Yep, Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt is coaching Alabama’s defense during the National Championship

Jeremy Pruitt is Tennessee’s head coach. It was a wild journey to get here full of plenty of twists and turns, but Pruitt became the man after all was said and done.

But he’s not taking over in Knoxville quite yet. His soon-to-be former job as Alabama defensive coordinator means he’s got one high-stakes games left that needs his attention in the National Championship against Georgia. He was on the sidelines for Alabama’s semifinal win against Clemson, too. These aren’t exhibitions. They’re the only postseason games that truly matter.

So Pruitt’s basically coaching two teams at the same time. And you thought you didn’t have enough hours in the day?

This is almost a right of passage for Alabama coordinators.

Kirby Smart, Lane Kiffin, and Jim McElwain have done this in the last few years. When you’re good at what you do at the sport’s standard bearer, then suitors are going to come calling. As far as Pruitt’s concerned, when he’s with Bama, as he was during Sugar Bowl media day, he’s not really interested in talking about the Vols.

"The first thing, I just want to say this: I'm excited about being the head football coach at Tennessee. It's a tremendous opportunity, a great university, and I'm thankful to have it.

"But right now I'm working as a defensive coordinator at Alabama, and I'd like for these questions to be targeted toward this game and the players that are associated with this game."

That’s about all he said explicitly pertaining to the Vols, instead opting to steer the questions toward the upcoming matchup with Clemson.

That’s how Pruitt chose to handle it. Beyond the obvious focus on what’s in front of him, the optics of talking about a blood rival ahead of the biggest game of the season may not be the best idea.

It’s understandable that Pruitt may want to keep the conversation about a Tide game Tide focused. Pruitt’s actually done a pretty good job all things considered because Tennessee’s recruiting class is top 30 after the Early Signing Period, and things could be a lot worse given the turmoil Tennessee’s been through.

But a previous coach in his shoes, now-Georgia coach Kirby Smart, didn’t shy away from addressing the elephant in the room while he was doing two jobs at one time. He also talked about his decision process, and while asserting that it was about Bama, didn’t exactly shut down questions about Georgia.

As far as we know, Pruitt’s handling it better than Lane Kiffin did last year though.

According to Bama assistant Tosh Lupoi, there’s an almost jovial nature to Pruitt doing two jobs at once. Take this recruiting meeting for example. Having Pruitt privy to Bama’s scheme is why he’s there. But he can’t exactly be recruiting for the Tide.

“We’ve got a couple more you need to call, coach,’” Pruitt said. “Coach Saban looked at him, nobody said anything, and he said, ‘Well who?’ Tosh just kind of paused and I said, ‘Tosh, do you need me to leave the room?’ Everybody got a kick out of it.”

Kiffin ended up getting canned after Alabama’s semifinal because he reportedly wasn’t doing the juggling the act well. It was no laughing matter last year.

Saban probably understands best how to juggle two jobs at once, because he did it 20 years ago.

Saban might have even had a taller task, because he was in the NFL when Michigan State hired him.

While talking about how McElwain only had to handle one game back in 2011, Saban detailed how he handled far more than that.

"It doesn't affect preparation at all," Saban said. "Mac's going to be here. I did this when I was the defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns and got the head coaching job at Michigan State and coached the last three or four games in the regular season and two playoff games. The organization was good in supporting me in what I wanted to do, and we'll do the same thing for Jim."

The Browns provided him with an assistant to help him shoulder the load.

Saban’s hellbent on controlling the controlables, and that’s why things are set up for his former assistants to do two jobs at once. Nothing changes at Bama despite the fact that a coach has multiple new responsibilities.

“It was normal the first day I walked back in,” Pruitt said during his long-awaited turn in the media room at the Sugar Bowl, where every coordinator is required to be available for about 45 minutes. “Wasn’t nothing any different.”

Take care of what you have to do in Tuscaloosa, then worry about what you’re doing with your new job.

That’s best for all involved.