Patrick Surtain breaks down how young Florida State defensive backs are adjusting

Florida State is gearing up for a run at the ACC title and a potential College Football Playoff berth, and the Seminoles might need to rely on some young defensive backs to get there.

The team has a handful of true freshmen entering the mix this season and while most of them probably won’t be needed right away, the group is showing signs that it could have some contributors during the 2023 season.

“Obviously an adjustment you’ve got to make coming from high school to college,” defensive backs coach Patrick Surtain said. “There’s an adjustment period there. But like I said, we’ve got a good room where the older guys are kind of taking the younger guys under their wing. They’re asking the right questions. They’re coming out competing and they’re making plays. That’s all you can ask.”

Surtain said the young defensive backs have a chance to be ‘scary’ in the future given what he’s already seen.

He listed off some of the guys who are already making their presence felt in the unit, to varying degrees.

“They’ve been good,” Surtain said. “Obviously Quindarrius (Jones) and KJ (Kirkland), they’ve been here since January and with the new guys coming in in Conrad (Hussey) and (Edwin) Joseph, Ja’Bril (Rawls), even the young guy Donny (Hiebert) who’s going to get a chance, those guys have been good.”

The goal for Florida State in the secondary this fall is to simply keep things rolling. The Seminoles finished with the nation’s fourth-ranked passing defense a year ago, surrendering only 165.4 yards per game.

If that continues in 2023, given the offensive improvement that is likely with quarterback Jordan Travis back and some new offensive weapons added, watch out.

For the young defensive backs, Surtain wants to see one thing.

“Just cutting down on the mental mistakes. It’s new to them,” he said. “Most of those guys in high school they probably played cat coverage. ‘You’ve got that cat, you’ve got that cat.’ Here we play so many different coverages and they have to learn it all, so that’s the biggest thing that keep true freshmen from not playing, is doing the defense.

“Not saying that those guys aren’t doing, but when you’re on the field the coach has to be able to trust you that you’re doing better than he does. I think those guys are continuing learning and when they get it it’s going to be scary.”

Florida State opens its season on Sept. 3 against LSU at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.