[HAIL PIKEVILLE!]

Live Maroon and I were discussing this back in December. Where does Darric Pugh rank among the All-Time Great Backs at Pikeville? Discuss and I'll share my opinion later...

[EKUAlum05]

From a non-Pikeville viewpoint: Top 5 for sure

Can't put him as high as a Brent Coleman or Steve Bailey... but he is up there and his ring guarantees a Top 5 spot. The only knock on Pugh is you really only got two years of a sample size due to Chase Hall in 2013.

I would enjoy seeing a list of Pikeville backs ranked though...some great names and fun players to watch.

Barrett Rogers remains as one of my favorite Panther backs of all-time. Still think if Rogers were 100% (and Beechwood doesn't complete those borderline miracle passes) that he has a ring and a claim at the top.

[Leonidas]

Top 5 from a Belfry Fan

1. Steve Bailey
2. Brent Coleman
3. Greg Hackney
4. Barrett Rogers
5. Daric Pugh or Paul Sullivan

I only go back so far but those are the best I remember seeing. Sullivan was unfortunate that he hit his growth spurt late and was only a year younger than Rogers.

[Live Maroon]

I go WAY back:

1. Chuck Huffman (1972)
2. Steve Bailey (1989)
3. Greg Hackney (1987-88)
4. Brent Coleman (1993-97)
5. Daric Pugh (2014-15)

Here's the funny thing that got this thread started. I could list my Top 5 again like this:

1. Daric Pugh
2. Chuck Huffman
3. Steve Bailey
4. Greg Hackney
5. Brent Coleman

[The_Rock]

Pugh is as good as any of them. Big Strong and Fast plus a Winner.

[jetpilot]

All these posts are right but you have to put Bobby Deramus in there with Greg Hackney as x.a and x.b...they were both great and made each other greater being in the same backfield.

[jetpilot]

I'm going with:
1.) Bailey
2.) Pugh
3. a/b) Hackney/Deramus
5.) Coleman
5.) (tie) Huffman

[Redneck]

I'm going with:
1.) Bailey
2.) Pugh
3. a/b) Hackney/Deramus
5.) Coleman
5.) (tie) Huffman

I'm a little surprised that you don't have Barrett Rogers on your list.

[jetpilot]

I'm a little surprised that you don't have Barrett Rogers on your list.

He would be next on my list. Definitely a valid argument to include him.:Thumbs:

[footballislyfe]

Pikeville has had some great backs but Pugh is #1.

My list goes:
1. Daric Pugh
2. Greg Hackney
3. Steve Bailey
4. Brent Coleman
5. Paul Sullivan

[Live Maroon]

Just let me say, I know I go back further than a lot of you and you may not have had the chance to see Chuck Huffman play, but Chuck was recruited and signed by the University of Nebraska after they had won the National Championship in 1971. A health issue discovered during a physical prevented him from playing, but he's a top 5 - if not Top 2 for sure.

[PHSForever]

Just let me say, I know I go back further than a lot of you and you may not have had the chance to see Chuck Huffman play, but Chuck was recruited and signed by the University of Nebraska after they had won the National Championship in 1971. A health issue discovered during a physical prevented him from playing, but he's a top 5 - if not Top 2 for sure.

Chuck is definitely #1 on any list I create of Pikeville RBs. That's not a slight to the others at all, but a testament to how good he was. There were fewer scholarship offers then, he was in EKY, which doesn't typically get a lot of love or respect from national level scouts, and we didn't have the Internet then, so for word to get to them about Chuck, at a time when they were one of the top 5 programs in the country year in and out, should be strong evidence about how good Chuck was.

My list:

1) Chuck Huffman
2) Daric Pugh
3) Hackney/Deramus (tie)
5) Steve Bailey

There's many other good ones who won't make the top 5 list simply because of sheer numbers we've been blessed with. Danny Passidomo, Chase Hall, etc. FWIW, I've always thought Chase ran exactly like Danny did, maybe a little faster.

[Live Maroon]

Totally agree, PHSForever. Chase Hall remains very underrated, but it is a crowded group that he tried to break into, as you mentioned. He literally put his team on his back and won a couple of games for us on his sheer effort alone. Very undervalued. The thing with Pugh, as EKUAlum05 pointed out, is that you only got to see two years of work due to shoulder injuries. If he had played all four years, there would be no question. Then again, look at Steve Bailey - one year and he's a solid top 5, and should be! As I mentioned earlier, every week Pugh made us dive into the record book. That's unusual at Pikeville in all honesty. That and 240+/3 TDs against Beechwood in a State Final, I really think I have to put him in 2nd spot. I think we got spoiled watching him put up Xbox-level numbers every week. We'll actually appreciate him more this season, when we're not getting to watch him. And a super young man, to boot.-

[HAIL PIKEVILLE!]

I have to put Pugh at #1 and let me explain why. Nearly everyone on the list of all time great backs either had a Honaker up front blocking for them or a Deramus in the backfield with them. Greg Hackney was blessed with both. Pugh had neither. This is not a knock on last years O-Line, they played at a ridiculously high level last year and dominated everyone they went against in the postseason. With that said, they weren't "The Big 5-0". Pugh went into nearly every game he played with the opposing defenses who were selling out to stop him in the running game. Opponents couldn't do that with any other great back on the list. Even with opponents keying on Pugh. He still ran roughshod over them and helped bag the big one! IMO that is what sets him apart from the rest.