Will Sammon

The Clarion-Ledger

STARKVILLE -- Nick Fitzgerald returned this spring to Mississippi State as one of the top quarterbacks in the Southeastern Conference, but in August 2012 his name was among the last in a list of 300.

Mississippi State assistant recruiting coordinator Niel Stopczynski didn’t skip over him, and nowadays many Bulldogs’ fans are thankful he didn’t.

But he certainly could have – and it wasn’t like there was ever going to be an uproar back then if he passed over a quarterback prospect who didn’t even start at the position at the time for his high school team.

That day more than four years ago was the first time Fitzgerald’s name was seen by a Bulldogs staffer. Stopczynski saw it on his computer listed around number 298, as he remembers, in a compilation of Georgia prospects thought to have Division I talent by a recruiting service MSU uses.

“I had to really unearth some serious ground to find that name,” Stopczynski said.

It wasn’t until the seventh clip of Fitzgerald’s film from that recruiting service that anyone could identify him as a quarterback. He played mostly wide receiver until his senior year at Richmond Hill High and was the backup to future Air Force signee Dominique Allen. For Stopczynski, the throwing clip was worth the wait.

It showed Fitzgerald, who was 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds at the time, take a five-step drop and throw a 70-yard touchdown pass with the ball in the air for the majority of the yardage.

That was when Stopczynski said to himself, “Wow.”

A few months later, former MSU quarterbacks coach Les Koenning wanted a list of the top 23 quarterback prospects. Fitzgerald was included.

So that spring, MSU offensive line coach John Hevesy, whose recruiting area covers Georgia, went over to Savannah to check out Fitzgerald. A short time after that, Hevesy linked up with Fitzgerald’s father, Derrick, to set up a day for a visit to Starkville.

By June, in between visits to Ole Miss, which didn’t offer him, and Middle Tennesee State, which did, Fitzgergald took in Starkville. A few days later, he committed. Fitzgerald was an MSU quarterback commit despite not yet being his high school team’s starter. Though schools like Oregon, Derrick said, would later inquire about him, Fitzgerald never wavered from his commitment.

We all know how the rest of the story goes. Fitzgerald won the starting quarterback job last season, led the SEC in rushing touchdowns and racked up 37 total TDs.

Dan Mullen has often said that a quarterback progresses the most from Year 1 to Year 2 as a starter and all eyes will be on how Fitzgerald improves upon his gaudy totals. Mullen wants to see a confident guy with improved leadership who can get through his reads quicker.

Different from last year, Fitzgerald only has true freshman Keytaon Thompson to push him in practice. It will be interesting to see how Fitzgerald responds to that, but those close to him always point out his competitiveness.

On Thursday, the first day of MSU spring practice, Fitzgerald was asked if he would still use his past, including the fact he was one of those last names in a list of 300 a few years ago, as a motivational tool, considering his new status this spring.

“I kind of moved on from that,” Fitzgerald said. “There is always going to be a chip on my shoulder that not that many people wanted me and that’s always going to be something that drives me, but that’s more in the back of my mind. You don’t forget it, though.”

Stopczynski sure doesn’t.

“I guess it’s just a matter of chance that I got that far down the list, found his name, turned over the rock and found something special,” Stopczynski said. “It was really a cool feeling for me finding someone who is now our starting quarterback.”

ContactWill Sammon at 601-961-7116 orwsammon@gannett.com. Follow him onTwitter.