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00:00 The question will be Ira Shofel to your right.
00:02 Hey, Malik, how you doing?
00:04 I'm good.
00:04 How about you?
00:05 Good.
00:05 So I guess first time we're getting to talk to you,
00:08 how has your experience been so far in Tallahassee?
00:10 What's it been like just meeting your new teammates and coaches?
00:13 I love it so far.
00:14 And I just love the tradition.
00:16 And I just love how everyone on the team
00:18 has just welcomed me with open arms.
00:20 [SILENCE]
00:31 We're going to go to Brendan Sonneau.
00:32 Of course, you're on your left.
00:34 Hi, Malik.
00:35 How you doing?
00:35 Good, thanks.
00:37 Could you go over the recruiting process for us,
00:39 I guess, in this particular cycle?
00:41 You had a few visits.
00:42 I guess what about Florida State ultimately
00:44 stood out and why you picked Florida State here?
00:47 So when I was coming out of JUCO,
00:49 I had a good relationship with Coach Dugans and Coach Norvell.
00:53 So when I ended up hitting the portal,
00:55 I knew that Florida State was going
00:58 to be a school that I was going to want to go to.
01:01 And so I just definitely had a lock in the visit.
01:04 And then when I came down here, it checked all the boxes.
01:07 And I just fell in love with it.
01:08 And that's why I picked it.
01:10 Stay there for Chris Neal.
01:12 Morning, Malik.
01:12 What is it about the offense here that appeals to you
01:15 and interests you and fits your skill set?
01:19 Coach Norvell, he likes to put his playmakers
01:21 in different spots on the field.
01:24 And he loves to give his playmakers the ball.
01:27 So just knowing that I have a year left,
01:29 I have to maximize every opportunity that I have.
01:31 And just coming and being in this offense
01:33 to play an outsider inside, I think
01:36 that's going to create the most value for me.
01:39 I'll go to Essen, second row on the left.
01:41 Florida State's also bringing a new quarterback in DJU.
01:44 What's your relationship with him before?
01:46 And how have you gotten to know him since you've gotten here?
01:49 Once I committed, he texted me saying, let's work.
01:53 And just as a quarterback receiver,
01:55 that's got to be my best friend.
01:57 So just every single day, we're doing
01:59 what we got to do to get that connection.
02:02 Go to Jordan on your left.
02:04 Hey, Malik.
02:04 Circling back, you've had a pretty incredible journey
02:06 to get to this point.
02:07 Can you just talk about that journey,
02:09 what it means to you to play your final season at Florida
02:11 State?
02:12 It means everything.
02:14 God put me in this position.
02:16 And not everyone's path is easy.
02:18 So just having to start JUCO, then go to Alabama,
02:22 and now I'm here, it's just a blessing.
02:26 Come back to Brendan on the front row.
02:28 Obviously, the transfer recruiting process
02:30 goes really quickly.
02:31 How do you go about doing research on schools,
02:33 and specifically, like, scheme for Florida State?
02:35 I know they recruited you a little bit before.
02:37 But how did you go about looking at different schemes
02:39 and how you would fit in here specifically?
02:42 When we weren't playing, I watched a lot of Florida State
02:45 games.
02:46 So saw what they did with Keon, and he was here for a year.
02:51 So I just wanted to be on the same thing.
02:56 I saw how they used him, and I was like, well,
02:59 I think they could use me like that, too.
03:02 Go back to Tyra second row here, right?
03:04 Kind of following up on that, you've
03:05 played in a few different offenses now in college.
03:09 Does anything stand out so far now
03:10 that you've gotten in the playbook
03:11 and starting to see what Florida State does?
03:15 Just like I said, they're not going
03:17 to have me limited to just one spot on the field.
03:20 They're going to move me around and just let me be a playmaker.
03:23 As long in the back corner.
