Jordan Pugh discusses linebackers, A&M's recent recruting success
Key quotes from Jordan Pugh interview
“I think they should have (added an early signing period) a long time ago. When you look at the junior college guys, for example – when they graduate early, they need that period there. When you think about the guys leaving high school early now, I think it’s just a different day and age. I think the two signing periods would just benefit schools in general. It’d benefit the guys who are coming in and enrolling early. I think that’s something that should have happened a long time ago, and I see the benefit in it. I really don’t see a downside to it at all.”
“Think about all the early commitments that you have now. Guys are committing as juniors. When I was in high school, it was like, ‘Why are you committing so early?’ You’ve got to think about all the guys that are getting recruited. Let’s use Kyler Murray as an example. He’s on a state championship run, and colleges are still calling him trying to get his services to wherever the school is. When you look at the early signing period, I think it’s also beneficial for the coaches. If you look at it from the coaches’ and school’s perspective, guys aren’t flip-flopping. You’re recruiting these guys all year. You’re recruiting them all season. Then the end of January or February shows up and all of a sudden they flip their commitment. If you’re committed to a school, why not go ahead and sign to that school?”
“(My drive to get back to the NFL) doesn’t stop. It’s a daily process. The thing that I keep telling myself is, ‘You’ve just got to see it through.’ One of my favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18. It says, ‘Therefore, do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.’ It’s really for myself. It’s a reminder for myself to stop focusing on what you can see, because what you can see is temporary. You don’t know what’s being worked on behind the scenes. The door hasn’t closed yet, so I’m just pushing. I keep going, because I know that that is something that’s there. I’m just waiting for the opportunity. I’m preparing for what’s already been prepared for me. I’ve heard from a few teams. Atlanta, Dallas, the Jets – and that’s how you know a door’s not closed, and that’s why you keep just going after it.”
“(A&M’s recent recruiting success) just speaks to what Sumlin is doing at A&M. He’s changing the culture of what’s happening at A&M. You see the facilities. You see the stadium. You see what they’re doing in the SEC. It’s like, ‘Why would you not want to come here?’ Then they’re landing ‘need’ guys. They got Quartney Davis, Kendrick Rogers – two bigtime receivers. They’re pulling in linebackers, offensive linemen, defensive ends. You name it. They’re pulling in guys big, and they’re pulling them in early. Especially when you get them on campus and they get to see things with their own eyes, they see where the program is going. That’s a credit to Sumlin and his staff, because he’s taking this program and making it nationally known now. It’s big in recruiting, and I think it’s just success that’s being set up and being built for down the line.”
“When you’ve got a coach that’s recruiting you with the Swagcopter and you’re in high school, why would you not want to go there? When you go to A&M, the whole facility looks like something out of a video game. Why would you not want to go there? For me, when I was getting recruited, the thing that sold me when I came down on campus – I came to a game. I saw the fans and how it was on game day, and I said, ‘Man, this is it. There’s nothing better than that to me.’ Then you add everything on top of it, and this is one of the top programs in the country. There’s no reason you shouldn’t want to play here.”
“It’s night and day. When I was committing and I was getting recruited, I didn’t know much about A&M. I knew it was a school that liked me a lot, but it wasn’t until I came down – that’s when I got sold. Everything is social media now. Everything is instant. When you’re in high school and you see A&M on TV all the time, when you see Sumlin tweeting out ‘#YESSIR!’ for every commit, when you see the access to the facilities and what they’re doing with the program and the stadium and all that – when you see that constantly, it’s just taking it to a whole other level. It’s making the interest level and excitement grow, and kids want to be a part of that. That’s something that’s making the program build, and I think it’s going to be successful for a long period of time.”
