“We’ve always had sort of a mutual respect for how we sort of take each other’s people,” Saban said to Belichick of their relationship. "It’s one thing that I always try to emphasize to the guys: what I have a tough time with, aight, is we’ve had however many guys who have worked here who are at Georgia, Tennessee -- whoever, wherever -- is when they get those jobs, and in most cases you’ve helped them, is they have a hard time understanding why they can’t take your people.
"I’m gonna help you get a job, [only] so that you can take what I’ve tried to build here and destroy the continuity of what I have? It’s amazing how some of the assistants don’t understand why that’s not a good thing.”
It was unclear which staff members Saban was referencing, but both Smart and Pruitt’s programs include former Alabama assistants. Smart’s
co-defensive coordinator at Georgia is
former Tide director of player development Glenn Schumann, while Pruitt’s defensive coordinator is Derrick Ansley, who spent a year with the Oakland Raiders before joining Pruitt in Knoxville. Pruitt
also hired former Alabama director of player development Kerry Stevenson.
