Former Louisville defensive coordinator Vance Bedford — who's now at Texas — said that when Pryor hit receivers, some never returned.
“He had three games in a row where he hit somebody and they did not finish the game,” Bedford said. “He doesn’t want to injure anybody, but he brings a certain physicality that if you’re going to throw the ball down the middle of the field, you’re going to pay a price.
“That’s how the game used to be played. He did things the right way and that’s what people like about him so much. And he’s a coach on the field—high football IQ. He controls everything. Gets guys lined up. Makes the checks. He does it all. He’s a guy Louisville is going to miss next year and I wish I had him here with me at Texas right now.”
The streak of knockouts began with Louisville’s lone loss, to Central Florida. That game, receiver J.J. Worton accelerated up the left sideline and Pryor dropped him with a vicious left shoulder.
“Clean hits,” Bedford said. “He made sure he didn’t lead with his head. He understands the game.”
Of course, hitting and tackling are two very different concepts. And this is a league that cracks down on head-to-head hits. At Louisville, Pryor finished 75 tackles (54 solo) last season. He was around the ball plenty, too, intercepting seven passes with nine forced fumbles in three years. Saying that Pryor never led with his head, Bedford was adament that Pryor, “No. 1,” is a “sound tackler.”
Bedford says Pryor’s football intellect is “off the charts" at free safety. “He’s another coach on the football field," Bedford said. "He makes checks. He gets guys lined up. He does it all.”
Bedford would know the difficulties in a college safety making the NFL jump. He coached the Chicago Bears defensive backs from 1999 to 2004. During that run, safety Mike Brown and cornerback Nathan Vasher both emerged as playmakers.
“And Calvin Pryor reminds me of a bigger Mike Brown,” Bedford said.
During their time together, Brown studied every position on the defense. He knew where help was, where he was vulnerable. The result was a feeding frenzy of turnovers.
“He was a coach on the football field,” Bedford said. “That’s always what separated him. He understood the game and he understood the defense. A lot of guys go out there and play, learning just one spot. And you wonder, why doesn’t he make that play? It’s because he didn’t take time to learn where his help was. Mike Brown understood the entire defense.
“That’s what makes great players. Understanding the entire defense. Calvin Pryor is a lot like that.”
