Coach Pruitt settles in to Appling
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Appling County football has been on the cusp of something great for a very long time. The Pirates have made it to the Final Four 3 out of the last 4 seasons.
Now that classes have started and New Head Coach Tucker Pruitt knows his way around town, his first priority in the new position is to finalize staff. “It’s huge that we can put them around some good coaches, but also good men and good role models for these young kids to look up to,” he says. It may take him some time to learn names, but the community has reciprocated his excitement so far.
Pruitt says his dad, coach Robby Pruitt, was his biggest influence in the sport. “He taught me everything I know. I got to grow up watching his teams and got to ask him questions, and I’ve learned so much from him.” Coach Robby won seven state titles in Florida and was inducted in the FHSAA Hall of Fame before coming to Georgia in 2000 to coach the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes from 2000-2002 and again from 2004-2011 to claim seven region championships.
His son says that head coaches are only as good as assistant coaches, who do most of the work. “I’ve tried to be a sponge when I was an assistant coach and learn as much as I could from those guys.” Pruitt played for Chris Hatcher and David Dean, going on to work for Rance Gillespie, Milan Turner, Randy McPherson, and Alan Rodemaker.
Coach Pruitt says he’s been impressed so far by the work ethic of the current rosters. “Just to practice the way we want to, we need more bodies out there.” The rest of the academic year will be spent hitting the halls for new faces, and he credits the school administration and the Touchdown Club for their support and facilities.
“It just seems like a great community, a great place to raise our kids,” he says. “It’s a small town with a good school system.”
