Can Alabama hire Jeremy Pruitt to replace Kevin Steele as the Crimson Tide's defensive coordinator?

As soon as the news about Steele broke, speculation started about whether or not Saban will attempt to hire former Tennessee Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt as Alabama's new defensive coordinator. 

Pruitt won a national championship in 2017 while serving as Alabama's defensive coordinator. 

It seems likely that Saban would love to have Pruitt back in Tuscaloosa. Pruitt knows what Saban wants and he could fit seamlessly into Alabama's culture thanks to his previous two stints as an assistant under Saban. 

But unfortunately for Saban, it doesn't look like Pruitt will be able to coach for the Crimson Tide in 2024. 

This past summer, Pruitt was hit with a six-year show cause ban for his role in the recruiting scandal that cost him his job as the head coach at Tennessee. 

Additionally, Pruitt has to serve a 100 percent suspension for his first year of employment if he's hired by a college football program. 

From USA Today: Pruitt's show-cause includes a 100% suspension for the first year of employment should an NCAA school hire in him in any athletics position.

Saban could hire Pruitt, but he would have to sit out the 2024 season.

It's actually an absurd penalty for Pruitt. The former Tennessee head coach was pushed for handing out impermissible benefits that totaled around $60,000. Just a couple of years after those violations occurred, we're seeing college football player receive NIL deals worth millions of dollars in some cases. 

Pruitt forfeited his buyout at Tennessee and he's dealt with a ridiculous amount of public shame for what went down during his time with the Vols. Adding a one-year suspension to that punishment is overkill. It was nothing more than a final show of power from the increasingly weakening NCAA.