NC State S Bishop Fitzgerald takes on leadership role within position group

This time a year ago, NC State safety Bishop Fitzgerald was finishing up his time at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College. He committed to the Wolfpack in January 2023, but he had to wait until the summer to arrive in Raleigh. 

When he did show up on campus in the summer months, Fitzgerald was a step behind the other safeties that went through spring practice. The former top-ranked junior college safety transfer had to play catch up before he was thrown into the fire after Jakeen Harris, who has since transferred to North Carolina, suffered a season-ending injury during the season opener at UConn.

Now, after a full season of playing with the Wolfpack, Fitzgerald has his bearings. 

“I’m way more comfortable,” Fitzgerald said Tuesday inside the Close-King Indoor Practice Facility. “I’m finally at the same speed they’re at, learning everything at the same time they were. I had to come in in the summer and I felt like I was playing catch up. … Everything just went a little fast for me last year.”

Though things went on an accelerated schedule to allow the Woodbridge, Va., native to learn Tony Gibson’s defense, he was able to make a rather large impact with the Wolfpack. Fitzgerald was a constant within a position group that was plagued by injury for much of last season. 

Fitzgerald logged 42 total tackles, including 16 solo stops, with three passes defended and two interceptions. He logged a season-best six tackles in a trio of games, including NC State’s 24-17 win over Clemson in late-October. 

The safety, who possesses elite ball skills in the air, lined up all over NC State’s defense. He had 227 snaps at free safety to go with 121 as a slot corner and 112 inside the box last season. Fitzgerald was an efficient tackler, too. He recorded just seven missed tackles, and never had more than one in a single game last fall. 

While Fitzgerald was able to produce on the field last fall, he said he felt “stiff” when he arrived in Raleigh. But after a full winter workout regimen with Director of Strength and Conditioning Dantonio Burnette, Fitzgerald feels “way more faster, way more fluid” after working on his explosiveness. 

After a year in NC State’s system, Fitzgerald has become a leader at the position. While his playing experience helped make that happen, so did a pair of position changes in the backend of the defense. 

Redshirt junior Sean Brown moved to linebacker to replace Payton Wilson, who starred at the NFL Combine last week, while graduate Devan Boykin will move to nickel when he returns from ACL surgery. 

“With the position changes … I kind of got to step up as a veteran in the safety room,” Fitzgerald said. “That’s what I’ve been working on this spring, this winter. The guys, they’re rolling with me, so it feels good. I feel like we’re not going to miss a step back there.”

Fitzgerald is the oldest in the safety room, surrounded by a group of young up-and-coming defensive backs looking to make an impact on the field. Junior Renté Hinton transitioned from cornerback this offseason while redshirt freshmen Zack Myers and Daemon Fagan watched from the sideline a year ago. 

Add in freshman Brody Barnhardt and the Wolfpack has a quartet of inexperienced safeties looking to make their mark. Fitzgerald raved about Myers, while also saying Hinton and Fagan are “doing a great job learning it and being flexible.”

“Zack’s stepping up huge,” Fitzgerald said. “He kind of got thrown into it later last year with the injuries and Sean going to linebacker. We expect a lot from Zack and we think he’s going to be a good player for us.”

While Fitzgerald has become the teacher after absorbing as much as he could a year ago, the biggest thing he learned in his move to NC State was the speed of the game. 

“It was just so fast,” Fitzgerald said. “The game’s so fast. You got to film study, everything. You gotta put in the work. Everyone’s the same athleticism. It’s not like JUCO anymore, you can’t just go out there and ball. You have to put in the time and do some homework.”

Fitzgerald is primed for another productive season leading the Wolfpack’s safeties after a full year within NC State’s defense.