Surratt Has Swag Now That He's On The Dark Side

CHAPEL HILL – Quarterback may be the glamour position in college football, but it took moving to the dark side for Chazz Surratt to gain the kind of swag that gets his teammates excited.

At least that’s how senior cornerback Patrice Rene sees it.

“I think he has a lot more swag now,” Rene said, wearing a big smile. “Chazz is one of my best friends on the team, I like having him on the dark side, the defensive side, he has to pride up and come on the field with a little more swag.”

As Rene noted, the dark side is on defense, which is where Surratt now resides. His time at quarterback ended after tearing ligaments in his wrist trying to tackle a Miami linebacker who’d intercepted the final pass Surratt threw as a Tar Heel and returned it 81 yards for a touchdown last September.

After a period of self-reflection, weighing his options, which included possibly transferring, and then dealing with North Carolina’s coaching change, Surratt decided to move to the other side of the ball and is now working out at linebacker for the Tar Heels. A dramatic a position change as this seems to the outside world, it’s not really a big deal to Surratt.

“I played it in high school and had success with it,” he said, following UNC’s first spring practice Sunday. “I just thought it was best for me going forward.”

Surratt was cleared to play just a couple of weeks ago and his right wrist is still heavily wrapped. But he’s been transitioning since December when he hit the weight room with gusto.

Surratt has added 15 or so pounds, he’s in the 230 range, and clearly looks much bigger. Standing among the other linebackers, he definitely fits right in. And perhaps the grind he’s given the weight room was a way of showing his teammates he’s serious about this switch.

Let’s face it, a once-ballyhooed QB saying he wants to now hit guys and playing one of the most violent positions on the field isn’t something always immediately unilaterally embraced by all parties. Football players are very much territorial and about earning respect and earning your stripes, so to speak, so Surratt began that campaign well before Christmas.

Three months later, he’s achieved something impressive and important.

“We all commend him for it,” defensive tackle Aaron Crawford said. “We know how he is as a teammate… and I feel like that’s what helped us rally around him through the tough times. He’s taking everything he’s doing and is giving it everything he’s got.”

With that behind him, the hardest part is now underway. The Tar Heels will don pads Thursday and among the players the staff will be most interested in seeing hand out and receive contact is Surratt. But keep in mind, this move at UNC isn’t without precedent.

Bruce Carter played quarterback in high school but was a standout linebacker at Carolina and has spent the last nine years in the NFL. Quan Sturdivant was a quarterback in high school but an All-ACC linebacker for the Heels who had a brief stint in the NFL.

Furthermore, it’s not unusual for great high school quarterbacks to play other positions in college, Mack Brown said.

“There haven’t been a lot of them, but your quarterback is usually your best athlete in high school, so a lot of those guys play defensive back, play wide receiver… In high school, that’s you’re best guy,” UNC’s coach said.

“For whatever reason, it didn’t work for Chazz at quarterback, and to be very clear, he wanted to move to defense before we got here so he was either going to be a safety or a linebacker… He runs really good and he’s smart and he obviously knows schemes because he was a quarterback.”

While Surratt must adapt to the physicality of the position and its other nuances, he has an advantage as a former quarterback, as Brown said. As a QB, Surratt saw the game moving away from him as receivers ran routes and runners ran through holes. Now, he must read the game in reverse. That’s one of his adjustments.

“It’s different,” he said. “I’m learning everything backwards thnn I learned playing quarterback – reading defenses downfield that would help. Stuff with the gaps and fits that linebackers (do) I’m learning.”

And he’s putting in the extra time.

“I think he’s doing a good job transitioning,” Rene said. “I come out here with him on the off days and help him with his back pedal and things and he’s very excited for it.”

As he should be.

Surratt’s time behind center is in the past and he has a new football lease on life. Opportunity is certainly there to get on the field, as the Tar Heels don’t have many proven players at linebacker, and who knows, maybe this was his destiny all along, added swag and all.