Let me take you back to the Year of our Lord 2015 A.D. The Miami Hurricanes wrapped up possibly the most underwhelming 8-5 season in college football history, which was highlighted (or lowlighted) by the worst loss in school history, a 58-0 beat down by Deshaun Watson and Clemson at home. The loss was embarrassing enough for Miami to fire Al Golden the very next day. A couple months later, about a week after the regular season ended, they hired Mark Richt who played at Miami and had recently been let go by Georgia.
Mark Richt’s first recruiting class as the head coach of Miami ranked 22nd in the country and featured nine 4-star recruits. Considering how poorly things had been trending at Miami, and that Richt didn’t even have the full recruiting cycle, signing that highly rated of a class is as impressive as anything Richt did while he was at Miami.
Fast forward to today and the highest rated prospect in that class is no longer with the Hurricanes, and Mark Richt is working for the ACC Network instead of for Miami. And yet, despite all the change in Coral Gables since the 2016 signing day, it’s still proven to be the most consequential recruiting class in recent memory for Miami.
Three linebackers from that recruiting class; Shaquille Quarterman, Zach McCloud, and Michael Pinckney all became true freshman starters in that 2016 season. All three were draft eligible after their junior year last season, but they all decided to come back for their senior year. Michael Pinckney, speaking of their decision to come back to school, unceremoniously referred to it as “just another opportunity to set the standard.”
Well however you want to refer to their decision, they’re back. The three of them give Miami the best, and most experienced, linebacker corps in the country.
Shaquille Quarterman
Quarterman, Miami’s returning leading tackler and a preseason All American, is in the middle of every play. He’s often the clean up guy for Miami, the defensive line will take up blockers and allow Quarterman to make plays in space.
Pro Football Focus gave Quarterman a 90.3 pass rushing grade, which is qualified as “elite”. That’s extremely impressive for a middle linebacker coming from space. When Quarterman brings pressure he is really patient. It might sound weird for a linebacker to need to be patient, but it’s important.
Young linebackers often try to get as close to the line as they can when they’re coming on a blitz, the theory being you want to get to the quarterback as fast as possible, but because Quarterman comes from space, 4-5 yards deep, the offensive line reacts to the initial pass rush and then has to readjust when more pressure comes from space. In real time all of that happens in less than two seconds, and Quarterman’s delayed pressure doesn’t give the offensive line time to communicate. The result is missed blocking assignments and open pass rushing lanes.
This is every defensive snap Quarterman played against Florida in the season opener. Pay attention to how he comes from space and disrupts the Gator’s blocking scheme.
Michael Pinckney
Pinckney is instinctive, has great closing speed, and excels in space. He’s everything you look for in a weak side linebacker, “WILL”. While strong side linebackers have to play in traffic, weak side linebackers are usually playing in space. The term “sideline to sideline backers” is in reference to WILLs like Sean Lee or Thomas Davis in the NFL. Weak side linebackers are expected to cover a lot of ground and not miss a lot of tackles.
On every defensive snap linebackers have at least a run responsibility and a pass responsibility. They get half a step, literally called a read step, to diagnose the play and either fill their gap or execute their coverage responsibility. (That’s why offenses use play action to force the linebackers to creep up to the line of scrimmage and open up more passing lanes.) Linebackers are taught to read the first step of the offensive line, usually the guard, and react to that. If the guard stands up that keys a pass play, if the guard pulls or comes off the line then the linebacker has a gap to fill. Even half a second delay in reading the play means an open gap or an easy completion.
Luckily for Miami, Pinckney diagnoses the play and flies to his responsibility as well as anyone in the country. His closing speed makes it difficult for offenses to run plays that take a bit longer to develop. (Closing speed usually refers to how fast a defensive back can close on a receiver after the receiver breaks off his route, but we’re going to go ahead and apply it to Pinckney getting to the ball carrier.) Even on plays when he doesn’t make the tackle he plays a big part in disrupting the offense.
Pinckney was actually Pro Football Focus’ highest graded Miami player from last season, with an overall grade of 84.8 and a coverage grade of 91.3. What’s scary about that is as good of a coverage linebacker as Pinckney is, he has been even better this season.Below is every snap he played against Florida in the season opener.. Watch for how he plays in space, diagnoses the play, and makes essentially every tackle.
Zach McCloud
In a base 4-3 defense with three linebackers McCloud lined up as the strongside linebacker. Because more and more college programs are running the air raid offense and putting four or five wide receivers on the field at the same time, more and more defenses are taking linebackers off the field in favor of defensive backs.
Miami is no exception, and in the 2019 season McCloud was the odd linebacker out when head coach Manny Diaz wanted more defensive backs on the field. This week Miami announced that McCloud was redshirting and preserving his final year of eligibility for 2020. Even though he won’t be playing the remainder of this season, he’s too talented to not be included when talking about the best linebackers in the country.
The first thing you’re taught as a linebacker is also the most important lesson you can learn: keep your outside arm free. The strong side linebacker’s responsibility is often to set the edge and force the ball carrier into traffic. If you can’t get your outside arm off the blocker then theres a good chance the ball carrier is just going to run right by you. On outside runs, strong side linebackers are often going to be fighting through some sort of a double team or a chip block with the tackle and at least a tight end or fullback. The ability to force the ball back inside is what turns a twelve yard run into a three yard run.
McCloud’s technique in taking on blockers and his ability to keep his hands free is what makes him so important to the Miami defense. McCloud was only eighth in tackles for the Hurricanes last season, but his willingness to take on blockers and force the ball back inside allowed for guys like Quarterman and Michael Pickney to rack up tackles.
This is every defensive snap McCloud played against Pitt last season. Once he diagnoses the play he is so quick to get to the blocker or ball carrier and disrupt what the offense is trying to do. It also doesn’t hurt that he comes in like a wrecking ball. Miami Head Coach Manny Diaz called McCloud “maybe the hardest hitting kid we’ve had in the program in the last four years.”
Early losses to Florida and North Carolina put a damper on Miami’s season, but if they can beat a talented Virginia team on October 11th then Miami has a shot to win the ACC Coastal and finish in the Top 15 range nationally. However the rest of the year goes for Miami, we know their linebackers are going to be right in the middle of it.
-By Jake Cowden