03:32 Lee, can you talk about the experience
03:34 of going from Juco to the Power 5 level
03:36 and just maybe how much more comfortable
03:38 you think you'll feel this next time around?
03:40 So going from Juco to the Power 5 level,
03:44 in junior college you don't have the facilities
03:47 and you don't have just all the exposure.
03:49 So going from being in the middle of nowhere in Kansas
03:53 to being at a Power 5 school to where there's not
03:56 a lot of things you've got to ask for,
03:58 they just automatically give to you.
04:00 It was really just a blessing just being
04:02 able to be a part of that.
04:04 And then just my second time going through,
04:08 I know what to do, what not to do.
04:10 If I need something, I know that I need to go ask.
04:13 I know I have one more year left,
04:14 so I really got to maximize and get everything
04:17 I can about this one year.
04:19 We'll come to the Zoom for a question from Logan Robinson.
04:24 Hey, Malik.
04:25 How is tour duty going for you?
04:27 And is there any kind of difference
04:28 from your previous stop?
04:29 How's that going?
04:31 Definitely tour duty, it makes you realize
04:34 that it's mind over matter.
04:38 When your mind and your body wants to tell you to quit,
04:42 you got to just shut that all off
04:43 and you just got to keep going.
04:45 So it's definitely challenging, but I
04:48 see why Florida State does what they do because
04:50 of this conditioning program.
04:53 Come back to the IR on your right.
04:55 How nice has it been to have some of your former teammates
04:58 here with you?
04:59 And did you guys talk at all during the process?
05:03 So before I committed, there was one other player, Earl.
05:07 And I just asked him how he liked it.
05:09 I told him I was going to come up on a visit.
05:10 And then I liked it.
05:11 And then I know some of my other teammates,
05:14 they started getting in the portal.
05:17 And they just started asking me, did I like it?
05:20 And I just told them, yeah, but you
05:21 got to come see for yourself.
05:23 But all of us being here, it's just
05:27 a little brotherhood that was already formed.
05:29 We bring it here and we can bring what
05:31 we know to this team, and it's going
05:33 to just make the team stronger.
05:34 We'll go back to SN, second row on your left.
05:42 Obviously, you had already been in the portal.
05:44 But what was your reaction when Nick Saban retired?
05:47 And was it to be one of the last players to play for him?
05:52 I definitely am just grateful for Coach Saban giving me
05:55 the opportunity to be able to play for him.
05:57 And I did not actually think that he
06:00 was going to retire, but he's a great coach.
06:04 And he definitely gave me some gems
06:07 that I can forever use, not just in football, but in life.
06:10 So I really am thankful for him because of that.
06:13 Back to Brendan, front row on your left.
06:15 Can you kind of explain your skill set, things
06:17 that you're really confident in, that you do well?
06:19 And how do you think that will be used in this offense?
06:22 First, I would say my speed.
06:24 I think just off the line, I can definitely
06:28 be the deep threat in this offense.
06:30 And I would just say my attack in the ball point
06:33 and route running.
06:34 Obviously, at Hutch, you were the guy, right?
06:53 And then you go to Alabama, and they've
06:55 got some other really talented, experienced receivers.
06:57 And you have to kind of be one of the guys.
06:59 What did you learn through that process?
07:00 And how will that help you, you think, going forward?
07:04 Just being in a receiver room with a whole bunch
07:06 of different guys, it just showed me
07:09 that whatever opportunity you have,
07:10 you have to take advantage of it just
07:13 because there's a lot of guys.
07:15 So everyone essentially has to touch the ball.
07:18 So when you get the ball, what are you going to do with it?
07:21 And just taught me to just be a good teammate.
07:23 Even if it's not always going my way,
07:25 I had to encourage my brother because maybe it's his day.
07:29 I was going to follow up on the question
07:34 I asked before about your former Alabama guys.
07:37 Could you talk about them a little bit?
07:38 Like, what is Florida State getting in Earl,
07:40 Roydell, maybe specifically?
