Miami’s linebacker group will start to look the part in 2023

When Mario Cristobal arrived as head coach at Miami last year, the linebacker position was identified as a group that needed attention.

From 2016-19, the Hurricanes featured productive college level linebackers in Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney.

Quarterman, who played middle linebacker for the Hurricanes, finished his UM career with 356 tackles, 46.5 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, and one interception. Pinckney totaled 267 tackles, 42 tackles for loss, 14.5 sacks, and three interceptions in his UM career.

With Quarterman and Pinckney both earning starting jobs as true freshman, Miami struggled to recruit the position at a high level after them. That trend started to change in the 2022 recruiting cycle with the addition of linebacker Wesley Bissainthe, who hails from Miami Central and ranked as the No. 188 overall player on the 247Sports Composite.

Bissainthe started the final three games of the 2022 season as a true freshman and played a total of 276 defensive snaps on the year. He finished the year with 30 tackles and he was solid in coverage, allowing 13 receptions for 82 yards and one touchdown on 18 targets.

Bissainthe played his best game against Clemson, totaling eight tackles on 72 defensive snaps.

Bissainthe was the only true freshman in the ACC to play at least 250 defensive snaps in 2022.

After another year in Miami’s strength and conditioning program and another year to learn the techniques and reads it takes to succeed at the college level, Bissainthe projects as Miami’s starting weak-side linebacker in 2023.

At the middle linebacker spot, Miami went to the transfer portal to provide competition for returning starter Corey Flagg by adding Francisco Mauigoa from Washington State. In 12 games, Mauigoa totaled 60 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks to go along with one interception in 2022. He also forced three fumbles.

Mauigoa looks the part of a physical linebacker at 6-feet-3 and 230 pounds. The 2022 season was his first as a starter. Mauigoa’s best game as a starter came against Colorado in 2022 when he totaled eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 1.5 sacks.

When projecting the 2023 UM linebacker corps, Bissainthe projects as the weak-side backer that plays with speed and twitch while Mauigoa projects as the big, physical, downhill thumper at middle linebacker.

Miami’s linebacker group will be in the best shape it has been in a while. It is hard to project with the NCAA Transfer Portal, but if Corey Flagg returns, he would represent a valuable “swing” linebacker that can play either in the middle or weak-side.

The Hurricanes run defense has not been up to the standard for the last three seasons. In 2022, UM allowed 142 rushing yards per game, which ranked 51st in the country. In 2021, Miami allowed 139 rushing yards per game, which ranked No. 44 overall in the country. In 2020, UM allowed 174 rushing yards per game, which ranked No. 76 nationally.

Miami needed to upgrade the talent at linebacker the past two seasons. There is still a ways to go, in terms of upgrading the depth, but the Hurricanes will be starting to look the part in 2023.