Meet Ohio State's country music fan, not from this country
Lori SchmidtJesse Mirco is one of an increasing number of college punters to hail from Australia, where he says there are a lot of Green Bay Packers fans.
In fact, Mirco trained at ProKick Australia, the same program that developed former Buckeye and Ray Guy Award finalist Cameron Johnston.
He showed enough in just four months there that he was rated as the No. 4 punter in the Class of 2021, and he enrolled in Ohio State this January.
He's now punted eight times as a Buckeye freshman, averaging 43.63 yards per punt.
Learn more about Mirco with this Columbus Dispatch Q&A.
Meet Ohio State football punter Jesse Mirco
How many times were you stateside before you signed with Ohio State?
Twice. Once when I was maybe 13 years old and then in 2019. When I was younger it was just a family vacation. Then 2019, with a couple of my friends, one of my best friends, we decided to take a couple months vacation and go see America and see what was going on.
What’s been the hardest adjustment to living in the United States?
Probably the weather. That’s a bit different than back home. It’s pretty hot where I’m from. Especially when I got here in January, and it’s peak winter, it was a bit different. Like, driving and stuff with the snow and all that kind of stuff.
Did you even have a coat?
No. Coach (Ed) Terwiliger dropped a coat off to me in the hotel when I first got here, the day I got here. He asked me if I had a winter coat, but I didn’t own one of those.
How many times has someone come up to you since you’ve arrived here and been like, “Hey, mate, let’s throw some shrimp on the barbie?”
Daily.
You’re kidding.
No, I don’t mind. It’s all a bit of fun. Especially the specialist guys, they love trying to mimic me, and they have a bit of fun with that, so it doesn’t really bother me too much.
Is the impression ever good?
Not really. I’ll give coach Chris (Fenelon), my strength coach — he’s getting better. He tries most days. He’s getting there. So keep working at it.
You have some pretty hardcore ink for being a punter.
Yeah. I have a few. No real meaning behind most of them.
They just look cool?
Yeah, I just like the art. That’s about it. Just stuff I had wanted and seen over time, I guess.
What’s your favorite class?
Probably the human nutrition class I’m in at the moment. I’m enjoying that, so that’s good. Just how it relates to my life in sport and getting my body right.
What do you like to do when you’re not playing sports?
Most things are pretty sporty related, to be honest. We’ve got a pingpong table at my house. I live with Dom (Dominic DiMaccio), one of the kickers, and one of our friends, and we play a bit of pingpong now. And we golf, all the specialist guys outside of here. We’re not really good, but we have fun doing it.
Specialists have a reputation for being a bit eccentric.
Yeah.
So who’s the most eccentric specialist on this roster?
Maybe Dom. I’ll go with Dom.
What’s the most eccentric thing he does?
What’s he do? He’s a very gassy little man. He burps a lot. And he thinks it’s pretty funny. He’s like a child like that. That’s something we tease him about.
If you’re not the most eccentric, you must have some talent that you can exploit to land an NIL deal, right?
I’m not allowed to get NIL deals at the moment due to my visa. No international students are. So that’s a bit of a problem at the moment, but I think they’re trying to fix it. So there goes that. But probably back to the pingpong. I am undefeated in the United States. I’ve never lost here. We play pretty regularly, so probably that.
What is something about Australia that most Americans don’t know?
There’s not deadly animals everywhere. I live in a normal suburb like people do here. That’s probably the biggest one.
What’s your favorite part of Columbus so far?
Just probably the Short North. It’s a nice little area. There’s plenty of nice restaurants and stuff. So, yeah, it’s just a nice little area.
Do you have a favorite restaurant?
Not really. We kind of bounce around a bit everywhere.
Twenty years from now, what ideally do you see yourself doing?
I want to be involved in sport, I think. Whether that’s at the collegiate level or the professional level, just working in sport every day. I’m not sure what yet, but I think that would excite me.
Favorite sport that’s not football?
Probably Australian football. It’s different. It’s completely different. And if not that, probably cricket.
What’s your favorite kind of music?
Country music. I listen to a lot of country music.
And favorite musician?
Luke Combs.
How often do you sing along?
Pretty often. When I’m in the car and stuff like that? Yeah.
Yeah? Are you a good singer?
No, no. I find myself doing a poor American accent when I’m listening to country music, so I try to avoid it in public.
With the southern twang and everything?
Yeah. I get a lot of people who ask me to do an American accent here, and I normally try to mimic Jagger LaRoe, one of the quarterbacks, because he’s from Texas, and that’s my best chance.