Shaq Quarterman Confident About Miami Hurricanes Season
Miami Hurricanes linebacker Shaquille Quarterman appeared with teammate Mark Walton and Head Coach Mark Richt at the ACC Kickoff Days in Charlotte Friday. He displayed humble confidence about the upcoming season.
Quarterman and discussed himself, his teammates and the Miami Hurricanes team as a whole. The prevailing theme was his confidence for the team overall for the upcoming season.
Quarterman and Walton were selected by Miami Head Coach Mark Richt to appear in front of the Media at ACC Kickoff days in Charlotte today. It didn’t have the feel of Superbowl media days. There was still a ridiculous question and one that was a few months early.
Walton looking sharp wearing a bow tie was asked if that while the Atlantic Division has Florida State and Clemson, does Coastal Division have style? Virginia Tech’s Cam Phillips wore a velvet suit while Walton wore a bow tie.
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Quarterman was asked about what he thought about Syracuse’s offense. With the game still more than three months away the Sophomore linebacker answered: “Well, honestly we haven’t really watched Syracuse yet”.
The biggest commonality between Walton and Quarterman was how confident they were in the prospects for the Miami Hurricanes upcoming season. They are both confident in themselves, their coaching staff and their teammates.
Quarterman was confident yet very humble in his answers with the media. The Sophomore linebacker was asked how he felt that there weren’t as many media for Miami as there were for Clemson, Florida State and some of the other ACC Atlantic Division teams.
Quarterman responded that it doesn’t bother he or his teammates either way.
"“Well, honestly I feel for our team when it comes to the media…we’re not really bothered by how the media feels or if they respect us enough to come and see us. We’re just here to play ball and compete like we’re supposed to do at Miami.”"
The best players are continually working on their game. it would be easy for Quarterman to be complacent entering this season. He is the leading returning tackler for a very good Miami Hurricanes defense. He also earned freshman All-American status last season from ESPN. He was asked what he worked on in the offseason and what he needs to improve on in 2017.
"“I feel like I can improve in all aspects of my game. I’ve been working on getting slimmer, more in shape so that I can be more efficient and run as fast as I can for as long as I can so I don’t have to come off the field for any reason. I’ve been focusing on my football IQ. I’ve been focused on my pre-snap analysis to understand what the offense is trying to do to me and my defense. So once you understand things like that, you’re one step ahead of the offense when the offense usually starts out one step ahead of you because they know what they’re doing.”"
Quarterman was given a good follow up question on how and what he can do to improve his football IQ.
"“Reading the stance of a lineman to looking at how a quarterback ID’s the defense to looking at the splits of receivers. It all plays a part in being successful.”"
Quarterman was part of a very productive freshman class in 2016. He teamed with fellow Freshmen All-American Michael Pinckney and Zach McCloud to form an all-freshman linebacking core. Wide receiver Ahmmon Richards also earned freshmen All-American honors.
Most of the attention on future Miami players this offseason has been on the top ranked recruiting class of 2018. This incoming class is not nearly as highly ranked yet still has a lot of talent.
Quarterman was asked to identify some of the potential standout freshmen for Miami in 2017. He is confident in the class as a whole.
"“I would say that you would need to look out for all of them. I think Coach Richt does a great job recruiting. We’ve got a lot of exciting guys coming in, people that are hungry, ready to put in the work, ready to work hard as they’ve been doing in the weight room, and we have those who just arrived who are just getting accustomed to how we do things. But I feel as though when they come into form when they come into shape, it’s going to be awesome.”"
The Hurricanes return their front seven intact nearly two deep. Quarterman should be one of the team leaders with a full season of college football behind him. He has gotten many offseason accolades.
Next: Miami Hurricanes DT Gerald Willis Out for 2017 Season
Miami is expected to have one of the best defenses in the country this season. The front seven has gotten multiple accolades for the potential to be dominant.