15 Strong? FSU secondary coach Patrick Surtain ‘extremely happy’ with depth, talent

Florida State defensive backs coach Patrick Surtain was thrilled when cornerback Renardo Green and nickelback Jarrian Jones were selected in the early round of April’s NFL Draft. Surtain also was excited when safety Akeem Dent signed an undrafted free agent deal with L.A. Chargers.

While those departures meant that the Seminoles would be losing three of their five starting defensive backs from 2023, he knew they were ready for the next level. He also was extremely confident that Florida State could reload quickly in 2024.

“I knew what we had coming back — especially when Fentrell decided to come back,” Surtain said.

Indeed, Fentrell Cypress’ decision to return for his senior season was a big piece of the puzzle. After all, he started all 14 games last season and was an All-ACC performer at Virginia before that. But there were so many others.

Shyheim Brown is a returning starter at safety, and Azareye’h Thomas takes over at the other cornerback position after serving as the Seminoles’ No. 3 corner last season.

Then there are a slew of quality defensive backs competing for the other two starting jobs, plus talented depth pieces everywhere.

“I knew that we would have a good group,” Surtain said. “It was just a matter of putting it all together.”

Based on how Florida State’s defensive backs have performed during preseason camp, they’ve put it all together just fine. Not only do they rarely give up big plays, but they routinely rack up pass deflections and have at times been dominant against the Seminoles’ receivers.

“Extremely happy,” Surtain said, when asked how he feels about the defensive backs. “We have a bunch of veteran guys who are back. We have a fresh nucleus of young players looking to make their mark on the team. So it’s a good mixture, a combination of guys who are hungry, out there willing to work, and a very competitive group.”

Brown is the vocal leader of the segment. The redshirt junior started every game at safety last season and ranked fourth on the team with 53 tackles. He is going into his fourth season in Adam Fuller’s defense and has already played in 30 games.

Brown has been such a strong leader this camp that after Friday’s practice, he was chosen by Florida State strength coach Josh Storms to “break the rock” to signify conclusion of camp.

FSU’s other safety position has been the subject of a fierce battle between several candidates, including Miami transfer Davonte Brown and sophomore Conrad Hussey. Surtain said he “feels comfortable” with sophomores Ashlynd Barker and KJ Kirkland being in the safety rotation as well, and the Seminoles also brought back senior Omarion Cooper, who played last season at Colorado after beginning his career at FSU.

The two cornerback spots, as mentioned earlier, will be manned by Cypress and Thomas. And Surtain said both veterans were challenged to take their games to another level following the departures of last year’s senior stars.

“I think both of those guys have approached it like pros,” Surtain said. “They come out every day, they work, they’ve been an example to the younger guys, they’ve made plays on the ball. Just two veteran guys who handle themselves the right way on and off the field.”

That leaves the nickel corner position, which might feature the best battle of all.

One leading candidate is redshirt sophomore Earl Little Jr., an Alabama transfer who played in eight games in 2023 for the Crimson Tide but was limited at times due to injuries. Surtain said Little was still banged up when he arrived at FSU in the spring, but he has been full-speed this preseason.

“I’m excited about him,” Surtain said of the former four-star recruit. “I think he has a chip on his shoulder, being hurt his first two years in college. … I expect him to go out and make plays for us.”

Florida State DBs coach Patrick Surtain laughs during a preseason practice. (Ben Spicer/Warchant)

Little has been battling redshirt junior Kevin Knowles, who is one of the most experienced players in Florida State’s secondary. Knowles actually started 18 games at nickelback during the 2021 and ’22 seasons before moving to safety last fall, and he clearly is happy to return to his previous role.

Knowles struggled at times in 2023, but Surtain said he had a couple of factors working against him. One was a nagging injury that plagued him for much of the year, and the other was a lack of comfort at a new position.

Through nearly a month of preseason practices, Knowles has looked like his old self again. Last Saturday, he made an impressive interception in Florida State’s second preseason scrimmage, then he followed that up with two interceptions at one practice early in the week.

“He’s a mature guy,” Surtain said. “He made plays here when he was a freshman. … He makes plays on the ball. That’s what we need in our secondary, and I think he’ll bring that to that unit this year.”

Behind the players vying for starting jobs, Florida State also boasts a deep group of younger cornerbacks pushing to fight their way into the rotation.

Sophomore Quindarrius Jones could be at the top of that list. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder saw a good amount of playing time last fall as a true freshman, and he will be joined by redshirt freshmen Ja’Bril Rawls and Edwin Joseph. Then there is a group of talented freshman corners who have impressed in preseason camp as well.

“At Florida State, you want to have a room where you have 15 guys who you feel comfortable with playing,” Surtain said. “And I think we’re somewhere around that number. … As a DB coach, you have to keep guys ready. Injuries occur in college football, in the game of football period. So it has to be next man up.

“And I tell the guys all the time, ‘If you’re on the field, you’re a starter.’ I don’t look at it as, ‘You’re on the second team, third team.’ If I put you on the field, you have a responsibility to this team to go out and be at your very best.”

Florida State’s defensive backs will get their first chance to prove how well they have reloaded in next Saturday’s season opener against Georgia Tech in Dublin, Ireland.

The Yellow Jackets likely won’t boast one of the conference’s best aerial attacks; they ranked seventh in the ACC in passing last season at 220.8 yards per game. But their running game was tops in the conference (203.8 yards/game), and quarterback Haynes King racked up over 3,500 yards of total offense.

“They want to run the ball,” Surtain said. “They led the ACC in rushing last year, so that’s their bread and butter. Their head coach (Brent Key) is a former O-Line coach, so you know how he feels. He wants to bludgeon the defense. Run the ball, play-action pass, take shots … and they have some really, really quick receivers out there who can stretch the field.

“They have a good team. They have some good skill position guys. The quarterback’s really good — he’s a dual-threat guy, so we’ve got to be worried about him both running and throwing the ball. But I think our guys will be ready for the challenge.”

Talk about this story with other die-hard Florida State football fans on the Tribal Council.

The post 15 Strong? FSU secondary coach Patrick Surtain ‘extremely happy’ with depth, talent appeared first on On3.