An All-SEC center on Auburn's 2010 national championship team, Ryan Pugh enters his fourth season as the Wildcats' offensive line coach in 2025.

Pugh has coached four ACU linemen to all-conference honors: Reese Moore, Alan Hatten, Jacob Thielen and Tay Yanta. 

In 2024, the Wildcats' line led the way for one of the most productive offenses in the FCS. ACU finished fourth in the nation in yards per game (470), seventh in passing yards per game (304), and 16th in points per game (34).

Pugh added the role of offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.

Prior to working at ACU, Pugh was the offensive line and running game coordinator at Southern University, where he produced five all-conference linemen in 2021.
 
In his lone season at Southern, the Jaguars led the SWAC with 197.8 rushing yards per game and third down conversion percentage (41.4%). Southern set a new conference single-game record for rushing yards with 267 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff last October, and Ja’Tyre Carter was named the league’s Offensive Lineman of the Year. 

Before coaching at Southern, Pugh spent nearly a decade coaching at the FBS level.
 
Prior to his time in Baton Rouge, Pugh spent two seasons at Troy, where he was a 2019 Broyles Award nominee and his offensive line was recognized by Pro Football Focus as the top-graded pass blocking FBS program in the nation. Troy went over 500 total yards a program-best six times in 2019, while Pugh coached eight players to Sun Belt All-Conference honors. 
 
As the offensive line coach at BYU in 2018, Pugh coached two Freshman All-Americans in James Empey and Brady Christensen, as well as All-Independent First Teamer Austin Hoyt. The Cougars also found the end zone 27 times on the ground, an increase of 15 from the previous season. 
 
Prior to moving to Provo, Pugh served as offensive line coach at UTSA for two seasons, where he coached the Roadrunners in the first bowl game in program history in 2016. UTSA turned in the highest-ranked signing class in Conference USA history in 2017, and the ‘Runners allowed 40% less sacks in 2017 than 2015. 
 
Pugh’s stops also include LSU, Cincinnati and Virginia Tech, and he has coached a dozen offensive lineman who have gone on to play in the National Football League. As a student-athlete at Auburn, Pugh was a four-time Academic All-SEC player and a member of the Tigers’ National Champion team in 2010. A native of Hoover, Ala., Pugh graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s in Building Science in 2012. 


Coach Keith Patterson says...
"Ryan is one of the most cerebral offensive line coaches I've ever been around. He has a great grasp on offensive concepts in the run and the pass game."