Florida State coach Mike Norvell confirmed that cornerbacks coach Patrick Surtain Sr. is departing the program. Surtain’s contract was set to expire on February, 28 2026.
Surtain Sr. coached at FSU for three seasons. He coached the defensive backs in 2023 and 2024 and then focused on the cornerbacks in 2025.
“Grateful for Pat and the contributions over the last few years,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said on Friday afternoon. “A great man. He's done a lot within the program.”
In his time at FSU, he helped develop AZ Thomas into a second-round draft pick and Ja’Bril Rawls was arguably the team’s most improved defensive player in 2025. Rawls had 40 tackles in seven games.
Surtain Sr. also helped to recruit four-star cornerback Chauncey Kennon, who signed with FSU on Wednesday. Kennon is the No. 3 corner in the nation by 247Sports in the class of 2026.
Norvell said defensive coordinator Tony White and safeties coach Evan Cooper had overlapping relationships with many of the signees on the recruiting trail.
There’s also a report by CBS Sports that Arkansas is interested in running backs coach / recruiting coordinator David Johnson. Arkansas has hired Ryan Silverfield, who was Memphis’ head coach and coached alongside Johnson when Norvell was at Memphis.
No coordinator changes
Norvell confirmed that that there will be no changes with offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn and defensive coordinator Tony White.
“There's not been any change in regards to that,” Norvell said. “We're going to continue to push forward with all things.”
While changes could still be made among the coordinators, buyouts on their three-year deals would make that cost prohibitive.
Castellanos' waiver was denied
Norvell confirmed that quarterback Tommy Castellanos’ waiver for an extra year of football in 2026 was denied by the NCAA. Castellanos has hired two attorneys, Darren Heitner and Paul Aloise, to help in his appeal. Heitner told the Osceola on Friday that an appeal is pending.
“Tommy is going through his process of fighting for an opportunity,” Norvell said. “We support Tommy and being able to support all things that he wants to do and needs to do for his potential eligibility and playing. That's something that he's going through the process.”
Castellanos’ argument is that he played five games in 2022, including the AAC title game while at UCF, and he would like to be grandfathered in as part of a later rule change by the NCAA. The redshirt rule evolved from allowing any player to participate in four games to adding the ability to compete in a fifth game, counting a postseason contest like a league title game or bowl game.
In 2025 at FSU, Castellanos completed 58 percent of his passes for 2,760 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also had a team-leading 557 rushing yards with nine touchdowns.
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