The beat goes on for McSurdy

By FRITZ NEIGHBOR, The Missoulian

When Caleb McSurdy “grows up” – and it's easy to forget he is 21 years old when you see the 250-pounder forming up ball carriers on the football field – he might be a drummer.

Or he may just help people.

“I still want to play in a rock band for a living, but if that doesn't work out – I don't know what I'm going to do,” said the senior middle linebacker for the Montana Grizzlies. “I'll just work hard; I'm good at dealing with people and helping people deal with each other.

“I just want to help people. That's a vanilla answer, but I just want to help.”

Both answers might seem a little pie-in-the-sky, but know this: McSurdy's older sister, Elizabeth Jane, is a professional modern dancer in San Francisco. His older brother Kevin is going to Boise State, but is also an accomplished musician who is joining the Navy's Special Operations.

The point is, it's hard to doubt the man Griz teammates call “Dirty.” He comes from a family that tends to make the most of things.

An example would be the third quarter of the Grizzlies' 55-28 win over Northern Colorado on Oct. 1, Bears' quarterback Seth Lobato dropped back and fired the ball 20 yards up the seam – and into the hands of McSurdy, who returned it 19 yards to near midfield.

Three plays later, the Grizzlies scored for a 55-14 lead.

“That was a play we'd seen a lot on film,” McSurdy said. “They were running ‘digs' all year out of 20 personnel (meaning two running backs and three receivers). They like it, especially on third-and-long.

“It doesn't take a rocket scientist to narrow down what they're going to do. I played the route and he threw it right to me.”

It still illustrated how far McSurdy has come in his time at UM. Pressed into action as a true freshman – albeit a 225-pound one – he felt overwhelmed at times in 2008.

“The more times you have to repeat things at practice, and the more live reps you get in games, it starts slowing down for you,” McSurdy said. “It was a lot more mentally challenging, coming in and learning a bunch of special teams roles as well as linebacker.

“A lot of times I just didn't know what I was doing, and it really showed.”

It helped that he was surrounded by extremely talented players who helped the Griz make back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Division I Football Championship, in 2008-09. Shawn Lebsock, the starting middle linebacker, for one. Colt Anderson for another.

“You get to spend a year with Colt Anderson – getting to see how fast he played was something,” McSurdy said. “And how smart he was – he and Shann Schillinger are both very smart.”

Schillinger and Anderson are both in the NFL, but McSurdy didn't just learn from his defensive teammates.

“Thomas Brooks-Fletcher would knock you over,” McSurdy said. “And Andrew Schmidt – I remember thinking, ‘This guy's the same size I am, playing running back.' Huge adjustment for me.”

There really was no question he would adjust.  He chose Montana partly because Boise State, Idaho State and Montana State either wanted him to be a defensive lineman or a fullback/tight end.

McSurdy hung onto the idea of playing linebacker.

“I'm not the fastest guy or the most agile guy, but I think I can get it done,” he said. “Montana said, ‘Yeah, we'll give you a chance and if it doesn't work out, we'll find another spot for you.'

“That was a big selling point.”

Ty Gregorak, the Grizzlies' linebackers coach, found out about McSurdy second-hand – possibly from former Griz player Van Troxel, then the coach at Lake City in Coeur d'Alene.

Gregorak got to Borah High in Boise, Idaho, and visited with coach Vince Mann. McSurdy happened to stroll by and Gregorak had a flash-back to Nick Vella, the Grizzlies' big-framed middle linebacker in 2004.

McSurdy was barely 18, but he'd already benched 390 pounds.

“Just a big, put-together dude,” Gregorak said.

Other colleges saw the frame but questioned McSurdy's speed. Gregorak had to do a little selling to get Bobby Hauck, then the Griz coach, on board.

“I remember it very distinctly,” Gregorak said. “I said, ‘Coach, I've just got a feeling about this guy. He'll never be a problem off the field, he'll be a great student and he'll become a great football player.' ”

Which, Gregorak points out, he has. McSurdy led the Griz in tackles in 2010 with 112. This season he has117, along with two fumbles forced, one recovered and 7.5 tackles for loss.

On Nov. 22 he was named the Big Sky Conference defensive player of the year. But the league coaches weren't the only guys who noticed him.

Scouts from all over the NFL come to UM games to watch the Grizzlies' stable of O-linemen and fleet cornerback Trumaine Johnson. To Gregorak's satisfaction, they often leave with another name on their minds.

“They all leave going, ‘Who is 40?' ” Gregorak said. “It's awesome. It's a heck of a story. So strong, so good with his hands.

“And you should see the guy wail on a drum set.”

Patrick McSurdy met his wife, Nancy, at a bible college in Kansas. All four of their children were born in Tampa, Fla., but a couple trips west to bow-hunt elk convinced Patrick to move to Idaho.

He's a little amazed about how everything turned out.

“Sometimes I wake up and I think they maybe got me confused with another dad,” he said.

Patrick, who built a home remodeling company in Boise, never played football at Hialeah (Fla.) High.

“Ted Hendricks dated my sister,” he said. “That's about as close as I got to all that. I surfed and raced motorcycles.”

His three sons raced BMX bikes growing up, and found success in that venue before any other.

“They tried soccer. Hated it,” Patrick says. “Tried T-Ball, hated it. And all they ever did was play outside.

“(Racing) is how they got used to winning, and learned how to work hard.”

The breaking point was junior high; they all gravitated to football. So Patrick took each one in to see the coach and said, “You've got my permission to do what it takes to make them good.”

“My dad pushed us all growing up to pick what we liked doing and be the best at it,” Caleb said. “And he always emphasized that being the best takes a lot of work.”

Caleb McSurdy has size, strength, speed and a dry sense of humor. There are exceptions – a bawdy joke he told at his first fall camp earned him his nickname – but his  description of the painful aftermath of his interception against Northern Colorado is better heard than read.

“Brock Coyle had the guy in his sights and decided not to block him,” said McSurdy, who had the wind knocked out of him. “So yeah, I got form-tackled by an O-lineman. I couldn't celebrate with anyone because I couldn't breathe.”

“Caleb has always been a really kind and dutiful person,” Nancy McSurdy said. “Hard-working. He never wanted to be the exception; he would just do what he was asked to do.

“And he has a funny sense of humor.”

Ahead of the Grizzlies' 33-0 win at Idaho State, McSurdy shrugged off suggestions he could meet up with young Daniel McSurdy, another brother who is a running back for the Bengals.

“If you start over-thinking it, you play tight. That's not very helpful, to play too loose or too tight while worrying about one player,” he said. “But I might get a chance. And he might juke me out of my shoes or I might hit him really hard. You never know.”

It didn't happen: Daniel McSurdy injured a knee on a kickoff return early in the game.

It's just as well – the hits Caleb McSurdy made on Bobcat receivers Elvis Akpla and John Ellis, in the Grizzlies' 36-10 win over then-No. 1 Montana State on Nov. 19, would've been pretty tough for mom to take.

The hits aren't the goal, by the way. Just a byproduct.

“More important than anything, and I mean this in all seriousness, is getting the win,” said McSurdy. “That's the biggest thing: win, and finish out the year strong.”