Ray Lewis is his favorite player, so Tampa Gaither’s ‘Swiss Army Knife’ ILB sets UM visit
Kobe McCloud’s college football loyalties have been far flung over the years.
His oldest brother, Ray-Ray McCloud, was a star wide receiver for the Clemson Tigers and now plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. His other older brother, Jordan McCloud, is a quarterback for the Arizona Wildcats after he transferred from the USF Bulls in January.
McCloud is from the Tampa Bay area, which is typically Florida Gators or Florida State Seminoles country, but he always had an affinity for the Miami Hurricanes, too. The reason is simple: Ray Lewis, and a weekend in 2019 at the Ray Lewis Academy Camp in Bradenton only further solidified this particularly loyalty.
“My favorite player ever is Ray Lewis. I went to his camp my freshman year, going into my sophomore year and that just was a great experience, just hearing his experience,” McCloud said Friday in Tampa. “He had Ed Reed there — another Miami Hurricane — so I just always looked up to it. ... He always preaches how Miami is the standard for everything and I love that.”
Two years later, McCloud is getting ready to visit the Hurricanes as a recruit. He’s a three-star inside linebacker, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings, and the No. 2 middle linebacker in Florida, with exactly the sort of skill set Miami is clearly coveting at the position in the Class of 2022. He’s in regular contact with inside linebackers coach Jonathan Patke, who’s recruiting him as a weak-side linebacker, McCloud said.
Last year, the 6-1, 208-pound linebacker racked up 44 tackles, six tackles for loss and one sack in nine games for Tampa Gaither. He also grabbed an interception while playing defensive back and went 6 of 10 for 70 yards and a touchdown as a passer. He lined up at quarterback, running back and wide receiver on offense, and middle linebacker, strong-side linebacker and “mostly safety” on defense.
Even this year, McCloud spent the winter playing 7-on-7 with Team Tampa and mostly lined up as a nickleback. He checks all the boxes the Hurricanes are looking to fill in their efforts to get more athletic at linebacker, which is why they’re bringing him to campus for an unofficial visit next month.
McCloud plans to spend two days in Coral Gables on June 24 and 25.
The junior is also working on setting up visits with the Maryland Terrapins, Pittsburgh Panthers and Liberty Flames, and wants to make a commitment before the end of the summer.
“Probably before the season starts,” he said, “so like July, August type.”
While he’s not the highest profile linebacker Miami is chasing, his skill set falls in line with other targets, including four-star outside linebackers like Miami Central’s Wesley Bissainthe and Miami Gulliver Prep’s Travious Lathan.
To some extent, McCloud gets it from his older brothers. McCloud has been playing linebacker since his freshman year at Gaiter, but he was always an offensive player growing up — just like his brothers. Ray-Ray McCloud is seven years older, so he was always as much coach as he was competitor.
“He always trains me with my feet and stuff,” the youngest McCloud said. “I do like release work with him since I was growing, so I just feel like know a lot of that position just watching him.”
Once McCloud got to high school, he started to outpace his brothers’ growth, so he made the move to defense, studying Lewis and trying to do as good an impression as possible of the legendary former Hurricane.
Next month, he’ll finally get to see an up-close look at what made Lewis fall in love with Miami.
“I feel like I’m a Swiss Army Knife,” McCloud said. “Every time I step on the field, I’m the smartest. I feel like I’m a field general. I study film a lot for my opponent — I feel like I can call up their plays before they run it. I’m always 10 steps ahead.”
