Miami freshman Malachi Toney has earned a ton of praise for the excellent start to his career, but another South Florida native freshman on the other side of the ball has been quietly becoming a key player for the No. 2 Hurricanes.

Safety Bryce Fitzgerald leads Miami with three interceptions, including a key pick against FSU that helped set up a Hurricanes touchdown. Fitzgerald was picked as a midseason true freshman All-American by On3 — along with Toney — on Monday.

“He’s been the same dude every day,” safety Jakobe Thomas said. “He comes in the building focused, asks as many questions as we do in the meetings. He does those types of things in practice all the time. …  He’s going to be a special, special player.”

Fitzgerald was the last of Miami’s freshmen to arrive on campus this summer after most of the class enrolled in the spring. The safety, a Miami Columbus High alum, quickly got up to speed after arriving.

“He joined us in the summer, and I just think he attacked the playbook,” defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. “He understood the concepts, understands multiple positions. So he has a really good idea of what’s going on around him: What’s the safety next to him doing? What’s the linebackers in front of him doing? What’s the corners doing in these plays? And I think that has helped him to play fast.”

Hetherman said the ball continued to find Fitzgerald during practice, and he did well in fall camp to earn early playing time. The freshman played nine defensive snaps in the season-opening win over Notre Dame and played 20 in a win over Bethune-Cookman. He played a season-high 38 snaps against USF before playing 10 against Florida. In the road win over FSU, he played 35 snaps.

“Guys have (played well as freshmen) here, like Mark Fletcher (Jr.). OJ (Frederique Jr.) was another one,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said. “Football’s a developmental sport, and you never can completely predict if it’s going to happen Day 1, Year 3, Year 4. We’ve had so many guys, probably equal talent levels, that have gotten it at different points in their career. So credit to him (for) the time he’s invested. Credit to him for his ability to really turn it up when he was demanded and called upon in practice to perform and go out there and do it against our frontline players.”

Fitzgerald’s first interception came in the victory over Bethune-Cookman, and the second was a week later against the Bulls. He had one against the Seminoles last week, which he returned 43 yards. Pro Football Focus gave Fitzgerald the best grades of his young career against FSU. He earned a 78.5 defensive grade with a 79.8 coverage grade in the win.

Fitzgerald’s 71.7 defensive grade is third in the nation among freshman safeties with 50 or more defensive snaps. His 73.5 coverage grade is fourth among the same group.

“The ball always finds him, and he makes the play,” Hetherman said. “He attacks it. He high-points it.”

Fitzgerald and his head coach have something in common: Both went to Columbus High in Miami. That shared background makes it a little extra special for Cristobal when Fitzgerald succeeds, but mostly it just means that Cristobal has higher expectations for his fellow Explorer-turned-Hurricane.

“He’s only getting better,” Cristobal said. “He’ll tell you right now, there’s so many parts of his game he’s got to get better at. So (he is a) work in progress. Proud of him for what he’s done so far.”

“I’m on him every day, he can expect that,” Cristobal added. “Went to the same high school, so he’s got to keep bringing it.”

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/10/15/hurricanes-fitzgerald-success/