“I’m really excited about (Otaro Alaka and A.J. Hilliard). I was really excited about what they did last year. I think Alaka had four starts at the end of the year. I think he ended up with 26 tackles. The game that I was really impressed with the most was the Auburn game. I think he finished with four tackles, but he had three forced fumbles in that game. So, he showed up as a big playmaker, and that’s a game that really elevated him. The upside is what you like to see, especially toward the end of the season and coming off the freshman year. When you see that upside and how he learned and how he matured as the season went on, this is somebody who’s intriguing. The thing I wonder about with him is I wonder where he’s going to be on the depth chart. When you look at the corps of linebackers, we’ve got some guys that can play. So where will he fit? Where will he land? That’s something that I don’t know yet, because I haven’t seen enough on him yet. This fall camp will be something that’ll be interesting to watch. You talk about the range, the playmaking ability late into the season, the maturation process, this is something that’s intriguing, and I just don’t know. I don’t know where he’ll fit yet. You’ve got guys like Richard Moore, Josh Walker, Claude George -- all those guys playing now. Where is his landing spot? That’s something that’ll be interesting.”
“You look at the depth of the linebacker spot, the athletes that they have, and I don’t know where he’ll fit. What I mean by that is also what position he’ll play. The way Chavis uses that defense, he can use these guys in all different aspects. You’ve got this mindset of this guy that can play a MIKE, and he’ll end up using them at SAM or WILL. That’s where I don’t know. I don’t know where he can fit. When you look at Hilliard, it’s the same thing. This was a guy I was really excited about before he got hurt last year. When you look at that game against South Carolina, he was all over the place. He was really the spark of the defense in that first game. He had three tackles, a sack, quarterback pressures, and then he got hurt. You kind of saw the decline from there at the linebacker spot. The spot that I like him a lot is at that MIKE linebacker. You’ve got so much talent, but only three positions. You’ve got guys who can make plays, who are playmakers, who’ve got great range. Where will these guys fall in that system? It’s a good problem to have if you’re Chavis. Where do they fall? I think Alaka’s got to be somewhere on the field, but then you look at Shaan Washington, you look at George, Walker – I’m impressed with Walker. I’m impressed with Washington. Where can you find the best three guys with the best chemistry that can run and man this defense? That’s going to be the good problem to have in training camp.”
“If I had to pick – solely going off of last year – a linebacking crew, it would be Alaka, it would be Walker, and it would be Washington. At the same time, when you look at the guys who are here – when you look at Claude George and Richard Moore, two guys that came in in the spring, there’s so much athleticism. There are so many guys with great range, and I think fall camp is going to be so interesting. How will this play out? The defensive backs and the linebackers are the two position groups that I’m the most interested to see in fall camp. They’re going to be the most improved groups, but they’re the most interesting, because you really don’t know how they’re going to play out.”
“The only thing you can go off of is game experience, and (Hilliard) had that one game against South Carolina. In that one game, he was everywhere, but at the same time, it’s one game. He’s intriguing as well, because he doesn’t have a lot of stats to back up a case for him to play. When you’ve got Chavis coming in and working with the linebackers specifically, this is somebody who can get guys to perform. That’s all across the board, but with Hilliard, there was something about that South Carolina game that I just liked how he played. I liked how he took control of that defense, and I liked him at that MIKE linebacker position. He could run. He was physical. He was putting pressure on the offense, quarterbacks and hitting running backs. There was just something that I saw in him that says, ‘This is someone that could be a sleeper.’”
“I’ve got Shaan Washington at the WILL. I think that in open space with his playmaking ability and athletic ability, he’s too good not to be at the WILL position. I’ve got Alaka at the SAM. From what you saw last year – his strength, his ability against the run, but also against the pass. I think he’s just your SAM. Here’s the tricky one. I have to say this. I think Richard Moore will be the MIKE if we’re talking just about that starting game. He’s undersized. He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but there’s something about him where you see the way he attacks. It’s instinct. He was here this spring, so he had a whole spring under Chavis. He’s got a whole summer to be around the guy. I see him being that MIKE linebacker, somebody who’s taking control. Someone who can run gap-to-gap, who can go sideline-to-sideline, who can drop into coverage. I know it’s a longshot. I know he’s young, but I think this is it.”
“I’d (rank the linebackers) top-5 (in the SEC). Top-5. 5 on the low end. They’re too athletic not to be able to make plays and make stops. The reason why I’m saying top-5 is you have Chavis. When Chavis comes in, he is the X-factor. It’s different when you have a defensive-minded coach like him. He’s basically a linebacker guru, and his defenses are predicated on putting pressure on the offense, which opens up the linebackers and the secondary to make plays. I think top-5. 5 on the low end. On the high end, I would say they rank 2 or 3 in the SEC.”
