Virginia's new defensive coordinator and assistant head coach won't need a road map when he arrives in Charlottesville.

"I've been in every nook and cranny of that state," said 64-year-old Bob Pruett, who came out of retirement Thursday to join former coaching colleague Al Groh at UVa. "I've been from Clintwood to the Eastern Shore."

Pruett was the head coach at Marshall from 1996-2004, compiling a 94-23 record and leading the Thundering Herd to the Division I-AA national championship in 1996.

Marshall also won five bowl games during his tenure, which included a jump to Division I-A.

Pruett said Thursday that an ulcer contributed to his decision to retire in March 2005, but he and Groh had spoken on several occasions about reuniting in Charlottesville.

Pruett, originally from Beckley, W.Va., served on Groh's staff at Wake Forest and also worked as an assistant at Marshall, Tulane and Florida.

Before that, Pruett was the head coach or an assistant at five high schools in the Northern Virginia area.

"I can remember coming to Charlottesville and sleeping on Al's floor when he was an assistant," Pruett said.

"Then, he went to North Carolina, I got to move up in the world and slept on his couch."

Pruett, who will be paid $250,000, will take the defensive coordinator's post that Mike London held for two seasons before he was named head coach at Richmond, London's alma mater.

Although Pruett has been a defensive coordinator at several of his stops, Virginia's defense is Groh's baby.

As for his familiarity with the 3-4 scheme that Groh favors, Pruett took a deep breath and said,

"My background in the 3-4 is my background with Al Groh. He and I have sort of been joined at the hip."

If Groh wants to continue to call defensive signals, that's fine with Pruett.

"I don't have an issue with anything," he said.

In his younger years, Pruett was known as a dogged recruiter and he does not think his twin duties will limit his time on the road.

"I've got all the energy I need," he said.

Since his retirement, Pruett has divided time between homes in Huntington, W.Va., and Sarasota, Fla., where he recently watched the Super Bowl in the company of ex-Thundering Herd quarterback Chad Pennington.

While he was at Marshall, Pruett made a habit of stopping by Charlottesville regularly and comes to town with considerable knowledge of the operation.

"I've been up and observed them since I retired, too," said Pruett, who said his coaching juices were revived this fall when he helped his son, Stephen, who is the football coach at McLaurin High School in Florence, Miss.