Depending on the timeframe, Miami can claim LBU, especially when arguably the best linebacker to ever play the position hails from the University of Miami in Ray Lewis. There have been plenty of other outstanding LBs to don the orange and green, such as Michael Barrow, Darrin Smith, Jesse Armstead, Dan Morgan, and Jonathan Vilma, to name a few.

This season brings newfound optimism about the position because of the talent from the 2023 recruiting class. Linebackers Raul "PoPo" Aguirre, Malik Bryant, Bobby Washington, and Marcellius Pulliam have already shown what they can do collectively in fall camp after one week.

"These true freshmen are talented," Linebacker Francisco Mauigoa said at Tuesday's media availability. We got PoPo and Cell, and Malik and Bobby; those guys are amazing. They catch up to the defense really quick and really fast. In practice, PoPo, he's been showing up. He's a guy. He's smart and very instinctive, and very aggressive too."

Mauigoa transferred from Washington State and has already become a valuable commodity. "Kiko" brings experience to the room, appearing in 12 games and 11 as a starter as a junior. Mauigoa was fourth on the team with 60 tackles and recorded 5.5 tackles-for-loss, including 3.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, and an interception he returned 95 yards for a touchdown.

Second-year linebacker Wesley Bissainthe has already built a sense of trust with his teammate:

"Kiko, that's my guy, he has excellent size, ability, he's smart, and it's just great to have him by my side and knowing I can trust him in the game."

Bissainthe is looking to build from a stellar freshman campaign. The local product from the powerhouse program Miami Central saw action in all twelve games, including starting the last three. He would finish the year with 30 tackles.

"It was very valuable," Bissainthe said of the experience he earned in year one. "I kind of got a taste of what I was going to be getting. Just going into this season, just got to keep the same mentality. The game has slowed down for me a lot. Now it's just a matter of making plays and just knowing what I'm doing."

One of the starters from last season, Corey Flagg sees a difference in consistency from the linebacker group from years past. Flagg led the team in tackles with 60 in 2021 and ranked and ranked third on the team with 56 last season, and also led the team in tackles for loss with 10.5, which was the highest among linebackers.

"This linebacker room is full of guys that's hungry; there's a lot of competition, " Flagg said. You're going to make mistakes, but in the back of your mind, you really can't make mistakes because there's somebody behind you. That's what you need. You need competition. That makes you better as a team, and makes you better as unit and as an individual. I think over the years, we had glimpses of that, but this year, this fall camp, it's been very consistent every day. Every guy's competing at every position. I love it man, because you have to do every little thing right, and it's going to make you better."

The veteran linebackers have made it their business to teach the younger players the ropes with the ultimate goal of winning in mind.

"All of the older guys have taken all of us under their wing," Pulliam said. "I got here May 28th, and two of the guys that really helped me out with the playbook and how things should be done is Corey Flagg and Francisco, Kiko."

Flagg also conveyed that the competition is a healthy one among the players. Miami also brought in Louisville transfer KJ Cloyd and veteran Keontra "K4" Smith, which adds to a deep linebacker room. Smith (95) and Cloyd (39) combine for 134 career total tackles in seven years.

"We brought in guys like KJ and Franciso; both of those guys were guys at their school. So bringing dudes like that for me and K4 as well, we all are very excited because we get to compete against guys like that every day...they bring a lot of competition to the room, and we're just embracing it. The thing I love about it the most is it's no jealousy, no envy; we're all trying to get better together."

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