Connect with us

Alabama Football News

Former Alabama QB tells story of Saban ripping Jeremy Pruitt for letting Lane Kiffin visit

Nov 30, 2013; Auburn, AL, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback AJ McCarron (10) consoles Alabama Crimson Tide kicker Cade Foster (43) after a missed field goal during the fourth quarter at Jordan Hare Stadium.
Mandatory Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports ROBERT DEUTSCH

When former Alabama quarterback, AJ McCarron was a prized high school recruit, Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban tasked assistant Jeremy Pruitt with making sure no other team came to visit McCarron at his home.

Like a detective sitting in their car watching for the bad guy to come home, Pruitt sat in his car on the side of McCarron’s street, but he did not do a good job because then Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin and assistant coach Lance Thompson had a plan to meet with McCarron.

“All of a sudden, I get a bang on my bedroom window,” McCarron said on The Dynasty: A Podcast on the Alabama Crimson Tide. “I wake up and I’m like, ‘who the hell is banging on my window?’ And I open up the blinds and it’s Lane and Lance.”

McCarron said he took another glance, and behind those two was the entire Tennessee offensive coaching staff. He let the coaches in and had a conversation for about 30 minutes, but McCarron received a phone call from Saban not long after the conclusion of the in-home meeting, and he told Saban about the visit.

“I told Pruitt’s ass to get down there and watch your house,” Saban yelled through the phone. “Let me call him.”

McCarron said Pruitt got a call from Saban, and he received an earful. Pruitt told Saban that no one showed up to McCarron’s house, and he knocked on the door of the house he was parked in front of. However, one of McCarron’s neighbors answered the door and informed him that the house he was looking for was six houses down the street.

“When Pruitt tells the story, he’s like ‘Saban cussed me out and just ripped me a new one. I was sitting in front of the wrong damn house for two days,'” McCarron said.

GET THE BEST ALABAMA FOOTBALL INSIDER INFORMATION AND RECRUITING COVERAGE TODAY! SIGN UP HERE TO UNLOCK OUR SUBSCRIBER ONLY CONTENT!*

Matthew Mason is a writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine with three years of experience covering Alabama athletics. Mason, a junior at The University of Alabama, began covering Alabama athletics for The Crimson White in 2023 and became a Staff Writer in 2024 before joining TDA in May of 2025. Along with coverage of Alabama football, Mason creates video content for TDA's YouTube channel. Follow him on X at MatthewMason__

TDA+

More in Alabama Football News

angry