On the morning before National Signing Day, Gabriel Pugh revealed his future school.
And the long snapper won’t be headed far from home.
Following a campus trip to Alabama during the last weekend of January, the Northridge (Tuscaloosa) prospect announced a verbal commitment to the Crimson Tide.
“I thought it was great,” he said of the visit. “I really admired how everyone worked there. Especially how a bunch of people were doing drills and putting in work on their own time. The coaches work very hard and know what they’re doing.”
When it came to Pugh’s decision to become an Alabama preferred walk-on, one aspect of the program stood out to him.
“When I went to visit I saw 30 guys running and doing drills to get better,” he recalled. “Not because the coaches told them to but because they wanted to get better and I want to be a part of an atmosphere like that.”
The senior had most recently spent time at Mississippi State last weekend after the Bulldogs and Crimson Tide had extended their PWO offers in early December along with Michigan.
This past Fall, Pugh took visits Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Auburn as well with his first PWO offer coming from Purdue in July.
Time has also been spent at the campuses of UAB, Indiana, NC State, Montana State, Vanderbilt, Wyoming, Montana, Wisconsin and Michigan State.
The class of 2019 recruit is ranked as the No. 17 long snapper in the country according to specialist Chris Rubio.
“He is absolutely fantastic,” Rubio said of Pugh. “This kid snaps the ball as hard and as powerful as I’ve ever seen a human being snap a ball. If you don’t catch the ball, it’s going to put a hole in your chest. He is big. He is massive. He moves pretty darn well on his feet. The upside on this kid is absolutely off the charts.”
