Alabama interviewed Patrick Surtain, father of the No. 1 unsigned recruit, for a coaching job
Surtain didn’t get the job. It would’ve been OK if he did.
These things are all simultaneously true of Patrick Surtain: He was an all-pro NFL cornerback who had 37 interceptions during an 11-year career that ended in 2008. He’s absolutely qualified to teach anyone in the world how to play defensive back. And he’s the father of the most hyped cornerback recruit of all time, who’s still uncommitted.
Five-star corner Patrick Surtain Jr. will make his college choice sometime around National Signing Day. Alabama’s one of the many teams that wants him. The Crimson Tide interviewed the elder Surtain this month for their vacant DBs coaching position, before they filled it with UL-Lafayette defensive coordinator Karl Scott.
Surtain explained the interview to Bama’s Rivals site:
“I met with all the people in the office, I met with Coach Saban and his staff. It was actually a great experience for him to even consider me,” Surtain said told BamaInsider.com. “To be a DB coach at Alabama would be a tremendous honor. Eventually it may happen, but I guess it wasn’t the right time.”
Surtain added this, about his famous son’s recruitment:
“That was the first thing I mentioned to Coach Saban,” the older Surtain said. “I told him I didn’t want it contingent on where Pat [Surtain Jr.] comes there or not. That wouldn’t be fair to him. [Saban] assured me that it wasn’t. He interviewed me because he thought I’d be a great defensive backs coach.”
It didn’t work out. But, yeah: Alabama interviewed the father of the class of 2018’s No. 1 unsigned recruit, about three weeks before National Signing Day and probably just days before Surtain Jr. made an official visit to Tuscaloosa. (The date of Surtain’s interview isn’t clear from that report, but it was recent.)
Alabama hiring the elder Surtain would’ve been fine and legal.
He wasn’t just a great player. He’s also his son’s high school coach at American Heritage in South Florida, a talent hub that draws recruiters from all over college football.
Would hiring Surtain help Alabama recruit American Heritage? Probably. Might that have something to do with Alabama’s interest? Sure. But Surtain has every ounce of experience you’d want in a potential college DBs coach. It’s an epic stretch to think that Alabama was only interested in him for his kid, no matter the timing.
There would’ve been no rule against Alabama hiring Surtain, as long as they hired him to an on-field assistant coaching position, like as DBs coach.
The NCAA has strict rules about colleges hiring what it calls “Individuals Associated with Prospective Student-Athletes,” such as a parent or a high school coach. Surtain’s both, in the case of his five-star son. But the rule wouldn’t apply to a DBs coach.
The rule, with some bolding from me:
In bowl subdivision football, during a two-year period before a prospective student-athlete’s anticipated enrollment and a two-year period after the prospective student-athlete’s actual enrollment, an institution shall not employ (either on a salaried or volunteer basis) or enter into a contract for future employment with an individual associated with the prospective student-athlete in any athletics department noncoaching staff position or in a strength and conditioning staff position.
Had Alabama wanted to hire Surtain to a recruiting or development job, the Tide wouldn’t be allowed to recruit Surtain Jr. or any American Heritage players for two years. Any American Heritage players they’d signed in the previous two years would’ve risked losing their eligibility, though Bama’s roster doesn’t list any.
A teammate of the younger Surtain’s, five-star cornerback Tyson Campbell, has also been an Alabama target.
The NCAA adopted that rule in April 2017, with pros and cons.
Previously, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh had hired the head coach at New Jersey recruiting power Paramus Catholic, Chris Partridge, to a player personnel role. Later, Michigan signed the class of 2016’s No. 1 overall recruit, defensive tackle Rashan Gary, out of the same Jersey school. Harbaugh later shifted Partridge to an on-field coaching role, but the initial hire — to a recruiting job — is exactly what this rule now outlaws. Harbaugh wasn’t the only college coach who made one.
The rule seems well-intentioned, as a way to prevent coaches from using players to get jobs and to ensure colleges hire candidates on their merits. It’s easy to see how the rule could have downsides, though, for high school coaches who want to ascend the ranks and join the college game. There are plenty of strong college job candidates, like Surtain, who shouldn’t be penalized because their players have gotten recruited.