How freshman Bryce Fitzgerald worked his way into a key role for Miami’s defense
Heading into his second career game with the Miami Hurricanes, true freshman Bryce Fitzgerald sent a text to his mom.
The message?
“I’m getting a pick just for you,” Fitzgerald said.
He stayed true to his word, hawking down a ball in the end zone during the fourth quarter of Miami’s rout of Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 6.
He followed that up with a second interception a week later in the Hurricanes 49-12 win against the USF Bulls.
After flashing at practice during his first month on campus, Fitzgerald is quickly showing that his ability translates to the field on game day.
“One thing that we preach is what happens in practice is what happens on the field,” defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. “He’s been a guy all the way through fall camp, the ball is always finding him. It’s been consistent where guys that show up with the football Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, they seem to be the guys that are getting fumble recoveries or interceptions on Saturdays and Sundays right now.”
Fitzgerald fits the bill, even though he came to campus with a lot to prove and not a lot of time to prove it.
The true freshman and former standout at Miami Columbus didn’t enroll at the University of Miami until the summer, putting him behind the rest of his teammates who had been on campus since the spring. Both Fitzgerald and the coaching staff knew he had the talent to make an impact early in his career; it was just a matter of how quickly he could get himself acclimated to the playbook and showcase his skills.
Consider him caught up.
Fitzgerald immediately worked his way into the safety rotation, playing snaps in select situations of the Hurricanes’ season-opening win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and has gained more playing time each passing week.
Now, he has a pair of interceptions to show for it, putting him on the fast track for what could be a historic freshman season.
Fitzgerald is one of two freshmen at the FBS level with multiple interceptions so far this season, along with Akron linebacker Markus Boswell. He is the first Miami freshman with multiple interceptions since James Williams in 2021.
Since 1985, only two UM players have recorded more than two interceptions in their freshman season: Donald Ellis with four in 1985 and Lavon Ponder with three in 2005.
And both of Fitzgerald’s interceptions thus far were impressive.
Against Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 6, he made an instinctual read in the end zone, running across the field to jump in front of Wildcats receiver Maleek Huggins and snag the pass.
And then last weekend against USF, Fitzgerald tracked down a wobbly pass from Byrum Brown, who was pressured by Akheem Mesidor, and came down with the ball in the second quarter.
Should he get another interception Saturday against Florida, he would be the 11th player (14th instance) in Hurricanes history to have interceptions in three consecutive games. Jaquan Johnson was the most recent such instance, doing so in a three-game stretch against Virginia Tech, Notre Dame and Virginia in November 2017.
“He’s smart, he’s tough, he’s athletic, he’s ridiculously gifted, and he’s a great human being,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “He’s all about his teammates. He wants to do well. He’s got a tremendous knack for being around the football. His cover skills are excellent. He’s a great tackler. He’s not a little guy. He’s a big guy. He’s 6-1-plus and he’s close to 200 pounds. He’s a guy that he’s learned our systems, picked them up really well.”
It’s impressive considering the short time he had to get as far along in the playbook as he has done. Fitzgerald told the Miami Herald ahead of fall camp that he didn’t receive the playbook until he enrolled on May 18 and he would spend 30 minutes to an hour before bed every night going over assignments and alignments to be as best prepared as possible for when practices began in August.
He has also leaned on veterans such as Zechariah Poyser and Jakobe Thomas.
“Learning from them, it teaches me a lot of stuff, details, just reading the keys on the field,” Fitzgerald said. “I thank them for doing that.”
It has paid off early for Fitzgerald, who is being rewarded with more playing time. He had nine snaps on defense in the season opener against Notre Dame, then 20 against Bethune-Cookman and then 38 against USF in addition to playing on special teams all three weeks.
If he continues playing the way he has, expect that workload to continue to uptick as the season progresses.
“Bryce did a good job all camp and all summer finding the ball,” nickel corner Keionte Scott said, “so I feel like that’s something that’s a trait he has in his game and it’s going to continue to show throughout the year. He’s going to continue to find the ball.”
This story was originally published September 16, 2025 at 10:37 AM.
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