Surratt's Mission Accomplished

CHAPEL HILL - Just over a year removed from playing quarterback at North Carolina, junior linebacker Chazz Surratt has made a name for himself at a completely different position.

Now a linebacker, Surratt finished the year tied for the most tackles in the ACC with 110, leading him to be voted first-team All-ACC alongside his brother, Wake Forest wide receiver Sage Surratt. They are the first brother combination to earn All-ACC first-team football honors since 1996.

“It’s been good,” Surratt said, following a recent practice preparing for UNC’s bowl game versus Temple. “To be there with my brother, too, I think is a big thing. I’ve just got to credit my teammates and coaches. I’ve had great teammates the whole year.”

While he and his brother are two of the top players in the ACC this season, it’s Chazz who has received most of the national attention, and rightly so.

Surratt leads the Tar Heels in tackles for loss with 13.5, sacks with 6.0 and quarterback hurries with eight. He also made perhaps the most memorable plays of the season when he snagged an eventual game-sealing interception on the goal line in UNC’s dramatic 20-17 win over Duke in Chapel Hill.

The Denver, NC, native’s transition from dual-threat quarterback to one of the top linebackers in the country is quite an astonishing story, but something the often-modest Surratt expected.

“That’s kind of why I made the move,” he said.

By no means was his decision to switch positions after suffering a season-ending wrist injury during UNC’s 2018 loss at Miami a rash one, though. It was calculated and something Surratt felt was the best decision for him to reach his ultimate goal of playing in the NFL.

“I just felt like I had the size and speed to go play linebacker,” he said. “I played it some when I was growing up and I thought that was the best position for me to go out there and be successful and get to the next level.”

For first-year – second stint – UNC Coach Mack Brown, Surratt’s emergence on defense is one he wasn’t sure was possible when he first saw him playing the position in the spring.

“I didn’t know if he could do it or not to be very honest with you,” Brown said.

Fast forward some nine months and Brown’s opinion on Surratt has completely flipped.

“Chazz is, I think, even more (of) a remarkable story than true freshman quarterback) Sam (Howell) because the first time he’d ever played linebacker was in the South Carolina game…” Brown said. “It’s just amazing to see how much he’s improved and what he’s done and how hard he works and how smart he is. I’m just really, really proud of him.”

Despite his success, Surratt hasn’t been flawless this season, especially early on. During the season-opening win over South Carolina in particular, he missed a handful of routine tackles, one of which led to a 34-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

The former quarterback’s early season learning curve wasn’t unexpected for someone who had only played linebacker in high school and only sporadically when his team needed him to. For Brown, most of Surratt’s mistakes were down to one thing, which only improves with more game reps.

I think his instincts,” Brown said. “(Defensive coordinator) Jay (Bateman) and (co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach) Tommy (Thigpen) have done such a good job teaching him and I do think the fact he was a quarterback and knows offense really helps him.”

As Surratt’s instincts grew, so did his comfort level on the field which, in turn, led to improved performances. Surratt would finish the season with 10 or more tackles in six games, one or more tackles for loss in nine and at least one sack in six. His career-high in tackles came in UNC’s six-overtime loss at Virginia Tech when he finished with 17.

Not only have Surratt’s coaches noticed his development from game one to 12, so have his teammates. Junior linebacker Tomon Fox said, even before the season started, he and his peers had a feeling Surratt would have the impact he did.

“I think a lot of people on our defense thought he had the ability to be first-team All-ACC,” Fox said. “Chazz is the one who got and we love that, we expected that, we knew he was going to get it.”

According to Fox, Surratt’s work ethic was the primary catalyst.

“He worked his butt off, that’s all I know. I knew he was going to make plays this year,” Fox said.

From starting quarterback in 2017 to breaking his wrist in 2018 to all-conference linebacker in 2019, Surratt’s journey is something no one could have expected when he first arrived in Chapel Hill over three years ago.

But he never gave in through all the adversity, and that might say more about him than his performances on a football field ever could.