Givens excited about expanded role.

Although he has been held out of the last few practices, this is the year that Louis Givens has been looking forward to his whole career. Coming to FSU from Mars Hill Community College in North Carolina, he was never expected to be more than a special teams contributor at most. But after making his mark on the kickoff team last year with 13 tackles, Givens is ready to expand his role on the team.

This year, Louis Givens is set to be a vital piece of the return game. He will be returning both punts and kickoffs and will try to follow the lead that Michael Ray Garvin set last year as he lead the ACC with an average of 30.1 yards per kick return. Givens will also continue to be a big part of the coverage teams and will set out to improve on his team-leading 13 special teams tackles last year.


Givens is a candidate to return punts and kickoffs this season.

Along with contributing to special teams like last year, this year Givens is expecting to play a big part on the offense. Some of you may remember him impressing in the few opportunities he got last year. Against Clemson he had 3 touches for 37 yards and in the Champs Sports Bowl against Wisconsin he stepped in for the injured Preston Parker and had a season-high 2 catches. This year, Givens plans to bring a “different spark to the offense with my size and speed” and will play an important role in the receiver rotation.


Givens will look to play a larger role as a receiver this season.

Quarterback Christian Ponder says that Givens will be a valuable asset to the offense this season and is looking forward to him being another weapon he has to use.

“Louis has a lot of speed and quickness,” Ponder said. “He is kind of like a Bert Reed type guy.”

After spending last season and the last 2 springs as a walk-on, Givens was told this summer that he would be receiving a scholarship in the fall. He was not always so sure it would end up that way though.

“It had gotten to a point where I might not get it so I’m not going to think about it as much and not let it bother me at all,” Givens said. “I stopped worrying about it and tried to not let that hurt me mentally.”

This year Givens looks forward to being counted upon to make plays, both in special teams and on the offense. And it will be needed with the loss of last year’s top 2 receivers Greg Carr and Preston Parker. Though the rotation will be stocked with a lot of sub-6 foot receivers, the all-around speed on offense will be much more of a weapon this year. The ability of Givens and the other receivers will open up a lot more room on the bubble screens and reverses that were a big part of the offense last year. With the personnel Fisher has to work with, look for those types of plays to be even more prominent in the playbook this year.


Hard work has paid off for former walk-on Louis Givens.