EAGLE ALUMNI

www.osceolanews.com - 8/7/00

It's a long way from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., to Tallahassee. Just ask Chris Rix, the touted quarterback recruit who arrived in Tally last week to get acquainted with his new surroundings. Rix worked out with his future Florida State teammates in a few informal passing sessions and got to know his college roommate, kicker Brett Cimorelli. Here are Rix's thoughts on his early days as a Seminole.

I could do without the rain. I don't like playing in the rain, but I guess I'll have to get used to that. It's nice getting to know the players and getting to know the coaches a little better. I'm just anxious to get out there and start throwing with the rest of the team and start doing my thing.

The No. 1 role that sticks out in my mind is just learning, from Chris (Weinke) and Marcus (Outzen) and the other quarterbacks. Just getting the offense down. Taking a backseat, of course, to Chris and the two other guys. But just learning the offense and absorbing everything from Coach (Mark) Richt and the team so I can be ready to compete next year.

Of course, I want to play (this season). Hopefully we'll be blowing people out and I can get some reps in so I can get some game experience for next year, but that's up to Coach Richt and the staff. They say they'll have a better idea after (preseason) camp what they want to do. Right now they're leaning towards not redshirting me. I'll just put it in their hands.

I think I'm absorbing (the offense) pretty well, faster than I expected. It's just a matter of repetition and perfecting it and getting out there and doing it against actual defenses. It's easy to write it down and memorize it all, but you need to put it all into play when you go out there (to practice) and go against the best defense in the country. It'll take some time, but I have faith that I'll get it down as quick as possible so I can start competing.

(Weinke) wasn't at any of the informal workouts -- I think they said he was resting his arm -- so I haven't even seen him yet. But I'm looking forward, towards the end of the week, to meeting up with him and him taking me under his wing and learning the offense.

I'm gonna miss my family and friends, but I feel very at home here with Coach (Bobby) Bowden and Coach Richt. They've made me feel at home ever since I committed to the school. It's (distance) a small sacrifice to come out here and play for a staff and a program like this. Hopefully I'll be wearing a (championship) ring at the end of the season. That'll take care of all my homesick problems.

It's definitely gonna be a factor when you're going from one coast to the other, but you know if you go to USC or UCLA, you're not gonna be playing for Bobby Bowden and a program like Florida State. So you kind of bypass that (distance) factor. It's not really a big deal after you start thinking about it.

I like (Tallahassee). It's a nice town, not too big, not too small. Nice homey town. I feel at home already and I've only been here a week. I like it a lot.

I did commit a week before signing day (1999). Basically I took an unofficial trip (to FSU) and two weeks later I committed. Within that two weeks I did a lot of talking with my dad and my family, did a lot of praying, and I just felt like it was the right decision to commit then. I didn't want to let an opportunity like this bypass me and (FSU coaches) say, 'We can go on to someone else now if you're not serious about this.' And I was serious about it and knew that I couldn't do better than a program like Florida State and a coach like Coach Bowden. That was the main factor in committing so early.

Just by doing the informal workouts, the guys are running the routes awesome, the DBs are on 'em -- it's a totally different speed than high school. But it's just awesome being surrounded by such great talent, having guys that can run their routes, cut on a dime and be there where you want them to be.

From what people say and what I think, I think I bring a little more mobility than they've had in the past couple years (at quarterback), since Charlie Ward. I make things happen. I like to run the ball if nothing's there, in contrast to throwing it away or eating it and taking a sack. I think the things I need to work on, probably (putting) more touch on my ball. I throw the ball a little hard sometimes. Then reading defenses a little bit would definitely help me. I think a little more of a playmaker is what I bring as far as arm strength, airing it out, and being able to run the ball if needed.

I had a pretty good game my one game as a receiver (in high school), but those days are behind me. They won't need me to play receiver here. They're gonna have guys way faster and way more talented than me.

(Brett Cimorelli and I) are two pretty mellow guys, and neat. My dad always criticized me on how neat I liked to keep my room, and Brett's kind of the same way. I think it'll work out fine.

My dad said he's gonna try to make the BYU game and maybe the Florida game. That'll be great. I just hope I can get in there and make his trip worthwhile.