Much has been made of the fact that University of Utah linebacker Mohamoud Diabate transferred from the University of Florida, which will host the Utes to open their respective seasons on Saturday night.
The fourth-year junior has been asked about trash-talking with ex-teammates, how much his new teammates have pumped him for information about his old teammates, and what the atmosphere at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, aka The Swamp, will be like for the opener (5 p.m., ESPN).
Late Tuesday afternoon, Diabate was presented with a different angle as he readies to go back to his former collegiate home this weekend.
It is surely going to be weird for Diabate to step inside the visiting locker room after he played 37 games, including 17 starts, for The Swamp’s primary tenant, right?
“During COVID (in 2020), we had to go there, so I’m familiar with the old, janky, Florida Gators visitor locker room,” Diabate said half-jokingly. “I’m excited to see it. I’m really excited to smell the place. The smell gives you that nostalgic feeling, so I’m ready to go take a deep breath and remember where I am.”
When Diabate emerges from that visiting locker room on Saturday night, he will find himself in a critical spot as Utah’s starting mac linebacker. He also has the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of Devin Lloyd, the Utes’ all-everything linebacker who started 13 of the 14 games he played in last season at MLB. Lloyd played in 47 games across four seasons, including 32 starts.
Nobody is asking Diabate to be Lloyd, now a rookie with the Jacksonville Jaguars — but 18th-year head coach Kyle Whittingham on Tuesday did not shy away from making that comparison.
“He’s got a lot of the same qualities, personality-wise, as Devin Lloyd, very similar,” Whittingham said. “He’s had a really good fall camp. We wish we could’ve had him in spring, but that wasn’t the case. He really hit the ground running in fall camp, he’s done a great job.”
Diabate missed all of spring practice after undergoing shoulder surgery, but was a full participant for fall camp where he has drawn overwhelmingly positive reviews.
“He’s a natural leader by who he is personality-wise,” linebackers coach Colton Swan said. “He’s done a great job. He’s coming into a new system, a new culture, the expectations are really high for him, and I think he’s handled all of it. He’s a great kid and when you mix that with his good personality and a good work ethic, you’ve got something good.”
Linebacker is a position in question as Utah heads to Florida, not because the room isn’t talented, but because there is a lack of experience among the options. That has everything to do with Lloyd and Nephi Sewell (21 games played, 18 starts at Utah) taking up most of the reps between 2020 and 2021.
Diabate helps that cause considerably, especially with SEC-level experience, but beyond him, three of the other five players at the position combine for 57 career games, but only 10 career starts. The other two are a pair of true freshmen, Justin Medlock and Lander Barton, the former Brighton High School star and the crown jewel of Whittingham’s latest recruiting class.
Whittingham indicated on Tuesday that Karene Reid, who played in 10 games last season with six starts, is a starter “either way” next to Diabate. That means when Utah shifts into a nickel defense, which employs two linebackers, Reid is the second linebacker.
When Utah goes to a 4-3, Barton is expected to be the third linebacker, which is where the real intrigue will show itself. Barton, the younger brother of current NFL players and former Utes standouts Cody and Jackson Barton, is being thrown right into the deep end in one of the nation’s toughest environments.
Optimism was high throughout camp that Barton would not only find his way onto the field, but would show the ability to make an immediate impact.
“Lander’s a great player, he has everything you could want in a linebacker, everything you could want in a young player,” Diabate said. “I’m excited for his future, it’s going to be great.”
Added Whittingham: “He’s gifted in every sense of the word. Extremely intelligent, extremely competitive, extremely confident.”