Q and A with MSU Football Punter Bryce Baringer
With Tom Lang
Bryce Baringer finds himself in the spotlight every Saturday during the college football season. Unfortunately, he’s called upon when the Spartans’ offense stalls, but as the team’s punter he becomes a valuable weapon when leading the Big Ten in yards averaged. In fact, in 2021, he had the second highest average of all time (48.4) in the league.
Baringer also was a very solid high school golfer at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and still carries a plus-one handicap. He is also the roommate at MSU with golf team sensation James Piot, the reigning U.S. Amateur Champion who will turn pro after the college season ends. Baringer is on track to also turn professional, playing on Sundays in the NFL.
Q: Do you see similarities of skills, preparation, between the sports of golf and football, even punting in particular?
A: “I do. Other positions maybe not so much. But with being a punter, sometimes I am trying to kick a certain ball. Just like golf, if I’m trying to hit a certain shot, there is some finesse if I’m trying to pin an opponent inside the 5-yard line. It’s not different than if you have a delicate chip shot where you’re trying to land it. And there’s a lot of similar mentality. You go through your little check list in your head, before you hit the shot. The swings are similar too. When you’re playing golf, you’re not trying to swing out of your shoes and hit it 100 percent every time. And it’s the same with kicking a football.”
Q: Have you ever thought about challenging Coach Tucker to golf?
A: “No, I have not. I do think I could give him a run for his money though. I think I could probably take him if I had to. He knows I can play. Lots of the coaches do know. Coach Tucker loves the game of golf. Something happened to one of his club shafts, one of them broke and he came up to me the next day and asked where he could get a new shaft.”
Q: How did the roommate situation with James Piot come about ?
A: “We’ve been friends for 8 years now. I played high school golf at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep and he was of course at Detroit Catholic Central so being in the same league we played against each other since freshman year. Ran into him the first year here at MSU and we stayed in contact and now we’re roommates.”
Q: So, going back to your high school days do you remember any times you got the best of James?
A: “Never, I don’t think I ever did. I was the No. 2 man on our team and so I was usually grouped with Ben Smith (DCC’s No. 2) primarily, James’ teammate at Catholic Central. Ben’s now at Georgia Tech playing golf and he won the Michigan Amateur a couple years ago. But high school tournaments are some of the longest events I’ve ever been a part of so when tee boxes got backed up, we’d talk (he and James) and got to know each other.”
Q: when you and James talk about sports, how much is about golf and how much is about football?
A: “When we’re just hanging out in the apartment, a lot of times it is about golf or about football, but not necessarily about us. We’ll talk about the golf tournament the weekend before on the PGA Tour, and talk about NFL games, but a lot of the times we’re just hanging out and having a good time.”
Q: Has James ever asked you for golf advice?
A: “NO. I’m the one asking him. We do talk about the mental approach sometimes because like I said (the two sports) are pretty similar, being a football specialist and a golfer. And growing up golfing I relate a lot of what I do to golf. So, he will ask me about the mental side, but not how he’s hitting it, club path, swing path, angles. All that kind of stuff; he’s the scientist.”
Q: Do you have any golf superstitions?
A: “I always have my tees and ball markers in my right pocket. I prefer to drive the golf court, rather than riding around. I always mark my ball with a red dot, every time, and when I putt, I always place it the same way, with the logo up and I can read it; Titleist.”
Q: What was your reaction at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep high school to have PGA Tour pro Tom Gillis come in and be the coach for one season?
A: “At the time he came in he had just recently been in a playoff with Jordan Spieth, so it was really cool he took the job. He’s a young-minded guy. He’d come out in dress shoes or just some random Kicks and flop balls in bunkers, plug them, whatever, and he’d hit balls to 2-feet, 3-feet like it’s really easy.
“It was very cool to be able to learn from him. It’s not every day you get a high school coach who has played on the PGA Tour, so to hear his experiences, some of the stories. And then this winter James texted me a picture of him, Coach Lubahn, Coach Gillis and Rickie (Fowler). That was funny. Coach Gillis will still send me messages, we’ll talk sometimes. He likes the little jabs because he’s a U-M fan, but he’s always talking about how he’s proud to see where I’ve come. He’s a great guy.”
