Robert Prunty is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He is the head football coach at

Hampton University Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...

, a position he has held since the 2018 season.

Career

Prunty was the head football coach for

Gretna High School Gretna High School is a public high school in Gretna, Virginia. Average attendance is 650 students per year. Between 2008 and 2010, it was renovated along with other Pittsylvania County schools: Tunstall Sr. High School, Dan River High School, ...

Gretna, Virginia Gretna is a town in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,267 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Danville Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The Gretna Commercial Historic District and Yates Tavern are listed ...

for several years. During his tenure, he led the program from suffering 44 consecutive losses from 1991 to 1995, to an 11–1 season in 2001. After his departure from Gretna, the program went on to win four state championships from 2003 to 2008. From Gretna, Prunty accepted a position as head football coach of

Hargrave Military Academy Hargrave Military Academy (HMA) is a private, all-male, military boarding school located in the town of Chatham, Virginia. Hargrave is affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia emphasizing Christian values that focuses on a col ...

. He was known for producing players that went on to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). Twenty-seven of Prunty's players moved up to the NFL, included two first-round draft picks;

Peria Jerry Peria Edward Jerry (; born August 23, 1984) is a former American football defensive tackle. He was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football for the University of Mississippi. Jerry reti ...

and

Branden Albert Branden Albert (born November 4, 1984) is a former American football offensive tackle who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs 15th overall in ...

Branden Albert would go on to credit Hargrave for his success. Prunty held the position at Hargrave until the end of the 2009 season, accepting the position of defensive ends and outside linebackers coach for

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

under head coach

Tommy Tuberville Thomas Hawley Tuberville ( ; born September 18, 1954) is an American retired college football coach and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Alabama since 2021. Before entering politics, Tuberville was the head football co ...

. Hargrave Director of Communications, William Wiebking, expressed surprise at Prunty's departure, stating "We lost a good guy. They just came and plucked him away. We're all stunned.". In 2011, following the highest ranked recruiting class in Texas Tech history, Prunty earned recognition from

Scout.com Scout Media is an integrated sports publishing company that produces Internet content covering hundreds of professional and college teams across America. The company was founded in 2001 and was acquired by Fox Sports in 2005. In 2013, Fox Sports ...

as the Midlands Recruiter of the Year. Another highly ranked class was produced following the 5–7 2011 Texas Tech Red Raiders football season. Prunty's recruiting again earned him national recognition as the 2012 Scout.com Midlands Recruiter of the Year, as well as the 2011–12 Scout.com/FOXSportsNext Big 12 Recruiter of the Year. In 2017, Prunty became the defensive line coach for East Carolina, but was promoted to defensive coordinator on September 10, 2017, replacing Kenwick Thompson, who was "reassigned" within the football program in a non-coaching role.

Cincinnati

Following head coach

's departure to

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Prunty remained a member of the Texas Tech staff through the

2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas The 2012 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, the seventh edition of the game, was a post-season American college football bowl game held on December 28, 2012 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas as part of the 2012-13 NCAA football bowl season. T ...

. Following the game, it was announced on January 4, 2013 that Prunty would be following Tuberville to Cincinnati to accept the position of associate head coach and defensive ends coach.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Hampton profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prunty, Robert Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches East Carolina Pirates football coaches Hampton Pirates football coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders football coaches Alabama A&M University alumni High school football coaches in Virginia People from Chatham, Virginia African-American coaches of American football 21st-century African-American people