He was part of an all-time CB duo at Heritage. Now UGA’s Tyson Campbell heads to Jaguars
Tyson Campbell and Patrick Surtain II were the top two cornerbacks in the country when they were teammates at Plantation American Heritage. Now they’re both NFL player, too.
The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Campbell with the first pick of the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft on Friday — No. 33 overall. He goes 24 slots after the Denver Broncos selected Surtain in the first round. They’re two of the first six corners taken in the NFL Draft and put American Heritage on a historic pace for Draft selections.
Patriots coach Patrick Surtain expects at least seven of his former players to get picked this weekend. The current record for Draft picks from a single school in one year is four, held by Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, Miami Northwestern and Bradenton IMG Academy.
Campbell is the third player from South Florida to be picked and the second from Broward County, behind only Surtain II.
Campbell, who was a three-year starter for the Georgia Bulldogs, has been on the path to the NFL since he first stepped on a football field. At 6, he scored a touchdown on his first ever play. At 9, he met Surtain Sr. and his future coach told Campbell he was impressed. When it came time to pick a high school, he landed at American Heritage to play for former coach Mike Rumph, who’s now an assistant recruiting director for the Miami Hurricanes, and Surtain Sr.
Injuries held back Campbell as a freshman, and he wasn’t sure what position he would play until Rumph and Surtain Sr., who was the defensive coordinator at the time, suggested he move to defensive back. As former NFL cornerbacks, Rumph and Surtain Sr. felt they could help harness Campbell’s raw ability.
They were right.
Campbell lined up at corner as a sophomore in 2015, then Surtain Sr. moved him to safety when he took over as coach in 2016. Ultimately, he moved Campbell back to corner in 2017 and the Patriots finished off back-to-back state championships with one of the most dominant cornerback tandems in high school football history. They finished their careers as the top two cornerbacks in the Class of 2018, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
While Campbell never quite matched Surtain II’s All-American success in college football, he started all 10 games as a junior and his 6-foot-2, 185-pound frame kept him as one of the top prospects in the 2021 Draft.
Just like Surtain Sr. and Rumph saw Campbell’s potential for stardom, the Jaguars see the same.
