Head Coach Jordan Pugh talks about the National Team and the challenge of Building the next great HS Football Program
In high school football, few coaches have made a bigger impact in recent years than Jordan Pugh. As the head coach of PPT Elite, Pugh has helped lead over 30 plus athletes to their dream of playing college football, which has led to a reputation as one of the most innovative and effective coaches in the game. Recently, Pugh launched a club Varsity High School Football Program (National Team) in the spring of 2022, with the result to match. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at Pugh’s National Team Program, Players Offered from the spring games, the program’s national exposure, and the challenges of building a new opportunity for high school athletes.
For those that don’t know what is the National Team?
HC Jordan Pugh: “The PPT Elite National Team is a College Prep program built to equip high school athletes for the next level of competition. We created the first-ever Varsity High School Club football program in the state of Texas. We take the best athletes in the DFW area to formulate a team of top talent to showcase their abilities on a National stage to prove Texas has the best high school football!”
So what would you say is your mission or the goal for the National Team?
HC Jordan Pugh: “That’s a great question. Our mission is to provide high school athletes with Elite development, National exposure, & a Collegiate experience to prepare for the next level of football. What parents need to understand is that college recruiting has changed with the transfer portal. Very good high school football players are being left out & overlooked on scholarship offers and I decided to create a program to help change outcomes for our players.”
What type of challenges have you experienced building out the program?
HC Jordan Pugh: “We can go on for days with this question! Man high school would not rent fields to us for practice, high school coaches think that we’re trying to take their kids away from their program, getting parents to understand the benefits of playing in the spring, and so many more things. But we have preserved and begun the process of building rapport with coaches, parents, etc. I understand how there can push back and hesitancy but we are pure of heart and our results in helping our players play at the college level are undeniable!”
What type of exposure and experience do the players have in the program?
HC Jordan Pugh: “Listen! Our player experience is second to none! One of the things that I underrated with the players was the travel experience. Our players got to travel to Seattle, Wa to play a game, they got to experience what it’s like to travel and play like a division one college football player and that was huge for them to experience! We also took our players & parents to the University of Washington for a visit, players got to speak one-on-one with college coaches, D1 & FCS coaches standing on the sideline scouting our players, & our games were live-streamed nationally which makes the experience like no other! High school can simply not match that type of experience & in my opinion, that’s what makes our National Team experience so special!”
You mentioned that this is opening up a new pathway for players, in what ways is this a groundbreaking program?
HC Jordan Pugh: “Great question. I think this program is so big because of the opportunity it creates for our athletes to experience excellence! What I mean by that is our players are coached by former NFL and college players with extensive knowledge of the game. Our players get to travel around the nation like the college level of football, our players get to play Nationally live-streamed games, players get to tour colleges and talk directly with coaches, & they get access to our contacts at the next level! I haven’t even touched on the way we practice, 7v7 tournaments, there’s so much that we do to provide the best for our players and we’re excited about the new things that we have coming in 2024!”
Why is playing in the spring so significant?
HC Jordan Pugh: “The reason why we chose to play in the spring is that we wanted to maximize the recruiting opportunities for our players. All college coaches are out traveling around the nation recruiting athletes in the spring, so the question I asked myself is why not play games during that time? It helps the college coaches because all of the players they’re recruiting are on one field competing against each other, & players benefit because there’s uninterrupted scouting on our players.”
What are some success stories from your National Team Program?
HC Jordan Pugh: “One of the biggest success stories is Dameon Crowe. He’s a fantastic player and the national team gave him an opportunity to showcase that, and what makes this even better is he played against some of the best players in the nation as an 8th grader! He is an example of why this program was created; since those games last spring, he has exploded on the scene earning offers from UTSA, UNT, Texas State, & Arizona State with many more to come!”
What can players & families look forward to in the 2024 spring season?
HC Jordan Pugh: “I’m so excited about the upcoming spring season in 2024. We’ve added a new partner Performance Medicine & Sports Therapy based out of Plano that will give unlimited recovery options & access to medical doctors for our players. We’ve added new games to our schedule with teams from other states, & we have a big media plan for our players as well. We’re hyped and ready for next spring!”