Florida State lands PWO specialist Mac Chiumento over Alabama and Florida
It's expected to be a mostly quiet finish for Florida State on National Signing Day. With that being said, the Seminoles are trending with multiple Preferred Walk-Ons to continue bolstering the 2022 roster with talent.
Specialist Mac Chiumento visited Tallahassee in January and came away impressed. Over the past few days, he's been in the process of making a decision after naming a top-3 of Florida State, Alabama, and Florida.
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On Wednesday afternoon during a signing ceremony at Seabreeze High School, Chiumento announced his decision to sign a Preferred Walk-On offer with the Seminoles.
“I talked to all of the coaches, coach Norvell, the players, and I just absolutely loved it," Chiumento said to NoleGameday's Dustin Lewis. "They all seemed so personable and they all have the same goal in mind, to get better. That’s one thing I really looked for when I was looking for a school, that they have a huge emphasis on improving. My goal is to go to the NFL and I feel like Florida State has the best path for me to do that.”
In the end, it came down to the Seminoles, Gators, and Crimson Tide because they were the three programs that consistently stayed in contact with Chiumento. Florida State stood out the most because he felt at home in Tallahassee and meshed well with the coaching staff.
“It kind of came down to those three, the most important thing is I had the most contact with them," Chiumento said. "I had plenty of other schools but they just didn’t show love like those three did. I went on multiple visits to each one and I loved them all. That’s how I decided on those three."
"I decided to go to Florida State because when I visited there I really felt at home and I loved the people," Chiumento continued. "Florida was not really in after the new coaches, they weren’t really interacting as much and I didn’t feel like they wanted me as much. Alabama, their specialist situation isn’t the best for an incoming specialist. Florida State was just the best fit for me. I loved everything about it.”
The coaching staff was actually aware of Chiumento's announcement heading into the day. He informed head coach Mike Norvell, special teams coordinator John Papuchis, and special teams analyst Carter Barfield of his decision on Tuesday morning. Understandably, they were all pretty excited.
“They had a little hint I guess you could say," Chiumento said. "I’ve been talking about it with them for a couple of weeks now. I feel like they kind of knew. They were very excited, coach JP say it made his day and his week, same thing with coach Norvell. Coach JP told coach Barfield and I got on the phone with him later and he was super excited about it. I think they are sharing my excitement with the opportunity.”
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The Florida native is familiar with the emphasis that Norvell and Papuchis put on special teams. There aren't many teams where the head coach is personally involved with the unit. Plus, the staff at Florida State has a good track record with developing specialists.
“Both [Norvell and JP] of them have a huge emphasis on special teams," Chiumento said. "Obviously, all coaches are going to tell you that but they really express it. I’ve heard that from past players and current players that they are into it. That just makes me feel much more comfortable and their track record is very good with specialists. Same with the strength and conditioning coach, that also was really good that he has such a track record. I loved the stuff that they expressed to me and it really seems like they know what they’re doing.”
During his visits to Florida State's campus, Chiumento developed a relationship with kicker Ryan Fitzgerald. The rising redshirt junior has given him some advice for his transition to the college level.
“Mainly Ryan Fitzgerald, I talked to him a lot," Chiumento said. "I probably had a half-hour conversation with him last night [Monday]. He loves it. I asked him the obvious questions. How hard is it? How rigorous is it? He goes, ‘if you love it, you’ll love it here. If you love football and you love kicking, this is the place for you. It’s not easy but it will not seem hard because you love doing it.’ and that sounded good to me.”
The coaching staff has a plan to utilize Chiumento's talents immediately. He'll have an opportunity to be starting on kickoff as long as he takes care of business in fall camp. Chiumento will also compete at punter and kicker.
“I think I’m going to be starting kickoff from day one as long as I perform," Chiumento said." They want me to come in and compete at punter, probably backup for a year or two. Also, do the same thing for kicker. They want me to go in and compete for everything.”
READ MORE: Two assistant coaches sign contract extensions with Florida State
While the 6-foot-4 specialist is signing with Florida State as a Preferred Walk-On, he could be moved up to scholarship in the near future.
“As long as I perform and do my thing, they said it will come immediately," Chiumento said. "Those were coach Norvell’s words.”
Unfortunately, Chiumento's parents were unable to make it to his ceremony today. They fully supported his decision to sign with Florida State and held a mock signing day last night to celebrate.
“They loved it," Chiumento said. "They supported me, they said I couldn’t make a wrong choice and they both saw the potential of an amazing career at Florida State. I did like a fake signing day with my family because they’re not going to be able to come tomorrow [Wednesday] so that was really fun as well.”
With his decision behind him and his future set, Chiumento will turn his focus to the tennis court for the immediate future to try and make state. He's planning to enroll at Florida State on June 9 and will be going through workouts while finishing out his senior year.
“Tennis season is in right now and I’m a pretty big tennis player so I’m going to try and go to states there," Chiumento said. "I’m taking about a month and a half, two months off from kicking before getting back into it. The coach is going to send me all of the workouts to get into working out the way that they do and enjoying the rest of my senior year.”
Stick with NoleGameday for the latest on Florida State's finish to National Signing Day.
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