a coaching change after forfeiting 10 games in the offseason because of an ineligible player. Appling County is 6-3 after a 1-3 start and leads the region with a 3-0 record. Pruitt coached the previous eight seasons at Fitzgerald, where he won two region titles and one state championship.
1. As the new coach, what are some that things you changed, whether it be with the offensive or defensive schemes, how you do practice, expectations? “I really think everything has changed, and that has been the hard part. Offensive, defensive and special teams schemes are all new. A lot of new coaches. New strength and conditioning program. New culture. New practice schedule. We have a lot of kids that played one side of the ball and are now playing both ways. It has been a big change for our kids, but they have been great and adjusted well and that’s why we continue to get better.” [Appling County’s new offense is a mixture of wing-T, single wing and Notre Dame box with occasional I formation and spread.]
2. Has there been a turning point in this season? Started rough vs. Ware County. Shut out vs. Swainsboro. Lost to an undefeated Florida team. Playing pretty well now. Was it something that you and the staff changed or tweaked? “I don’t know if there was a specific turning point. We got roughed up early on by some good teams, but the truth is we weren’t very good at that time. We failed over and over again, but we failed forward. A lot of times you get to correct and learn from the losses more than you do from the wins. Our tough non-region schedule helped us grow and develop some toughness and perseverance. You find out a lot about your team and the people in your program when things do not go your way. Even through our early season struggles, nobody in our program lost confidence in the fact that we could still become a really good team. I am proud of how this group has stayed together and continued to work to get better.”
3. When you want advice about something in coaching, how to handle a situation, just general guidance, who do you call outside of your own staff? “The first person I call is my Dad. He has seen everything that there is to see in this business, so he is a very helpful resource. We talk almost daily and discuss who we are playing, what scheme they run and what we like against it. We talk after games about how it went. He has taught me so much about football and coaching, but he has also always been there to encourage me and support me and help me with whatever was next. I am really thankful for the relationship that we have and thankful for everything that I have learned from him over the years.” [Robby Pruitt, now head coach at Williston in Florida, is a former Georgia coach at Fitzgerald and Coffee. This season, he became the first coach in history to win 200 games in two states – Georgia and Florida.]
4. Assess Pierce County. What makes them a little different as an opponent? What concerns you about them? “Pierce County has a great program. Coach [Ryan] Herring and his staff are as good as anybody at getting the most out of their kids and getting them to play extremely hard and extremely disciplined. They are great at the fundamentals and great at what they do. I have a lot of concerns, but their play-action pass is probably at the top of the list. Everybody knows they are a great running team, but if we don’t play with great eye discipline and stop the play-action pass, then we are going to lose. Their defense only gives up nine points per game on average, so finding a way to score points is going to be challenging as well. And lastly, they don't make mistakes. They wait on you to do that and then they capitalize. They aren't going to help us at all, so if we want to win, we are going to have to play a clean, mistake-free game.”
