To say the least, Kyle Pugh’s journey through college football has been different.
Pugh, a Chicago Heights native, graduated in 2015 from Bloom. Barack Obama was still president. He became a regular at linebacker, but then the pandemic changed everything.
Different became the norm.
“It is unprecedented,” he said, “for somebody to spend this much time in college football.”
Pugh, 25, will start his eighth and final year at middle linebacker Thursday night as Northern Illinois opens up the regular season against Eastern Illinois in DeKalb.
“I can’t wait to run through the tunnel and see all of our fans,” he said.
For Pugh, it’s not just time that marks his discipline, toughness and courage.
He’s returning to game action after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee on the final practice of the 2021 pandemic spring season.
“I am feeling great,” he said. “I think it says a lot about my character and the confidence I have in myself to overcome adversity.”
Pugh has had four significant surgeries. In 2017, he tore his biceps tendon at the elbow. In 2018, tore his right labrum. In 2019, he fractured a shoulder socket on the right side.
“On paper, it looks like I’m a fragile guy,” he said. “If you watch the film, you see that is not the case. I have just been unlucky.”
In coach Thomas Hammock’s second year, Northern Illinois engineered a remarkable turnaround. The Huskies went from a winless spring season to the Mid-American Conference championship and a bowl game.
Now, Pugh is the emotional leader on defense of what is expected to be a strength for the Huskies.
“I have been blessed with the opportunity to play again,” he said.
Robert Wimberly, the linebackers coach for Northern Illinois, isn’t surprised.
“With Kyle, I think the word that comes to my mind is determination,” Wimberly said. “Going through the injuries he has, he is determined to finish.”
Pugh played football and basketball at Bloom. As a senior in 2014, he had 112 tackles and four fumble recoveries, leading the Blazing Trojans to the Class 8A state playoffs.
He showed a combination of size, speed and athleticism.
“I am definitely a sideline-to-sideline linebacker,” he said. “Speed is an advantage of mine. I can cover a lot of ground. I am physical, and I have become a playmaker.
“I like to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage and just be around the ball.”
A naturally reflective person, Pugh said his experiences have taught him humility and pride. It has given him new perspective.
Despite the injuries, he also has excelled. In 2018, he earned second team all-conference honors, leading the Huskies with 106 tackles.
He was third-team all conference in 2020. Until his fractured shoulder, he had started four games. He had 14 tackles against Central Michigan. He also was academic all-conference.
“Kyle has a great love of the game,” Wimberly said. “He studies the game and wants to be coached. He is a young man who wants to communicate what he sees on the field. And he wants his teammates to be successful.”
Pugh, the youngest male of 19 paternal grandchildren, had two older brothers who played football and basketball at Bloom. His father, Darryl, played basketball in college.
“I made a promise to my dad’s oldest brother, my uncle, that I’d come back,” Kyle said. “He lived out of state, and it was always a goal of mine for him to see me play.
“He ended up passing away a couple of years ago. Even though he is not here, I still have to fulfill my promise.”
Pugh’s odyssey has been long and arduous, but the path toward self-discovery has been a revelation.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say there were dark days or moments I had doubts,” Pugh said. “My ability to overcome those dark days has proven to me, whatever happens with football, I am ready for life.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
