Nitro Tuggle placed his name in the NCAA transfer portal. Ultimately, the football family he would be leaving behind led to him changing his mind.

“Yeah, it’s just the family that I created here,” Tuggle said. “It’s the bonds, you know? Coach (Kirby) Smart, Coach (James) Coley. That kind of, you know, helped determine that I would stay.”

Between receivers transferring out, off-the-field issues, and others out of eligibility, losing a promising wideout like Tuggle would have been a detriment.

Looking ahead, he has a chance to be a key part of the rotation, even with some key additions like Zachariah Branch and Noah Thomas.

Although he caught just three catches for 34 yards (two against Tennessee) in seven games, Tuggle believes progress was made in his game.

“I feel like I definitely made some progress in practice,” Tuggle said. “Whether it was going against scouts or just going against our ones on defense. I just take advantage of that and all the reps I get so I can get better and be ready for my time.”

Considering Tuggle was a basketball player before he donned football pads, it’s easy to see why those reps have improved him.

Like perfecting his releases.

“You hear that talked about all the time if you’ve played basketball,” Tuggle said. “But with my releases, it’s definitely helped.”

Coley agreed.

"You know, he's got a lot of talent. You're looking at a kid who played basketball full-time and played football part-time," Coley said. "Every receiver wants a release like Allen Iverson. You want to have a double … yeah, cross them up, yeah, cross them up.”

Georgia’s receiving coach likes what he’s seen from Tuggle.

“The top part of his game is the release work at the line of scrimmage. He’s really good at it,” Coley said. “Now, the other part of his game needs to develop, right? So, that’s where he’s been at this year.”

At times, it’s been frustrating.

“It can be frustrating when you've had a lot of success and you come into an environment where it's highly competitive,” Coley said. “But he's done a good job fighting through those frustrations and he's done a really good job with, you know, refocusing with a lot of help from everybody else, too.”

Tuggle insists he’ll be patient while he works hard to perfect his craft.

“I’ll just work while I wait. I’ll wait my turn,” he said. “But I’m ready for it.”