Kirby Smart gushes about QB signee Ryan Puglisi: ‘Ryan’s a special kid’

In the end, Georgia signed one quarterback in its Class of 2024, Ryan Puglisi. He’s a player who head coach Kirby Smart praised profusely on National Signing Day.

All of this came shortly after five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola flipped his commitment from Georgia to Nebraska, making for some anxiety about this class, particularly at the quarterback position.

“Yeah, Ryan is a special kid,” Kirby Smart told On3’s Andy Staples. “It was never about that for him. We were very honest and transparent from the time he committed and he was open to that. He didn’t care. He just felt like it would be better competition for him to get better each and every day he goes against somebody.”

Ryan Puglisi has been a long-time Georgia commit, initially announcing his intention to sign with the Bulldogs in October of 2022.

One thing about Ryan Puglisi that Kirby Smart tried to make clear is that it never mattered to him that the Bulldogs were recruiting other quarterbacks. He wanted to go to and be coached up to play the position at Georgia and compete.

“He wanted to be coached. He wanted to be developed. He wanted to be a part of the Georgia family. He’s got a wonderful family that has been committed to athletics. They have tremendous siblings that are really good athletes, and when he came down here, he’s got a really talented release. A quick release,” Smart said.

“These guys that are former baseball players are very much like Carson [Beck], they get it in and out of their glove really quick and in today’s age of college football, that transition could make two steps for the guy catching the ball and that’s the difference in wins and losses on short yardage plays and RPOs.”

According to the On3 Industry Ranking, Ryan Puglisi is a four-star recruit. He is also the 124th-ranked recruit overall in the 2024 cycle and the ninth-ranked quarterback.

Kirby Smart added more praise on Ryan Puglisi

Kirby Smart continued to praise Ryan Puglisi, including for how he practices.

“Ryan’s a tremendous young man. Great family. They’ve been committed throughout the process. They’ve known all along that we’ve got a quarterback deficit in that room, with three guys on scholarship going into next year. So they know that we’re always looking to upgrade and get good players, and he’s one of them,” Smart said.

“So he’s going to come in, develop. He’s committed to that. High level guy. Been great in practice so far, and fun to watch.”