Dream hometown return for Alabama’s Surtain II
Tide cornerback wants title to cap college career
Patrick Surtain II’s earliest football memories take place at Hard Rock Stadium. He wasn’t even 5 years old yet when he saw his share of defensive greats playing on Sundays for the Miami Dolphins.
Jason Taylor. Zach Thomas. Sam Madison.
And, of course, his dad and namesake Patrick Surtain, a three-time Pro Bowl and twotime All-Pro cornerback during his seven years with the Dolphins.
“I just remember him making plays out there,” Surtain II recollected this week, “having fun.”
On Monday night, Hard Rock Stadium will be his field, his chance to make plays.
On Monday night, Surtain II and the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide face the thirdranked Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
On Monday night, Surtain II has the opportunity to close his collegiate career with a national title and cement his legacy as one of the top cornerbacks in Alabama history before chasing his dream in the NFL.
“It’ll be a hometown game,” Surtain II said. “I’m just looking forward to playing the best game with my teammates and just going out there and just winning the game. That’s all
I’m focused on really.”
It didn’t take long for Surtain II to start living up to the pedigree of his father. He was a top playmaker at Plantation American Heritage, where Surtain took over as head coach in 2016, Surtain II’s junior season.
Surtain II won three Class 5A state titles in four years at Heritage and closed his prep career as the top cornerback, secondbest player in Florida and the No. 12 overall prospect in the 2018 recruiting cycle, according to the 247 Sports composite rankings.
The father-son relationship and the coach-player relationship became one during those final two years.
“He taught me a lot of things going into the game,” Surtain II said. “I just carried and learned from him, and just going back home, he’s going to be there. I’m just looking forward to impressing him.”
The solid impression has continued at Alabama, which Surtain II chose over LSU among a slew of other Power 5 schools.
Heading into Monday’s title game, Surtain II has tallied 114 career tackles, four interceptions and 26 pass breakups over 40 games. He was named a unanimous first-team All-American this year and was a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award given annually to the top defensive back in the country.
His stats for the season — 35 tackles, one interception, 11 pass breakups — are a bit misleading.
The context: Opposing quarterbacks have targeted Surtain II just 43 times all season. He has allowed only 18 completions for
250 combined yards.
Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly, whose Fighting Irish played Alabama in the
Rose Bowl, purposely avoided throwing in Surtain II’s direction and called him “the best corner that we’ve seen.”
And Surtain II has shown shades of his dad’s talent throughout, albeit with a larger frame. Surtain was 5-11 and about 195 pounds during his 11-year NFL career, seven with the Dolphins (1998-2004) and four more with the Kansas City Chiefs (2005-2008). Surtain II is listed at 6-2 and 202 pounds.
“Patrick has got great size. He’s got great speed, very instinctive, a great athlete, change of direction, great cover guy, really smart,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “He does a great job of preparing for the game, so he really knows what he has to do in a game to have success against whoever he has to corner. We’ve asked our corners to do a lot of bump-n-run, and he and Josh have done a pretty good job all year. Patrick has played phenomenally well for us.”
And that has Surtain II tabbed as one of the top prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft should he declare after the season.
ESPN Draft analyst Todd McShay ranks Surtain II as the No. 7 overall player and top defensive back in the 2021 NFL Draft cycle, calling him “a true shutdown corner.”
“I love his instincts and the way he quickly diagnoses wide receivers’ routes and funnels them where he wants them to go,” McShay added. “He is also a natural playmaker, with good ball reaction skills and soft hands.”
Should Surtain II be selected in the first round, it will mark the fourth consecutive year and sixth time in seven years that a player from Miami-Dade or Broward counties is taken in the first round of the NFL Draft. Four area players have been top-10 selections in that timeframe: Miami Columbus’ C.J. Henderson in 2020 (No. 9 to the Jaguars), Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas’ Nick Bosa in 2019 (No. 2 to the 49ers), Aquinas’ Joey Bosa in 2016 (No. 3 to the Chargers) and Miami Northwestern’s Amari Cooper in 2014 (No. 4 to the Raiders).
“There’s talent everywhere,” Surtain II said of South Florida. “Your name will get called and you will be on a bright stage like this, so just keep working and keep striving to perfection.”
That’s been his goal since the start. On Monday night, that goal and that career path will come full circle when he steps onto the field at Hard Rock Stadium to play Ohio State for a national title.
He played on this field once before with Alabama, helping the Crimson Tide with the 2018 Orange Bowl over the Oklahoma Sooners to advance to the national championship game during his freshman season. The Crimson Tide lost to Clemson that year.
‘‘ HE’S GOT GREAT SPEED, VERY INSTINCTIVE, A GREAT ATHLETE, CHANGE OF DIRECTION, GREAT COVER GUY, REALLY SMART. Alabama coach Nick Saban on Partrick Surtain II
Surtain, in front of his home crowd in what will likely be his last collegiate game, is looking for a different result on Monday.
“It’s going to be an exciting moment and we’re going to have fun out there,” Surtain II said. “We’re just going to enjoy the moment.”