07:43 Someone like Earl, he's a dog.
07:47 He's a leader.
07:48 He works very hard.
07:50 And he's just always ready to work, no matter what.
07:53 And then Roydell, really just the same thing.
07:56 He's a just natural born leader.
07:58 And he just wants the best for him, but not only him,
08:03 his teammates.
08:04 And so he's just a high energy, positive guy.
08:08 And guys like that, it's good that we have him here
08:12 to build on this culture and really take this thing
08:14 to where it really needs to go.
08:17 Go back to Jordan, third row on the left.
08:19 Kind of following up on what Iris said,
08:20 can you talk about your role as a leader on this team?
08:22 It's going to be a lot younger.
08:23 I know, obviously, it's your first season here,
08:25 but you've kind of been around the block.
08:27 Oh, yeah, just my role.
08:29 I'm coming and I've played college football for some years.
08:34 So it's really just when guys really need someone to talk to
08:38 or the young guys need help with the playbook,
08:41 I feel like it's my role to help them with that,
08:43 just because I've been in a couple of different playbooks.
08:46 And I really understand it.
08:47 And some things that they can ask me,
08:49 they don't want to ask the coaches.
08:51 I'm old enough to where I feel like they should just
08:54 be able to come to me with that.
08:55 And I can help them out, just because I've really
08:57 experienced everything.
08:59 OK, Chris, front row.
09:01 You referenced earlier that you had a pre-existing relationship
09:04 with Coach Norvell, Coach Dugans.
09:05 What is it about Coach Norvell that you liked about the first
09:07 time around?
09:08 And what was it when you were re-recruited this time
09:10 that also stood out to you?
09:12 Yeah, his energy just never changed.
09:15 He's a very high energy guy.
09:17 And you can never tell if he's having a bad day.
09:21 He's just always the same person.
09:23 And then when I was able to officially meet him,
09:28 it never changed from on the phone to in person.
09:31 Sometimes you don't get the same coach
09:34 once you commit somewhere.
09:37 And it's not even just how he treats me, just how he treats
09:39 everybody, the staff, even different players on the team.
09:43 If he sees anyone in the building,
09:45 he doesn't hesitate to speak.
09:46 He's just a very high energy guy.
09:48 And I really love that.
09:51 We'll come to Kirk here in the front row to your right.
09:55 I know you're coming from another talented wide receiver
09:58 room at Alabama.
09:59 And I know you haven't seen him in practice yet.
10:01 But I guess, what are your impressions
10:02 of the wide receiver room?
10:03 You're joining the guys in there, how talented they are.
10:06 I just love to see that they're hard working.
10:08 You could tell with me coming in,
10:09 it's going to just push everyone that extra mile.
10:15 And just to see we all got things to work on.
10:18 So there's things that I can't do right now
10:21 that I look at other receivers when we're just
10:23 doing routes on air.
10:24 And I'm trying to take their game.
10:26 And then they're trying to take game from me.
10:27 So it's definitely going to be a good year for the receivers.
10:30 And I'm really excited to work with everybody in that room.
10:33 We'll come back to Irem in the second row here.
10:35 You mentioned watching some Florida State games
10:37 in the past.
10:38 Did you see much of DJ in his games throughout his career?
10:42 And if not, have you gone back and watched anything?
10:44 What stands out about him?
10:46 Yeah, I actually was able to watch DJ.
10:48 I have a childhood friend that played receiver over there
10:52 with him.
10:52 So I tune in as much as I can.
10:54 But the thing I like about DJ is he can make every throw.
10:57 And he likes to throw that deep ball,
10:58 something that I like to run.
11:00 So just that connection that me and DJ are building,
11:04 I really can't wait for everyone to see,
11:06 because it's going to be really good.
11:10 Anthony Gold, number two at Oregon State receiver.
11:15 Anything else from the league?
11:18 All right, thank you guys.
11:19 Thanks, Lane.