Miami LBs Shaq Quarterman, Mike Pinckney, Zach McCloud returning for senior season

Zac Al-Khateeb

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Miami LBs Shaq Quarterman, Mike Pinckney, Zach McCloud returning for senior season image

A tumultuous few weeks for the Miami football program — an underwhelming early signing period, a 35-3 blowout loss to Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl, the surprise retirement of Mark Richt and return of defensive coordinator Manny Diaz as his replacement — have seemingly ended with good news for the Hurricanes.

All three of Miami's starting linebackers, Shaq Quarterman, Mike Pinckney, and Zach McCloud, announced they will return for their senior seasons. That's great news for a defense that will be in need of senior leadership in 2019.

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BOOBIE WILL BE BACK FOR ONE MORE ROUND.

A post shared by OG BOOBIE SHAQ (@shaq_da_gr8) on

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

🦍🦍🦍🦍year 4 otw

A post shared by Michael Pinckney (@56_nightmares) on

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

For those who still in my dm asking😴 #86G

A post shared by Zach McCloud (@mccloud53) on

Quarterman, Pinckney and McCloud combined for 200 tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks in 2018. Quarterman finished second on the team with 82 tackles and fourth with 14 tackles for loss.

Their return is particularly important for the Hurricanes, who have seen several transfers and decommits over the course of December. It seems Diaz's first big recruiting victory was managing to retain the players already on his team.

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb Photo

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.