From Start to Finish
By Christy Cabrera Chirinos
HurricaneSports.com
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – He was a defensive coordinator then, just weeks into his tenure at Miami.
But Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz wanted to learn a little bit more about the freshmen linebackers who’d signed with Miami and enrolled early. So though he wasn’t expecting much, he had Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney line up with the first-string defense.
As he watched the young defenders work during that fourth practice of spring ball, Diaz figured the move might inspire some of Miami’s upperclassmen to play a little harder in an effort to regain their starting jobs. He wondered, too, if the freshman linebackers could handle the magnitude of what they’d just been asked to do.
Turns out Quarterman and Pinckney were more than up to the task.
The linebackers never relinquished those starting jobs and come Saturday afternoon when the Hurricanes host Louisville in a cross-division ACC showdown at Hard Rock Stadium, Quarterman and Pinckney will run through Miami’s famed smoke one last time before playing the final home game of their memorable college careers.
“I still remember when I bumped them up to the first team. I thought it would last one day,” said Diaz, who was not only Miami’s defensive coordinator that spring, but also the Hurricanes’ linebackers coach. “That’s not to say they wouldn’t be starters eventually, but I thought that day the older guys would get angry and have a great day. I also thought it’d be too big for those young guys and they would mess up and go back down to the second team.
“Everything that spring was about competition and finding out who our best guys were and here we sit, four years later, they’re still the starters at Miami.”
Months after that spring workout, Quarterman, Pinckney and fellow freshman Zach McCloud made history, becoming the first trio of freshmen linebackers to start together at Miami when the Hurricanes opened the season with a 70-0 win over FAMU.
In the years since, they’ve endured various injuries, a coaching change and heartbreaking losses. They’ve also been a part of thrilling comebacks, Miami’s first bowl win in a decade and in 2017, the Hurricanes’ first 10-win season since 2003.
There have been highs and lows, but with the end of their time at Miami approaching, neither Quarterman nor Pinckney say they would have traded their experiences for anything else.
“I always wanted to be a Hurricane. I don’t think the Hurricanes’ logo, name or this University will ever lose its weight, no matter what may happen. It’s just never going to happen. It will always be prominent in college football and the type of culture that’s down here is unbeatable in my eyes,” Quarterman said. “That’s why I was loyal. I wanted to be part of that culture. I knew that coming through this culture would make me a better man and a better player.”
Said Pinckney, “I played for this school because I love it. I genuinely love it. I know what it was once and I tried to get it back in the direction it needs to be in. I just love this school. I love everything about it and my heart is in it. When your heart is in something, you know you’re going to play harder for it.”
For both Quarterman and Pinckney, making sure they left the Hurricanes’ program in better shape than they found it has been a driving force. That was one of the reasons both said they opted to return to Miami for their senior years instead of entering the NFL Draft as juniors.
And becoming the best linebackers they could be is why they’ve never shied away from answering the phone when past Hurricanes greats like Jon Vilma, D.J. Williams, or Jon Beason have called to offer advice or constructive criticism.
That’s also why, particularly in recent weeks, Quarterman and Pinckney have been among the Hurricanes stepping up their level of play and embracing their roles as locker room leaders.
Through Miami’s first nine games, Quarterman leads the Hurricanes with 72 tackles, including 10 tackles for loss. He also has a sack, a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He’s led the Hurricanes in tackles in each of Miami’s last three games, notching 13 stops against Georgia Tech, 12 against Pittsburgh and nine against Florida State.
Pinckney, meanwhile, is fourth on the team with 42 tackles, including 7.5 tackles for loss. He’s also collected three sacks and notched five quarterback hurries.
“Them returning their senior years, partly to try and better themselves but mainly to try and better this program and leave Miami in better shape than they found it has been huge,” Diaz said. “We don’t know yet where this season is going to end, but even with some of the adversity we’ve gone through this year, their role in what we’ve been able to do the last few weeks and the fact they walked out of Tallahassee beating those guys three straight times, they’re a part of this.”
With the Hurricanes still looking to secure bowl eligibility and two of Miami’s final games set to be played on the road, Diaz and the rest of the Hurricanes will need their senior linebackers to continue producing.
Both say they’re committed to finishing their careers on a high note, starting this week.
“I want to finish as strong as possible. I don’t look at the stats after the game. People have to tell me. I want to look at the film and know that I left it all out there,” Quarterman said. “For the last couple games, that’s all I’ve been trying to do, not saving it all, putting it on the line for my teammates. And off the field, I’m ready to graduate. I can’t wait to do that. My parents are all excited. … I want to finish off strong, on and off the field and be labeled as one of the household Canes. That’s really the big thing.”
Said Pinckney, “We’re still not done. We’ve got opportunities to do some good things and some great things. I feel like I’m headed in the right direction and our team is headed in the right direction. I think the young guys can see we’re headed the right direction. Everything is critical.”
