FSU football QB McKenzie Milton speaks to the media for the first time.
FSU football players have started the process of preparing for the 2021 season that will begin September 5 against Notre Dame.
The Tour of Duty began Friday, and some new players that joined the team from the transfer portal this spring were available to the media for the first time.
Former UCF McKenzie Milton spoke with media at length Friday morning on a variety of topics.
He’s coming off of a devastating leg injury nearly two years ago, but still lit a fire under the Nole fan base when he announced he was coming to Tallahassee.
That energy has transcended other proven players to join him in Tallahassee as eight players from the transfer portal have either signed or committed to play for Mike Norvell.
I’ve seen and heard several McKenzie Milton interviews before Friday, so I wasn’t surprised by his demeanor or any of his answers.
He has experience at being interviewed as a former starting quarterback at UCF. However, I think he provided some good insight on a few topics. Here are the three main takeaways from the press conference. The entire video will be provided here as well.
Health
The topic most fans want to know about is the health of McKenzie Milton’s leg. Will he be healthy enough to play by September?
The short answer to that question is Milton believes he could play this weekend if there was a game, but believes he’ll be stronger in the next nine months.
"I’d say I’m about 90 percent, still pushing to get to 100. I feel like playing football you’re never truly at 100 percent anyways. I’m still trying to get, range of motion is close, but it’s not quite there. But it’s functional and it’s where it needs to be in order to play."
From now until the beginning of the season is a long time to continue to rehab and put the work in to strengthen his body overall.
That time will also give the coaches a chance to see his progress physically and fully determine if he’s the same, or close to the same player he was while at UCF.
If not selected as the starter, then FSU football fans have to feel confident in the guy that’s named the starter.
Culture/Teammates
"“You can’t expect to come in and have these guys listen to every thing you have to say. You’ve got to show your work ethic and stuff like that. Coming in early, leaving late. Just leading by example and action rather than just behind a rah-rah guy and talking. Because I haven’t played in a long time, so I don’t want to be that guy to just show up and say I’m going to do this, do that when I don’t. I want to lead by action. And just put my best foot forward for this team. And hopefully we can have some success in the fall.”"
That’s what you want to see from someone in Milton’s shoes. He could rely on what he’s done at UCF and say something like turn on the highlights, but it’s this mentality that will have change the culture at FSU football.
Teams take on the personality of their head coaches and quarterbacks, and we began to see a little of that last season when Jordan Travis was named the starter.
Another thing Milton talked about was forming a relationship with his teammates OFF the football field, and that was probably some of his favorite moments of being a college football player.
Iron sharpens iron, and it looks like the QB room has a player that’s going to put in the work and help hold others accountable.
"“It has been good with J-Trav, Chubba Purdy, and Tate Rodemaker, they’ve all been great. Super cool guys and I keep forgetting I’m an old head, and I’m the oldest one in the group. So when they crack jokes, I’m cracking jokes too. So I have to bring a sense of maturity in there sometimes. But they’re all great kids, they work hard, they’re really good athletes, and I think a lot of them in that room have really good potential. I can bring some insight and playing experience of being on the sidelines for the last two years and learning from the coaches. You know, give them another pair of eyes to see the game and kind of help them and help them take their game to the next level, and I feel like they can help me take my game to the next level, from a competition aspect. So, I’m excited to work with those guys. It has only been two weeks, but they come to work, and they’ve been working hard from the time that I’ve been here , and I expect nothing less from them.”"
Video Interview
Parting Thoughts
I continue to believe the addition of McKenzie Milton to this program will have a positive influence on this program even if he never plays a down in garnet and gold.
The experience and work ethic he brings alone are enough to help instill the type of culture Mike Norvell wants in Tallahassee.
I know an interview Milton did earlier this week gave some FSU football fans pause with the wording he used regarding how his body responds to the injury.
However, I believe he’ll be healthy by the time September rolls around, provided everything goes well, and there are no setbacks. He strikes me as someone that’s a straight shooter and has to be close to 100 percent since he ran the scout team practices at UCF this past year.
The question is, how will he respond to getting hit the first time? If or when will Mike Norvell allow that to happen?
Milton strikes me as the type of guy that would want to experience getting hit before the Notre Dame game.
Stay tuned to Chopchat for more insight as we’ll be talking about Georgia defensive end transfer Jermaine Johnson next.