There was never a doubt that Northern Illinois linebacker Kyle Pugh was going to make The Athletic’s All-Geezer Team, compiled by Stewart Mandel. After all, the 25-year-old Pugh has spent nearly a third of his life attending Northern Illinois.
Think about that for a minute.
Pugh graduated from high school in 2014 and is now beginning his eighth season of college football – all at Northern Illinois of the Mid-American Conference. Go through Mandel’s list and there are many players who have been around college football for a long time and who have played for multiple programs. Yet Pugh, who is working on his second master’s degree, has been at NIU the entire time.
There’s something to be said about familiarity.
His coach at NIU during his first season in 2015 was Rod Carey. In fact, Carey was his coach for his first four seasons, the length of many college football careers. Since then, Carey became the head coach at Temple for three years and is now in his first season as a quality control coach at his alma mater Indiana University.
One thing’s for sure – Pugh has experienced plenty of ups and downs. Then again, when one spends eight years in college, that shouldn’t be surprising. In addition to redshirting his first year in 2015, Pugh was limited to four games in 2017 and two in 2019 before suffering season-ending injuries. He also missed all of last year after suffering a knee injury during 2021 spring practice.
Pugh obviously benefited from getting an extra year due to COVID, when nobody’s 2020 season counted toward a player’s eligibility.
What has to have kept Pugh going is that when he received ample playing time, he has been really effective. That has happened in just two of his first seven years at NIU. In 2018, he appeared in 13 of 14 games and recorded 106 tackles, including five for loss, 1.5 sacks and two fumble recoveries. More importantly, NIU went 8-6 but won when it counted the most, defeating Buffalo 30-29 in the MAC championship game. Pugh chipped in with nine tackles in the title game.
That victory went a long way toward earning Carey the Temple job, which in hindsight ended up lowering his morale but raising his bank account. Carey would go 8-5 the first season at Temple and 4-15 over the next two before being given his walking papers.
So Pugh outlasted Carey at both NIU and Temple, quite a feat.
Pugh’s other extensive playing time came in 2020. The only problem was that NIU drew a goose egg in the win department. NIU went 0-6, although three of the losses were by a touchdown or less. Then again, the other three losses were by an average of 22 points, so the only bright spot from Pugh’s perspective was his individual performance. In five games, Pugh finished third on the team with 36 tackles and was a third-team All-MAC choice.
That’s making the most of a miserable season.
Then the injury bug hit in 2021 when Pugh suffered that spring practice injury that sidelined him all of last year. So now, this should truly be the swan song. Just think, he’s only 37 years away from being eligible to collect social security.
Just like Pugh, NIU has run the gamut during his time. The Huskies have twice won the MAC title since he’s made NIU his home, the aforementioned 2018 and last season. NIU has produced four winning seasons and three losing ones during his time, so Pugh has experienced virtually every type of situation.
Now the question is whether he can experience in his eighth season what he did in his fourth – staying on the field and also winning a championship.
No doubt that NIU is a contender to defend its title. In the preseason media poll, the Huskies were the pick to capture the MAC West Division and received the most votes to win it all. So there is plenty for Pugh to be excited about and while he’s at it, wouldn’t it be a storybook ending if he was around for NIU to end its recent bowl victory drought?
The Huskies have lost seven consecutive bowl games, including four while Pugh has been a student. Enough is enough.
If there is any poetic justice, that streak will end with Kyle Pugh walking off the field with a true sense of joy and finality.
