When Tennessee travels to South Carolina this weekend, two veteran Southeastern Conference coaches will be going head-to-head as Jeremy Pruitt’s defense will do what it can to slow down Mike Bobo’s offense.

The two coaches have a long history together in the league, playing against one another, coaching against one another and even being on the same staff together during their days on Mark Richt’s Georgia coaching staff.

During his Monday press conference, Pruitt was asked about Bobo and his decision to name Collin Hill South Carolina’s starting quarterback in the season opener against his Vols.

“At the quarterback position, Mike Bobo has always done a fantastic job coaching the quarterbacks,” Pruitt said. “Hill is a guy that’s been in the system there for five years, this might be a sixth year (in Bobo’s offensive system). He’s a guy that’s going to be very familiar, is going to get them in and out of checks, keep them out of bad plays. He’s a guy that we’ve got to find a way to create confusion and possibly try to create some turnovers.”

When it comes to coaching against Bobo, Pruitt was asked to share what he remembers working with the touted offensive coordinator.

“Mike’s a competitor, playing against him in college, coaching against him, coaching against him every day in practice, playing golf against him, shooting pool. I mean, he’s a competitor,” Pruitt continued. “He wants to win at everything he does. He’s going to have a great gameplan, his kids are going to play hard, they’ll play together. It’ll be a challenge for us.”

The next matchup in their series is this weekend with both coaches will once again be competing tooth and nail to gain the upper hand on one another.

Photo credit: South Carolina Athletics