MOULTRIE – Will the time soon arrive when Ryan Fitzgerald can show the rest of the country what Colquitt County High football fans enjoyed for three memorable years?

For three days in March, Fitzgerald joined his new gridiron teammates for spring practice at Florida State University, where some heated battles for starting positions under a new head coach were just getting started. That included the job Fitzgerald signed up for after completing his days as a record-setting Packer: Seminole placekicking specialist.

But there was no fourth day, or fifth, and no spring game for the faithful in Tallahassee. The Atlantic Coast Conference cancelled every spring-related athletic activity – and Florida State closed its campus entirely – when the coronavirus crisis reached pandemic level in the United States. Those Seminole student-athletes like Fitzgerald scurried back home to complete their academic requirements remotely and do whatever else they could to stay in shape while maintaining proper social distance.

There’s very little argument that Fitzgerald put together one of the greatest careers for a high school kicker ever. For Colquitt County from 2016-18, he set state records for field goals made in both one season (22, 2018) and in a career (51). He connected on eight tries of 50 yards or more, including a memorable 60-yard free kick at Archer in the 2017 7A playoffs. In fact, he did all the scoring in that game, a 12-7 Packers win, and then made five field goals in the rematch one year later on Tom White Field at Mack Tharpe Stadium (the fifth one tied the game at the final buzzer, Colquitt went on to win in OT).

The 2018 Chris Sailor award winner for the nation’s top high school kicker committed to Florida State, where he spent the 2019 season as a redshirt freshman behind senior Ricky Aguayo. Fitzgerald spoke with The Moultrie Observer last week about that season and what he’s done since the school closed over a month ago.

“I definitely learned a lot,” said Fitzgerald. “It was a building year mentally, physically and athletically. It will definitely help prepare me for the next four years.”

Placekicking appears to be one of the more cut-and-dry jobs in football or any other team sport. You establish a routine, get your timing down, approach the ball and boom. Practice is one kick after another, much like being on a driving range in golf.

Was there anything Fitzgerald didn’t know about kicking that he picked up in Tallahassee?

He said he didn’t learn a lot of new things specifically, but the biggest lesson in the transition was the speed of the college game.

“We played at a high level at Colquitt County, similar to Division I,” said Fitzgerald. But even with so much success at Georgia’s highest level in high school, where he played in two state championship games, that speed still picked up in the ACC.

Before the 2019 season could end, Fitzgerald learned a harsh lesson about big-time college sports. His head coach, Willie Taggart, was let go. Therefore the season ended under an interim coach and with a 6-7 record.

“It happens all the time,” said Fitzgerald. “It’s part of the game.”

He is excited, though, about the future under new head coach Mike Norvell.

“He’s awesome,” said Fitzgerald. “Very goal-oriented.”

He said Norvell brought with him from Memphis a CLIMB philosophy (Commitment, Little things, Intensity, Mental toughness and Brotherhood).

So next came spring practice which started the second week of March. Those first three (and only) days, Fitzgerald said, were about learning how Norvell’s practice routine worked.

“It went well,” said Fitzgerald. “We got better. Unfortunately we were not able to continue. We saw a lot of good things.

“Everybody’s competing for a job. Every position is a battle. We were pushing each other to get better. That’s on hold right now.”

As for Fitzgerald’s battle in the FSU kicker’s position, he said there are two others, one of which is a returning redshirt junior who did kickoffs in 2019. The other is an incoming freshman who has yet to enroll. He said he has a good relationship with FSU’s other returning kicker.

Since returning home, Fitzgerald said he’s tried to maintain the same attitude and approach to football as if he were still on campus. He goes to the home of a former Packer teammate who became a Seminole teammate earlier this year, tight end Carter Boatwright, to work out with all safety precautions. As for kicking a football, Fitzgerald said his father set uprights at their home 10 years ago, or he will go to the high school practice field.

“It’s like the offseason where you have time to work … keep improving on little things … use the time to get your technique down,” said Fitzgerald. The only thing missing is face-to-face instruction.

“They send workouts and how to maintain optimum nutrition levels,” he said. “And we have weekly team meetings. We’re trying to make the most of it, finding ways to get better.”

Fitzgerald said summer classes at FSU will be done online, but he does not have any timelines on what will happen for the fall. Every college – and high school – program in the country is trying to figure that out as businesses in Georgia slowly reopen and the summer approaches. What would the fall be like in Tallahassee without a full Doak Campbell Stadium and all the pomp, the flaming spear thrown into the turf?

“I hope it can be like a normal season,” said Fitzgerald, who delighted in the recent news of being on MaxPreps All 2010s Decade High School Football first team with such names as Kyler Murray, Trevor Lawrence and Jadaveon Clowney. He said it was all about having good coaching, good teammates and being in the right spots at the right time.