Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Quarterman wants to help cook up a winner
Senior LB returned because he believes ’Canes can ‘go further’
When Shaq Quarterman walked into a local grocery store a few weeks ago, the linebacker figured he’d buy the ingredients he needed for dinner and be on his way out the door rather quickly.
Things don’t always go as planned when you’re one of the more recognizable faces on the Miami Hurricanes roster.
“I walk into Winn Dixie to buy my little taco seasoning for Taco Tuesday and I ran into a guy who’s been a season ticket holder, brings his family and can recall every game,” Quarterman smiled. “I love hearing those stories because Miami’s not a college town. It’s a city, but at the same time, the love is there.
“Our fan base is unbelievable. You see them everywhere and that’s very important to me. Every Saturday, home or away, I know our fan base [is there].”
And did that fan have a message for Quarterman, given Miami’s high-profile opener on Aug. 24?
“He said we have to [beat Florida],” Quarterman said. “He didn’t give me an option. It wasn’t really a conversation there.
“We spoke about everything he’s seen and the Santana Mosses, I was there when he did
this, Devin Hester’s return … stuff like that. I love our fans.”
The feeling, one might imagine, is mutual, especially given what Quarterman has meant to Miami’s defense since arriving in Coral Gables three years ago.
He has started every game since, his 39-game streak as a starter the longest on the team. He finished as one of Miami’s leading tacklers in each of his seasons on campus, earning freshman All-America honors his first year and All-ACC honors last year as a junior.
Quarterman is the heart and soul of the Hurricanes defense. While he briefly considered entering the NFL draft earlier this year, he opted to return to Coral Gables, believing his work there wasn’t finished, not after the Hurricanes’ disappointing 7-6 performance last fall.
He believes too in Manny Diaz, his former linebackers coach and defensive coordinator who has now taken over as Hurricanes coach and presided over his first practice of the new season Friday night.
“We’re not rebuilding,” Quarterman said. “This is not a rebuild. If I didn’t believe we could go further than we did last year, I wouldn’t have come back. That’s as honest as I can tell you.
“That man is not rebuilding at all. He’s fueling the program. … We’re trying to get better.”
And Quarterman understands how much he’ll be counted on to help the Hurricanes build on the defensive success they’ve had under Diaz.
A preseason All-ACC selection and candidate for both the Butkus and Bednarik awards, Quarterman is welcoming the opportunity to continue being a mentor to his younger teammates.
He finished second on the team last year with 82 tackles, including 45 solo stops and a career-best 14 tackles for a loss. He had six sacks, an interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to help set the tone on the field.
In the locker room, Quarterman’s voice is often heard providing both encouragement and tough love as needed.
“As good of a player as Shaq is, he’s going to be a great player this year because he’s going to make the guys around him better,” Diaz said during last week’s ACC Kickoff event in Charlotte.
“Part of my job is I can’t put Shaq on the field in his fourth year with a bunch of guys that don’t feel the same will to win as Shaq does. That would break his heart and break my heart. That’s where they have to demand it. It’s been fun for me to see how those guys, [Mike] Pinckney and [Zach] McCloud and all those guys, have learned how to be leaders over time.”
For his part, Quarterman is now hoping all the lessons he’s learned in his first three years as a Hurricane will translate into a memorable senior year and a legacy that will live on long after he’s left Miami.
“I just want the alumni we have now — Ray Lewis, Jon Beason, Jon Vilma, D.J. Williams — there’s a poster in the linebacker room with all the great linebackers and I want to belong,” Quarterman said. “I want to be put up there because I deserve to be there. I did what I was supposed to do. I held up the standard and I held the chain. I didn’t let it break while I was here.
“If they put me on that list, I might cry. But that’s all I need. That’s my legacy right there.”