How new Miami commit Cyrus Moss went from oversized cornerback to elite edge rusher
There were a handful of times in Cyrus Moss’ first few years at Bishop Gorman when the Las Vegas powerhouse thought they might have their next great linebacker.
The first time was also the first time Chris Brown got a really good look at the jumbo-sized 6-foot-4 safety running around for the junior varsity team back in 2018 — he was absolutely not going to maximize his gifts in the secondary, the Gaels’ linebackers coach knew. The situation became perfect when Moss was going into his sophomore and Bishop Gorman switched from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4, meaning it needed lanky outside linebackers to both cover and rush the passer.
They were all just ideas, though, until Moss actually took the field as a starting linebacker for the Gaels in 2019. He more than held his own between the whistles, but what happened between plays was actually most encouraging for Brown.
“He probably got a personal foul in every single game,” the position coach said, laughing. “He was a little bit light in the butt, so he’d get pushed around. But when he got pushed around he was the one pushing back, like, I might look small, but I’m tough.
“That’s what I loved about the kid is he had so much fire.”
Off his frame alone, it was impossible not to notice the 6-5, 195-pound sophomore and those penalties helped, too. He finished his first season as an outside linebacker with 48 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 3 1/2 sacks.
He was fascinating then and he still is now, more than two years later and committed to the Miami Hurricanes as the top-ranked player in their Class of 2022.
After barely playing as a junior because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Moss went to another level as a senior with 63 tackles, 16 tackles for loss and six sacks, and what’s most encouraging is everyone who knows Moss feels his most compelling football is ahead of him.
“He’s going to have to put just a couple more pounds on him,” Brown said, “but the education and him picking up the defense — whatever coach has in store for him, I’m not worried about that.”
Why was Moss playing safety?
Forget about just safety: Until Moss got to high school, he was mostly a cornerback.
Now 6-6 and at least 220 pounds, Moss started playing when he was 9 and was always one of the fastest, most athletic kids on the field, even though he was also often one of the biggest. At corner, he could use both of those traits — his quickness let him keep up with most wide receivers and his length let him break up passes — and even some of the physicality he’d later display as an edge rusher was there.
“I loved to play press,” Moss said. “I pressed every single chance I got.”
By eighth grade, he was 6-3. As a freshman, he was 6-4 and he wouldn’t stop growing. He was 6-5 as a sophomore when the Gaels finally decided to move him into the box and he has grown another inch since.
When he was a sophomore, Moss was more of a traditional linebacker, matching up with tight ends and covering the flats nearly as often as he was asked to just go get the quarterback. As a senior, he was a true hybrid outside linebacker-defensive end.
As coach Mario Cristobal searches for a new defensive coordinator, Moss’ versatility is a luxury. No matter what sort of system Miami winds up running, Moss will have experience in something similar.
“It really pushed me to be, I think, who I am today as an athlete,” Moss said. “I was put in a lot of tough spots a lot of time.”
Of Moss’ play on the defensive line, Brown said, “He was so fast off the ball and the offensive tackles had to respect it, so they jumped out. With that, he started to learn how to use the long arm. ... With his arms so long he could just push the tackles back two feet and he was in the quarterback’s pocket.”
What could Moss look like?
Brown said Moss is up to about 225 pounds right now. Moss thinks he can get up to 240 or 245. Brown has an even bigger prediction.
“He can be 265 and still look lean,” the assistant coach said.
For a potential comparison for Moss, look no further than the Hurricanes’ Class of 2018.
Four years ago, Gregory Rousseau got to Miami at 6-6 and about 225 pounds, also just a few years removed from playing safety at Champagnat Catholic. In three years, he transformed into first-round pick and went to the Buffalo Bills at No. 30 in the 2021 NFL Draft.
Rousseau, though, was an all-state wide receiver as a junior in Hialeah and didn’t get significant playing time at linebacker until his senior year. Moss has a three-year track record at linebacker, which is why Rousseau was only a three-star recruit and Moss is the No. 63 player in the nation, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and ranked as high as No. 30 in the country in 247Sports’ own rankings.
It has helped validate everything Brown saw on the JV field four years ago.
“I looked at him and I liked his body type, so I walked over to him and said, ‘I want you to come play linebacker for me,’” he said. “’If you do, I really think that with what you can do and your size, you can be one of the best in the country.’”
How Cristobal, Salave’a landed Moss
If Cristobal never left the Oregon Ducks, Moss would almost certainly be getting ready to go to Eugene now.
If Cristobal hadn’t brought defensive line coach Joe Salave’a with him to Coral Gables, Moss might not be heading to Miami, either.
“I really like the family atmosphere that Coach Cristobal created at Oregon with the staff that he had up there, so a lot of those guys coming over was really, really big for me,” Moss said. ”[Salave’a is] probably one of the most genuine guys I’ve ever met. ... His passion is just unreal.”
Moss took an official visit down to South Florida and made his commitment to the Hurricanes on Saturday. Now he’s getting ready to start college.
The plan, Moss said, is to enroll by the end of the month. He just needs to get some final transcript details sorted out, then he’ll be ready to play for Cristobal.
“I just trusted everything he said,” Moss said. “I really liked a lot of that stuff over at Oregon that he implemented there, so I’m just really excited to see how he does it here on an even bigger level, bigger stage, so I just think that it’s going to be nothing but great things for the entire program and I’m just excited to be on the forefront of some of those opportunities.”
