Adam Fuller excited by consistency of Fentrell Cypress since transfer arrival

Fentrell Cypress II enjoyed a breakout season last year with the Virginia Cavaliers, establishing himself as one of the best defensive backs in all of college football. He led the ACC with 14 pass breakups and 1.56 passes defended per game. He earned second team All-ACC honors and thrived under John Rudzinkski’s scheme. This offseason, he decided to enter the transfer portal and join the Florida State Seminoles. Not surprisingly, ‘Noles defensive coordinator has been very excited by his consistency since joining his new team this spring.

“I think Fentrell’s movement in the program, his leadership, it all just comes with how he carries himself. He’s not an overly vocal player at this standpoint. But that’s his personality. But he shows up, because he’s consistent. You know, he tries to be his best every day. He’s prepared for meetings. He’s prepared to play. Whether it’s perimeter drills, one-on-ones, or 7-on-7 pursuit drills. He’s pretty reliable as far as being there, being accountable, being somebody that you can count on,” Fuller said.

A few weeks ago, Fuller said he played Cypress in a number of different positions in order to help his development.

“We saw him actually have a nice sideline tackle last scrimmage. So, we’re seeing a complete player. We’ve also repped him at nickel this week, too. Try to open up his game and just put him in more situations within the defense to try and accelerate that growth within our program. And Fentrell, he’s eating it all up day-by-day. You know I think he’s fit in, pretty seamlessly,” Fuller said.

His new defensive backs coach with the ‘Noles is Pat Surtain, one of the more gifted defensive backs the game of football has ever seen. Recently, Cypress spoke with the media about Surtain’s coaching style.

Fentrell Cypress on Patrick Surtain, Sr.

“It’s been a lot of fun. Coach was saying he played the position and Coach Fuller has been talking to me since I was in the portal, so I already had that relationship with him. And they have different type of teaching styles. It’s good though, to learn it from both ways. And just doing that, it helps you see it from their point of view, from a coach standpoint, from a coach that actually played the position. So, it just helps a ton from both sides,” Cypress said.

Surtain had elite ball skills when he played in the National Football League, posting the best numbers of his career with the Miami Dolphins. He was a three-time Pro Bowler from 2002-2004. His career high in interceptions came in 2003 with Miami, when he snatched seven picks. From 1998-2008, he finished with 37 total interceptions in his prolific career. Surtain also racked up 538 total tackles in 163 total games in the NFL.

It’s certainly going to be fascinating to watch Cypress’ development under his new position coach. The two should combine to form a rather potent combination for the next few seasons.