Ponte Vedra High outside linebacker Luke Pirris watched his older brothers play college football and now he will get the chance to experience it for himself after committing to the United States Naval Academy.
The PVHS senior announced his commitment via Twitter on July 26 after making several campus visits at schools, such as, Wake Forest, Duke, Army and Air Force to go along with his visit to Navy.
He reached out to several people for advice throughout the recruiting process, including Ponte Vedra High boys basketball coach Kevin Whirity, who played at Navy.
“I knew going into it that everyone seemed to love it,” Pirris said. “Once I was able to meet the players and coaches there, it just felt like home. Annapolis is just special.”
He went on his trip to Navy with his dad and brother J.D. Pirris, who played college football at Mercer and just graduated. His other brother Nick also played football at Mercer.
Pirris already felt good about Navy after the visit, but it was J.D. that reassured him he was making the right decision for his future.
“He played college ball, so he knew what to look for,” Pirris said. “He said he would have loved to have gone to Navy if he would have had the chance to. It became pretty blatant that Navy was the top choice for me.”
He started playing competitive football when he was 6 years old and has been playing outside linebacker since he got to high school.
According to Pirris, he feels like he will be a natural fit in the defensive scheme that Navy likes to implement.
“They run a 5-2 or 3-4 defense, so my position fits perfectly with what they want, which is a long outside linebacker/hybrid safety type of guy,” Pirris said.
At 6-foot-4-inches he will provide plenty of length that the Midshipmen coaching staff can use to their advantage.
However, although the Midshipmen are known for having undersized guys, especially along the front, Pirris continues to work on adding weight.
“I was pretty skinny and played the season at about 178 (pounds) last year,” Pirris said. “I’ve gained about 25 pounds over the past six months, just being in the weight room.”
He currently weighs about 205 pounds and wants to get to 215 before he leaves for Navy next year.
“Adding that weight will be huge, because it will allow me to play with kids that are bigger than me, because they’re obviously just going to get even bigger in college,” Pirris said.
Blitzing has always been something he has excelled at, but lately he has been working on honing his coverage skills to go with that rushing ability.
Over the summer, he has worked a lot on improving his footwork and using proper technique to be as quick as he can be.
Pirris will be playing under his third head coach in four years this fall. However, he has already seen a difference under first-year head coach Steve Price.
“Coach Price came in and has just been a gamechanger,” Pirris said. “I love him, and you can tell he’s a great leader that all of the players want to follow.”
Perhaps what Pirris is looking forward to most about college football is playing in the Navy vs. Army game, which is one of the most historic and deeply rooted rivalries in college football.
“They treat it like a bowl game, so that place is going to be rocking,” Pirris said.
However, the most important game on the schedule for the Pirris family will be the annual matchup between the Midshipmen and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
“My dad’s alma mater is Notre Dame, he wrestled there,” Pirris said with a big smile. “He claims he will be rooting for Navy, but we’ll see.”
