ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
It is not difficult to notice two things about LSU senior transfer defensive end Jack Pyburn.
He is really happy to be at LSU, and he is still a little pissed about how things went at Florida, where he played for three seasons out of The Bolles School in Jacksonville.
“As soon as I stepped on campus here, I got a feeling,” Pyburn said Friday during LSU player interviews. “When I get a feel for something that feels like home, I normally stick with it and ride with it.”
LSU HOLDS FINAL SCRIMMAGE OF PRESEASON CAMP AT TIGER STADIUM
Florida was actually home with The Swamp, aka Florida Field, an hour away from Jacksonville. But Pyburn (6-foot-4, 264 pounds) never quite felt at home at his defensive end position with the Gators and edge coach Mike Peterson. And the team under coach Billy Napier was barely keeping its head above the swamp waterery, going 6-7 and 3-5 in the SEC, 5-7 and 3-5 and 8-5 and 4-4 from 2022-24.
Pyburn had exactly one sack in his three seasons at Florida in 29 games and nine starts. He was a backup for his first two seasons through 17 games and one start. Last year, he started eight of 12 games, making 60 tackles with four for loss, including the lone sack, with a forced fumble and an interception.
Peterson and Florida’s then-defensive coordinator Austin Armstrong treated Pyburn more like a defensive tackle when he wasn’t dropping into pass coverage instead of rushing the quarterback from the edge.
“I probably dropped into coverage 33 percent of the time,” he said. “Mentally, I felt like I was stuck as a run defender and wasn’t athletic. It wasn’t the truth. The truth is what I make it.”
So, he entered the portal. And LSU called.
“I just feel like that I needed a new opportunity to showcase who I am and what I’m about, and honestly to prove myself right, knowing who I am as a player and as a person,” he said. “And also come somewhere that has a rich tradition and has put a lot of guys in the league and played at a high level of football. And there’s no better place than LSU to do that.”
Then he met LSU edge coach Kevin Peoples, who has quickly convinced Pyburn he is a true edge rusher, and not a tackle.
“Coach Peoples has helped me tremendously with my foot work, hands, eyes, being able to play within my skill set, and also expand my skill set is the biggest thing,” he said. “He’s helped me really improve as a player. Just the detail in my hand work, strike placement in the run game and pass game. Playing with longer levers, bigger steps, quicker get-off.”
Basically, he’s a new man as the No. 9 Tigers prepare to play at No. 4 Clemson on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ABC).
LSU DE JACK PYBURN BLOSSOMING UNDER NEW COACHES
“Overall I’m a much more athletic human than I’ve ever been,” Pyburn said. “When you have a coach who teaches you how to do things the right way, and you get the fundamentals that cater to your exact skill set, it’s a great combination.”
That was a shot at Florida.
And in the three years Pyburn was at Florida, LSU coach Brian Kelly put together, not great seasons, but better than the Gators under Napier as the Tigers went 10-4 and 6-2 in the SEC, 10-3 and 6-2 and 9-4 and 5-3. Also, LSU’s last national championship was in 2019, whereas Florida’s was in 2008 under coach Urban Meyer. The Gators are on their fifth coach since that title and have not won more than eight games in a season since 2020 with three losing seasons 2021 under two coaches.
“I wanted to come somewhere that has a rich tradition and has put a lot of guys in the league and played at a high level of football,” Pyburn said. “And there’s no better place than LSU to do that.”
Another shot at Florida.
Pyburn also liked LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s style.
“It’s aggressive,” he said. “It’s about being on the attack and being up field, creating havoc. That’s a big part of why I wanted to come to LSU.”
Peoples, Baker and LSU’s training program have made Pyburn faster.
“I can do everything, but I’m best utilized coming hard off the edge and playing aggressive, using my physicality and my speed and letting it be my advantage,” he said. “I’m way faster. I’m stronger and twitchier. I’ve built the lower body strength, squatting near 600 pounds and am running close to 21 miles an hour from 20 miles an hour. That’s a big difference.”
As a consequence, his confidence has soared. His new coaches apparently have more belief in him as a talent than his previous ones.
“I just feel so confident on the edge,” he said. “I just don’t really feel like anybody’s going to beat me around the edge. I’m an overall elite defensive end now. I think every single part of my game is going to be at an elite level this year. Right now, I’m playing my best ball ever, and I’m just looking forward to letting it translate on the field on Saturdays.”
Pyburn, not Florida’s coaches who apparently pigeonholed him, is in charge of his future now.
“My role on this team is going to be completely in my hands,” he said. “That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
Be the first to comment