Bob Pruett Bob Pruett ( born June 20 , 1943 ) is a former American football player and coach . He served as the head football coach Marshall University for nine seasons , from 1996 to 2004 . During his tenure at Marshall , the Marshall Thundering Herd football team compiled a record of 94 – 23 ( . 803 winning percentage ) , completed two undefeated seasons , won six conference championships and five of seven bowl games played , and captured the NCAA Division I - AA Football Championship . In 1996 . Pruett has coached many high - profile National Football League players , including Randy Moss , Chad Pennington , and Byron Leftwich . In 1999 , he was inducted into the Marshall University Athletics Hall of Fame for his collegiate career in football , track and field , and wrestling . Early life and playing career . Pruett is a native of Beckley , West Virginia and was a star football player , wrestler , and sprinter at Woodrow Wilson High School . He attended Marshall University in Huntington , West Virginia where he originally played halfback on the football team , but moved to tight end his last two years , catching 24 passes for 442 yards andfour touchdowns . After graduation in 1965 he signed as a free agent with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League , and later played for five seasons with a semi - pro team in Virginia . High school coaching career . Pruetts ' coaching career began with the school system of Fairfax County , Virginia in the Washington , D . C . suburbs . He was an assistant football coach , head wrestling coach and head golf coach at Falls Church High School ( 1965 – 1967 ) and Hayfield Secondary School ( 1968 – 1969 ) . His first head coaching job was at Groveton High School from 1970 to 1972 . He was portrayed in the movie " Remember the Titans " when the 1971 Groveton vs TC Williams game was featured . Pruett then moved to Gar - Field Senior High School in Woodbridge , Virginia , serving as head football coach from 1973 to 1978 . Collegiate coaching career . Pruett earned his first collegiate coaching job in 1979 as the defensive line coach for his alma mater , Marshall University . In 1981 , he became the defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator for the Herd until the end of the 1982 season . Before the start of the 1983 season , Pruett joined the coaching staff of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons as the defensive backs coach . His lifelong friend , Al Groh , was the head coach of the Demon Deacons at the time . He remained the defensive backs coach until 1985 , when he took on the role of defensive coordinator . Though Groh stepped down as head coach of the Deacons in 1986 , Pruett kept the job of DC until 1990 , when he became the defensive backs coach at Ole Miss the next season . Pruett , known for his diverse defensive coverages , gained high respect in the NCAA , and as a result , would coach as a defensive coordinator or head coach for the rest of his coaching career . The following year , the Tulane Green Wave hired him as their defensive coordinator until the end of the 1993 season , when one of his lifelong goals came true . Pruett , who had aspired to coach at the University of Florida for quite some time , applied and was employed by Steve Spurrier ’ s staff for the 1994 and 1995 seasons as defensive coordinator . In his first season there , his defense held opposing teams to an average of 84 . 6 rushing yards per game , and kept those same teams to an average of 17 . 1 points per game . That season , the Gators played the University of Alabama Crimson Tide in the SEC Championship , in which they won , 24 - 23 . They then accepted a bid to play in the Sugar Bowl against their in - state rivals , the Florida State Seminoles , in which they lost , 17 - 23 . In his second and final season at Florida , Pruett ' s defensive squad led the team to an undefeated regular season . Also , the UF defense that year was ranked top 25 in the nation in scoring defense , pass efficiency defense , rushing defense , and total defense . In the SEC Championship that year , the Gators took on the Arkansas Razorbacks and came out with an easy win , with the score 34 - 3 . At # 2 in the AP Polls , The Gators were given a bid to play in the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe , Arizona against the also undefeated Nebraska Cornhuskers . The game was a rout , with the Cornhuskers coming away with the victory , 62 - 24 . This game came to be known as the " Fiasco Bowl " due to the lopsided score . While coaching at Florida , the head coaching job at Marshall University became vacant due to Jim Donnan taking the head coaching job at the University of Georgia . Pruett immediately applied for the position later Marshall President J . Wade Gilley called Pruett and informed him that the job was his . In 2008 , Pruett came out of retirement to become the defensive coordinator for Virginia . After the 2008 season , Pruett retired again . Controversy . Pruett ' s tenure as Marshall head coach also included his controversial endeavors during NCAA investigations into the Thundering Herd football program in 2001 . Specifically , former Marshall compliance director and now Ohio University Professor David Ridpath has alleged that Pruett not only lied to NCAA investigators during the course of their review of the program , but conspired to have him removed from his position within the Marshall athletic office as a " corrective action " to appease the NCAA ' s Committee on Infractions . All this information can be found in the book Tainted Glory by David Ridpath .