South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
LB McCloud gets that 6th (season) sense
Veteran will take advantage of NCAA’s 2020 rule change
Miami Hurricanes linebacker Zach McCloud announced Saturday morning he will be returning to UM in 2021.
McCloud posted an image on his Instagram page that read “Let’s Run it Back,” which has become a theme this offseason for Miami players making similar decisions.
McCloud, who will play a sixth college season, is utilizing the extra year of eligibility being granted to football players by the NCAA because the 2020 season was played amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
After an uneven redshirt senior season where he mostly played weakside linebacker, McCloud could be making a shift to defensive end next season. He rotated in at that position in the Cheez-It Bowl loss to Oklahoma State, and coach Manny Diaz said that’s a spot where McCloud could help the Hurricanes moving forward.
“I think Zach’s got a future at defensive end,” Diaz said in the week leading up to the bowl, “watching what he’s done this week in practice, where he can just kind of go and come off the edge and have low pads.”
In nine games in 2020, McCloud had 27 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
He was a starter on the Miami defense going back to his freshman season in 2016, when he was lined up with fellow freshmen Shaquille Quarterman and Michael Pinckney.
As Diaz’s UM defense over the years shifted to two linebackers plus a striker (safety-linebacker hybrid), McCloud initially was playing the striker position but
by 2019 the Hurricanes went with Romeo Finley in that spo,t with McCloud rotating in for Quarterman and Pinckney off the bench.
Due to shortened playing time, McCloud made the midseason decision that original senior season to redshirt, cutting his year down to four games, the maximum allowed
to remain eligible for the following season. With 2020 played during the coronavirus pandemic, he’s allowed to extend his college career once again.
McCloud, who has 40 college starts to his name, arrived at Miami as a four-star