FSU Football: Ryan Fitzgerald on getting stronger, working with “the best punter” in the country

yesterday coach norell said that you wanted to kick The Practice ending kick outside um how come you wanted to do that and how good are you feeling confidence wise you know coming out of fall Camp right now um I think it was a good opportunity just to you know no matter the circumstances still got to execute the job and it wasn't a great day outside yesterday so it was a good opportunity just for you know Mason have a good snap and and the elements and and Master still still getting the ball down and the wet conditions and so it was good work for us really windy rainy was was good good opportunity how have you felt about your performance throughout throughout Camp so far good really good you know hitting the ball well making kicks um just continue to get better each and every day you know same thing with Mason Alex you know we're our mindset is very similar you know every day we're trying to go out and get better so Camp's going really good so far James did such a good job for you guys how how's that transition been when did you guys start get comforable yeah James was such a good Snapper mean all American um and Mason coming in last year was an opportunity for him to to learn behind James and um James helped a lot with Mason Mason's a heck of a snapper he's done a really good job so far this you know spring winter spring summer now fall so just piecing it all together it's been a yearly process and it's coming together really well your seems the is that accurate or is it is it just noticing yeah yes sir that's accurate um I've gotten a lot stronger in the weight room the coach storms and the the balls are a little bit different this year that we're using they go a little bit further as well so it's kind of a culmination of the two and yeah feel feel a lot stronger this year where would you feel comfortable from um you know today I hit from 57 you know just trying to focus on under 50 because that's where the money is you got to be automatic inside of 50 but you know getting a long an opportunity for the longer kicks you know prac practice as well what are some things that Alex does that like you admire like that's really cool that that he could do that at that high of a level um you know I just think in the punting aspect I mean he's the best punter in the country obviously and just seeing his growth since he first got here 5 years ago has been really cool to see you know just learning the rules of American football and knowing how the flow of a game works and obviously the performance on the field you know the all the certain things he can do on the field you know punt left footed right footed whatever he can do it all and um and not only the punting aspect but the holding aspect it just goes overlooked so often and the details he's put into that and he's worked for it for 5 years now and he's I in my opinion the best holder in the country too and that's so important just because of the operation time and being able to get the snap down on the spot the LA out lean uh it's a lot of details and he takes great pride in that and that's something for me it helps me it makes my job so much easier be completely new to him yeah yeah it was completely new to him coming in and it's like I said it has been a process a journey but he's every step of the way he's been asking me questions you know how can I get better how can I get better to make my job easier must be a pretty good A Alex oh yeah oh yeah yeah he's he's a great athlete very mobile what have you seen from Jake so far and what's it been like kind of take him under your Jake's a great dude he's going to be so good he's going to be so good and he's really mature for his age too and uh you know he's he's come in with just such a great mindset of of trying to push me compete and also asking questions you know trying to get as much knowledge as he can and I I look back to my freshman whenever I had Ricky and the other guys Roberto who had already been out but they helped me so much and and my journey along the way too and for me to finally help Jake go through that it's pretty cool and and you know I just think he's going to be so good you mentioned the balls seem to fly a little farther than you explain the techology CH uh it's just a little bit a little bit different ball that's all it's just there's a few balls it's just quarterback preference and those balls go a little bit further and stronger so yeah been around so long so been around so long now the Antics like coach Marell and JP do like to try to ice you so does that does even affect you at all no it doesn't but it's uh I love it though you know because the my hardest day on the job is the practice you know the elements the game-winning field goals with everybody around spray in water you know all the chaos and at the end of the day we still have to focus we still have to focus we still have to focus on our job and get get the job done um and so coach norell coach JP coach Barto they're always trying to do something to distract me and yeah it just help a lot how much you to uh really cool you know I think I have some Irish descent down the line somewhere uh but yeah it's really cool uh playing an international game it's something really special I'm excited for all of us to get a chance to go there and compete you and Alex have gotten a lot of preseason recognition on different watch lists and things like that is that something you guys pay attention to at all does it mean anything to you no it doesn't I mean it's a watch list but you know the season hasn't been played yet obviously so we still got to go out there and do our job one more