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Four-star quarterback Ryan Puglisi committed to Georgia in October 2022 and never wavered from his commitment, even when the Bulldogs landed a verbal commitment from five-star Dylan Raiola. Puglisi proved to be the only one to stick to his commitment, setting the stage for Puglisi to be the Bulldogs’ quarterback of the future
Puglisi has yet to go through his first spring practice as a Bulldog, but there’s been plenty of positive talk about the true freshman as Georgia goes through the offseason. Puglisi’s arrival during bowl practice allowed him to get his feet wet before spring ball gets underway, and what he showed during that time only backed up the hype he got as a high school quarterback.
Kirby Smart explained back on Dec. 20 why Puglisi was the right fit for Georgia and what he expected the young quarterback to bring to the program.
Ryan came down here I bet 5 or 6 times. He checked the box every time for the right kind of kid, the right kind of competitor,” Smart said. “He's embraced the part about learning. He sees himself as a guy that needs to come in and develop under a system. He's seen Carson's success, so I think he understands that. He wants to grow and get better. Quarterback is the leader of the team and leader of your class. He's a really intelligent, fun kid to be around.
“He's been out here at practices competing. He's got a really live arm. He's another one of these baseball guys that can catch it and get it out really fast, which I think is really important in today's day and age.”
Puglisi emerged as a promising prospect during the offseason before his junior year. He picked up 13 Power 5 offers in that time and had a 10-day stretch in June which saw Michigan State, Purdue, Alabama, and Georgia all extend offers.
Then-Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken was confident in Puglisi’s ability, and before long the Bulldogs made the Avon, Connecticut quarterback a priority. That attention didn’t go unnoticed by Puglisi and his family, and on October 16, 2022, Puglisi pledged to be a Bulldog.
Georgia walk-on running back Jacob Hardie spoke on a recent episode of The Players’ Lounge about how Puglisi stood out during bowl prep.
“I’m not going to lie: when he came — when Puglisi had his first practice, we were watching. We were doing 7-on-7,” Hardie said. “We’re watching, and he’s just dicing. We’re all looking at him, and, like, dude’s behind him are forgetting to go in because we’re all like, ‘Wow, he’s really good.’ Everybody’s just astonished like, ‘Yo, he’s cold.’”