Jacob Pugh trying to be “flawless”

At Raymond James Stadium on Saturday, one player stood head and shoulders against his competition – both in size and ability.

At the FOX Sports Kick-off Classic, 6’4”, 236-pound Godby High School outside linebacker/defensive end Jacob Pugh was the most outstanding player of the game against a very tough Plant High School team.

After the 35-16 defeat of Plant High School, Pugh was all smiles, “I came in the game prepared and I already knew that we were going to face a really good team; a very well coached team. We came out with a lot of energy, played hard and ended up with a big win.”

Pugh, as stated above, was far and away the best player on the field Saturday. Pugh played mostly strong-side linebacker, but he put his hands in the dirt about 10-15% of the game. Pugh showed great speed, solid tackling skills, and was smart about his diagnosing ability. Pugh moved well from sideline to sideline and was often in the backfield. Pugh’s two best plays were the GIF below, and a pancake of 2015 offensive tackle Jake Fruhmorgen.

Pugh_Nasty on Make A Gif

make animated gifs like this at MakeAGif

Pugh knows that he can only celebrate briefly and that he still has some things he must improve upon. “I want to get better at what I do. I want to get better with my technique. My old defensive coordinator (Brian Williams) is a coach at Florida State now (Quality Control), and he said that he wanted me to be flawless in my play, so that’s what I am trying to do. I’m trying to be flawless.”

While Pugh is very solid in his commitment to Florida State, he is not totally ready to shut everything down. “If Florida State allows me to, I really want to take some trips. I want to go to Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama, and Florida.”

Daniel Thompson
Dan Thompson is a 2010 graduate of the University Florida, graduating with a degree in Economics and a degree in Political Science. During this time at UF, Dan worked three years for the Florida Gator Football team as a recruiting ambassador. Dan dealt daily with prospects, NCAA guidelines, and coaching staff. Dan was also involved in Florida Blue Key, Student Government and Greek Life. Currently, Dan oversees the IT consulting practice of a Tampa-based company. Dan enjoys golfing, country music, bourbon, travel, oysters, and a medium-rare steak. Dan can be found on Twitter at @DK_Thompson.