‘He’s picking it up fast’: Miami’s ‘racing’ to get Bissainthe ready for an expanded role
Wesley Bissainthe only played nine defensive snaps in the Miami Hurricanes’ season-opening rout of the FCS Bethune-Cookman Wildcats on Saturday, but Miami is hoping it’s just a taste of what’s to come.
The freshman linebacker’s potential is obvious, Mario Cristobal said, and the team is “racing to get him ready” to contribute as much as possible as the season goes.
“We are racing to get him as ready as possible on a daily basis; heck, on an hour by hour basis. That’s how impactful we think he can be,” the coach said at his weekly press conference Monday in Coral Gables.
In his limited action, Bissainthe still recorded two tackles, including one solo, to help the No. 16 Hurricanes win 70-13 in his debut and the “moments” he had at Hard Rock Stadium, Cristobal said, “are an indication of what he’s going to be.”
Given how far along Bissainthe is now, Kevin Steele said he wouldn’t be surprised to see the 6-foot-1, 205-pound teenager take a jump a few weeks into the season.
“That’s one of those guys that you could see Game 4, 5, 6 the light completely come on for him,” the defensive coordinator said. “It’s not flickering. It’s on, but you could see it brighten.”
Bissainthe was one of the prizes of Cristobal’s first recruiting classes in Coral Gables. A MaxPreps All-American at Miami Central, Bissainthe was the No. 18 linebacker in the Class of 2022 and the Hurricanes’ top-ranked addition from Miami-Dade County last recruiting cycle, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. After linebacker was the weak link of the Hurricanes’ defense last season, Bissainthe stepped in with a chance to earn early playing time and he’s already making a case.
“Wesley is showing why we went after him so hard in recruiting. Wesley’s an explosive guy that’s really instinctive. Being a freshman and a freshman linebacker is not the easiest thing in the world. He’s getting it. He’s picking it up fast,” Cristobal said. “It’s on us to get him prepared, to get him ready and get him more playing time.”
At the same time, Miami’s linebacker situation currently seems to be vastly improved from a year ago. The Hurricanes (1-0) named sophomore Corey Flagg Jr. as one of their co-defensive players of the game for Week 1, and he and fellow linebacker Waynmon Steed Jr., a redshirt senior, both played 30-plus snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
As a result, junior Keontra Smith and redshirt senior Caleb Johnson, listed as the backup linebackers on the depth chart, only played 17 and 16, respectively.
Still, Steele said he’d like a bit more of an even distribution going forward, which could present more of an opportunity for Bissainthe.
“It got a little bit more imbalanced than we wanted,” he said.
Miami’s massive defensive line rotation
Along the defensive line, Miami did, however, strike the playing-time balance it was aiming for. Twelve different defensive linemen played at least 13 snaps, led by redshirt senior Mitchell Agude and redshirt sophomore Jahfari Harvey, who played 25 and 24, respectively, at defensive end.
Sophomore Darrell Jackson Jr., in his first game with the Hurricanes after transferring from the Maryland Terrapins, paced the defensive tackles with 21 snaps, followed by redshirt junior Jordan Miller, who played 19.
All throughout training camp, Miami swore it would rotate heavily at defensive line and the Hurricanes lived up to the promise this weekend in Miami Gardens.
“It was interesting, to say the least,” Steele said. “when you’re trying to call it, and sometimes you know what strengths and weaknesses or who’s out there ... it makes it a little bit hard sometimes.”
The overall standout among the defensive linemen, though, was Akheem Mesidor, who made his debut after transferring fro the West Virginia Mountaineers. The redshirt sophomore played 19 snaps, had four tackles and a sack, and deflected a pass leading to defensive back Gilbert Frierson’s first-quarter interception. He was the Hurricanes’ other co-defensive player of the game and Cristobal said, “He was the best defensive player on the field for us Saturday.”
As well as Miami’s deep rotation worked last week, Steele said it might not be an every-game fixture, but Game 1 does affirm all the hype swirling around the revamped line in the preseason.
“There will be games,” Steele said, “where we have to get in sync and it may be six out there, but I think it speaks well of those guys, of how they competed and earned playing time because that was not given to them.”
James Williams’ evolving (linebacker) role
One of the Hurricanes’ three takeaways Saturday came, at least partially, as a result of a new wrinkle Steele is adding to this defense.
With Bethune-Cookman facing a third-and-15 situation in the third quarter, Steele moved James Williams up from safety into the box — effectively, in an outside linebacker role — and the star sophomore stepped in front of a slant pass for Miami’s third interception of the game.
It wasn’t a one-off, either. Williams frequently played as a pseudo-linebacker in third-down, obvious passing situations.
It’s a smart way to cover up some potential deficiencies at linebacker, make sure the Hurricanes’ 11 best defenders can be on the field at the same time regardless of position and utilize Williams’ unique skill set as a 6-5, 224-pound defensive back.
“He’s long, he’s big and he’s strong, and he runs very well, so that creates some opportunities for us to utilize some matchup packages to put him in different places,” Steele said. “You kind of knew that was probably coming a long time. He’s working on it. He’s adjusted very well.
“We’re not asking him to go in the box and plug the A gap and fit the run. He could probably do that, but we’re not asking him.”
