Though it appeared this week that the UVA football program had finished its offseason hiring after picking up Chad Wilt as defensive line coach, a huge gap opened this afternoon when assistant head coach/defense Bob Pruett announced that he is retiring after only one year with the Cavaliers. Pruett unretired to become UVA defensive coordinator last year after his predecessor, Mike London, was hired as head football coach at the University of Richmond.
“As we all have to do in our lives, sometimes you have to stop and reset your priorities,” Pruett said in the press release. “I think this is the best thing for our family and best for the University of Virginia’s family, which I love dearly. When I first started out in coaching in 1965 as a high school coach, a goal of mine was to coach at the University of Virginia. It is an experience I really cherish.”
The press release highlights Pruett’s experience as the head coach at Marshall University from 1996 to 2004. What it fails to mention, however, were the NCAA infractions committed under his watch that landed Marshall on four years of probation.
Later, Pruett was named in a lawsuit filed by former Marshall compliance director, David Ridpath, who alleged that Pruett tried to cover up the extent of the infractions.
The lawsuit was settled just before a trial was slated to begin February 3. Ridpath’s attorney told The Charleston Gazette that Marshall agreed to write a letter to the NCAA absolving Ridpath of responsibility for the major violations. Pruett did not comment to the paper about the settlement.
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Bob Pruett leaves a gaping hole in the UVA coaching staff.
In explaining his retirement today, Pruett said that 2008 “was maybe the toughest year of my life.
“I had two former (Marshall) players killed, my best friend back in West Virginia is struggling with cancer and my brother passed away this year. My wife had two major surgeries and I’ve had a shoulder surgery. When we came here, we planned on doing this for some time. When you get to my stage in life, where there are many more years behind you than there are in front of you, you have to reassess your priorities from time to time. As much as I love our players and coaches and I love football, I think it is time to look at other things.”