The announcement on Monday afternoon that the Miami football program will redshirt sophomore running back, Lorenzo Lingard, this season is one that benefits him and the Hurricanes.
Lorenzo Lingard was off to a good start in his true freshman season in 2018 for the Miami football team before suffering a significant knee injury in October. Lingard made his 2019 season debut on special teams Saturday against Virginia Tech but did not play any snaps on offense. Information Lingard would redshirt came out Monday.
Lingard is the only consensus five-star signee on the Miami football roster. Lingard ran for 136 yards on 36 carries for an incredible eight-yard average in 2018. He added two touchdowns on the ground. Lingard was expected to be a big part of the Miami rushing attack from the outset of his collegiate career.
The injury was a major setback. Cam Harris who also signed with the Miami football program in 2018 passed Lingard on the depth chart last season. Lingard has been slow to get back into playing shape. He was expected to play against Central Michigan but suffered a concussion and did not play.
The decision for Lingard to redshirt did not seem much different than that of senior linebacker Zach McCloud. Like Lingard, McCloud was not playing as much as he was expected to. Miami football head coach Manny Diaz covered the timeline of how Lingard approached Diaz about the possibility of redshirting.
"“Lorenzo actually came in and spoke to me and we had a great conversation. He actually talked about that while he is medically cleared, he’s not right and he knows that. And he’s committed to being at the University of Miami. He loves being at the University of Miami. He sees a big-time future for himself here as we see in him.But if we can–he has already seen action in one game this year so we can still use him in three more games this year and be a guy that we can pick up an extra year of eligibility for next year.I think Lorenzo has had a lot of external pressure of people trying to pull him in different directions and I thought that he came in and met was like, ‘Look I know I am not in danger of getting hurt on the field, but I also know who I am as a runner and it’s not always there.So I think the fact that we had a great honest conversation–I love Lorenzo Lingard. He loves football. He loves Miami. He works every day in practice. I thought it showed maturity coming in and talking.”"
Lingard can still play in three more games this season. The update of the redshirt rule that was put in place in 2018 allows players to compete in up to four separate games and still maintain a redshirt season. Lingard will be a part of an extremely deep Miami offensive backfield in 2020. All of Miami’s running backs are eligible to return.
Harris will be a junior in 2020. DeeJay Dallas is eligible for the 2020 NFL draft but will be expected to return. Robert Burns will be a redshirt junior next season. Miami is also expected to have four-star Don Cheney Jr who is the sixth-ranked RB in the class in the 2020 recruiting cycle.