Background and career
Patrick Frank Surtain ( sər-TAN; born June 19, 1976) is an American football coach and former professional player who was a cornerback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was most recently the defensive backs coach for Florida State University from 2023 to 2025. He played college football for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 1998 NFL draft, and also played for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Surtain attended high school at Edna Karr High School in New Orleans, where he completed 44 of 97 passes for 753 yards with seven touchdowns and rushed 137 times for 784 yards with 12 touchdowns as a quarterback. He also played baseball and ran track, and was also a member of the state title basketball and football teams in his senior year.
Surtain attended the University of Southern Mississippi, where he was a four-year letterman and two-year starter. In his junior year, Surtain started all 11 games and accumulated 84 tackles, 8 passes defended and six interceptions.
The Miami Dolphins selected Surtain in the second round (44th overall) of the 1998 NFL draft. He was the fourth cornerback drafted in 1998, after the likes of Charles Woodson (fourth overall) and Duane Starks (tenth overall). On July 22, 1998, the Dolphins signed Surtain to a four–year, $2.40 million rookie contract that included a signing bonus of $800,000. Throughout training camp, he competed to be the No. 1 starting cornerback against Terrell Buckley and Sam Madison. Head coach Jimmy Johnson named him a backup and listed him as the third cornerback on the depth chart to begin the season, behind starting duo Sam Madison and Terrell Buckley. On September 6, 1998, Surtain made his professional regular season debut in the Miami Dolphins' season-opener at the Indianapolis Colts as they won 24–15. In Week 2, Surtain had his first career interception on a pass attempt thrown by Rob Johnson to wide receiver Eric Moulds during a 13–7 victory against the Buffalo Bills. He appeared in all 16 games as a rookie in 1998, but did not receive a start and finished the season with two interceptions.
He returned under head coach Jimmy Johnson in 1999 and began the season as the third cornerback on the depth chart behind Sam Madison and Terrell Buckley. On October 17, 1999, Surtain earned his first career start in lieu of Terrell Buckley and set a season-high with seven solo tackles, made two pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Drew Bledsoe to wide receiver Vincent Brisby during a 31–30 victory at the New England Patriots. Following Week 12, head coach Jimmy Johnson named Surtain the No. 1 starting cornerback alongside Sam Madison and demoted Terrell Buckley to the third cornerback on the depth chart and nickelback. In Week 13, he started as the No. 2 starting cornerback and made four combined tackles (three solo), one pass deflection, and intercepted a pass by Peyton Manning to wide receiver Marvin Harrison during a 34–37 loss against the Indianapolis Colts. In Week 17, he had five solo tackles and set a career-high with two sacks during a 10–21 loss at the Washington Redskins. He had his first career sack on Rodney Peete for a four–yard loss. He finished his sophomore season with a total of 47 combined tackles (42 solo), five pass deflections, two interceptions, and two sacks in 16 games and six starts. The Miami Dolphins finished the 1999 NFL season third in the AFC East with a 9–7 record to earn a Wild-Card berth. On January 9, 2000, Surtain started in the first playoff game of his career and had three solo tackles and two pass deflections during a 20–17 victory at the Seattle Seahawks in the AFC Wild-Card Game. On January 15, 2000, he had eight solo tackles in the Dolphins' 7–62 loss at the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional Round.
The Miami Dolphins promoted Dave Wannstedt to head coach after Jimmy Johnson announced his retirement from coaching following the 1999 NFL season. He entered training camp slated as the No. 2 starting cornerback under new defensive coordinator Jim Bates following the departure of Terrell Buckley via free agency. Head coach Dave Wannstedt named Surtain and Sam Madison as the starting cornerbacks to begin the season. On September 3, 2000, Surtain started in the Miami Dolphins' home-opener against the Detroit Lions and had two solo tackles, three pass deflections, and intercepted a pass by Jon Kitna to running back Ricky Watters during a 0–23 victory. The following week, he made one solo tackle and set a new career-high with four pass deflections during a 7–13 loss at the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2. In Week 11, Surtain had two solo tackles, one pass deflection, and sealed the Dolphins' 17–7 victory at the San Diego Chargers with ten seconds remaining by intercepting a pass by Jim Harbaugh to wide receiver Jeff Graham. On December 17, 2000, he set a season-high with 11 combined tackles (eight solo), made three pass deflections, and had a forced fumble during a 13–20 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. He started all 16 games for the first time in his career and had a total of 54 combined tackles (44 solo), set a career-high with 21 pass deflections, made five interceptions, two forced fumbles, one sack, and a fumble recovery.
