Florida State University Athletics
Football
Surtain Sr., Patrick
Patrick Surtain Sr.
- Title:
- Defensive Backs Coach
Patrick Surtain Sr., an 11-year NFL veteran and long-time South Florida high school coach, begins his third season on the FSU coaching staff in 2025 after being hired on Jan. 18, 2023.
In his first season, he helped the 2023 team complete a 13-0 regular season that culminated in the program’s 16th ACC championship with a 16-6 victory over No. 14 Louisville in the ACC Championship Game and earn a berth in the Orange Bowl behind the country’s most tenacious pass defense. Florida State was the only team in the nation to force more incompletions than completions allowed, and its 48.3 opponent completion percentage was the lowest by a P5 defense since 2016. Florida State also led the country with 80 pass breakups, 90 passes defended and an average of 6.43 passes defended per game while ranking sixth nationally in opponent passing efficiency rating at 103.83 and seventh with 12 passing touchdowns allowed. The Seminoles’ aggressiveness was also showcased by ranking sixth in the country with 3.29 sacks per game and holding opponents to a 28.8 percent third-down conversion rate.
Florida State put together streaks of six consecutive games holding its opponent to 50-percent completions or lower, four straight games allowing fewer than 150 passing yards and four consecutive games without allowing a passing touchdown. All four games occurred in October, making FSU the only team in the country to not allow a passing touchdown for an entire calendar month during the 2023 season. In the ACC Championship Game, FSU held Louisville’s offense to 14-for-36 passing for 111 yards with a season-high 10 pass breakups and tied for the second-fewest points allowed in an ACC Championship Game while recording only the third first-half shutout in the conference’s championship game history.
The defensive backfield featured five all-conference performers, led by Thorpe Award semifinalist Renardo Green. Green led the ACC with 13 pass breakups and 14 passes defended. He twice recorded a single-game career-high three pass breakups, including in the ACC Championship Game, and grabbed an interception from Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels during FSU’s season-opening 45-24 win over No. 5 LSU. In the senior night win over North Alabama, Jarrian Jones became the first player in program history to record a tackle for loss, sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery and interception in the same game.
Green and Jones were both selected on the second day of the 2024 NFL Draft, part of six FSU players taken among the top 100 picks. Green was a second-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers, and Jones was off the board in the third round to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The pair combined to start 11 games as rookies in the NFL in 2024.
Redshirt sophomore Shyheim Brown started all 14 games at safety and earned the first All-ACC recognition of his career. Fentrell Cypress II, Akeem Dent and Jones also earned all-conference honors in recognition of their contributions to the ACC’s best pass defense. In 2024, Azareye’h Thomas added all-conference honors for the first time in his career.
Surtain joined the Florida State football program after serving as a defensive assistant for the Miami Dolphins in 2022. The Dolphins advanced to the NFL Playoffs for the first time since 2016 and only the third time since 2001. The Dolphins’ defense ranked fourth in the league allowing an average of 103.0 rushing yards per game and produced two Pro Bowl selections. In the final three weeks of the regular season, the defense led the NFL in total defense and ranked second in yards per play allowed, rushing defense and yards allowed per rush. The Dolphins held the New York Jets to six points in a final-week victory that clinched the playoff berth. In the AFC Wild Card round at Buffalo, the Dolphins registered a franchise playoff-record seven sacks and grabbed three takeaways.
He spent the previous nine seasons, including six as head coach, at American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida, and was named the 2020 High School Football America National Coach of the Year. He led the Patriots to three state championships and a 65-10 overall record in his six seasons as head coach while developing numerous Division I players and NFL Draft picks, including Brian Burns who was the 16th overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft after a three-year career at Florida State.
During the 2021 NFL Draft alone, six former Surtain pupils from American Heritage were selected, the second-highest total ever from one high school in a single draft. Cornerback Patrick Surtain II was the ninth overall pick by the Denver Broncos and earned a selection to the Pro Bowl each of the last three seasons. Cornerbacks Tyson Campbell and Marco Wilson were taken in the second and fourth rounds, respectively, wide receiver Anthony Schwartz was a third-round selection, defensive tackle Tedarrell Slaton was taken in the fifth round and running back Khalil Herbert was picked in the sixth round.
Surtain played 11 seasons in the NFL, spending seven years with the Dolphins after they drafted him in the second round of the 1998 NFL Draft and four seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was a two-time All-Pro and was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 2002, 2003 and 2004 seasons. Additionally, he was named the 2002 NFL Alumni Association’s Defensive Back of the Year. For his career, he appeared in 163 games with 131 starts and recorded 547 tackles, including 435 solo stops, with 26.0 tackles for loss, 37 interceptions, eight forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries. His 29 interceptions with the Dolphins are tied for fourth in franchise history.
Surtain, who played four years at Southern Miss, was a second-team All-American and the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 and a first-team all-conference selection in 1996 and 1997. His 16 interceptions and 31 pass breakups rank third and fourth, respectively, on the school’s career lists. He was a 2011 inductee into the Southern Miss Hall of Fame, was named to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame in 2021 and was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2023.
Originally from New Orleans, Surtain earned his bachelor’s degree in coaching and sports administration from Southern Miss in 1998. He and his wife, Michelle, have three children, Patrick II, Paris and Parker.
| Years | Team | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 2023- | Florida State | Defensive Backs |
| 2022 | Miami Dolphins | Defensive Assistant |
| 2016-21 | American Heritage School (Fla.) | Head Coach |
| 2015 | American Heritage School (Fla.) | Defensive Coordinator |
| 2013-14 | American Heritage School (Fla.) | Defensive Backs |
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