The 2020 season certainly wasn’t short on headlines for the Gators’ defense. Blown coverages. Poor communication. Failure to line up correctly. Missed tackles. Long runs. Costly penalties. Dan Mullen chewing out Todd Grantham on the sideline. That darn shoe.
Somewhat lost in the shuffle, however, was the possible emergence of a new star linebacker.
Mohamoud Diabate played in all 13 games and made 4.5 sacks at BUCK as a freshman in 2019. Rather than building off of his success at that position, the coaches opted to move him to a more traditional linebacker spot for 2020, the “money” linebacker spot as they refer to it.
Instead of pinning his ears back and going after the quarterback on every play, Diabate was now tasked with covering running backs and tight ends and filling gaps in the running game.
The first half of the season was a struggle for him, which was understandable given the circumstances. He didn’t even get spring practices to transition into a new position. He was being asked to do things that he had never done before, and it showed.
“I felt like a lot of people except for my coaches don’t understand how hard it is from straight going off the ball and trying to get the quarterback to, OK, now you have to pass off routes, now you have to backpedal,” Diabate said. “I never had to backpedal before.”
Then, over the final five games or so, the light came on. He played with confidence and aggression. It looked like he was reacting to plays instead of thinking about what he was supposed to do. Over those five games, he racked up 37 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and an interception. He reached double figures in stops against LSU and Alabama.
“When you talk about the front seven from last year, I think probably one of the unknown stories was how Mohamoud improved from game one to the last game of the year,” Grantham said.
“The thing of it is that that’s not an easy transition for guys. When you move to an inside ’backer from an off-the-ball position, things happen fast. He had not really done that before. To that guy’s credit, every day he came to work and prepared, and, if you watch, he was a good player for us.”
With a strong finish to his sophomore season and a full offseason to learn more about his new position, Diabate is ready to take his game to another level.
“Things go bad, you learn from them,” he said. “You learn very quickly, and by the time I got to the last game of the season, I was comfortable.”
Diabate also spent this offseason getting his body in a better shape to fend off SEC offensive linemen and tight ends. He said he might’ve weighed as little as 210 pounds by the end of last season. After working out and dedicating himself to his nutrition plan, he’s now listed at 227 pounds, which should be an adequate weight for an outside linebacker.
“I’m trying to get a few more pounds and get to 230, so that would be like 20 pounds, 15 pounds in the offseason,” he said. “So, I feel like the last two years, I’ve been able to have a big impact on my team and make big plays, and I feel like with this added weight, I’m even faster. So, with all that, I feel like it’s time.”
Mullen is excited about the mismatches they’ll be able to create with him this season. Diabate will still primarily play linebacker, but they can move him back to BUCK to create advantageous pass-rushing matchups in certain situations. Opposing offenses will need to take notice of where he’s lined up before every play.
“You see him as he’s growing into being a linebacker, and you see him growing into the instincts of being an every-down player,” Mullen said. “Now is where the matchups become a problem because now I can be an every-down player, a ’backer, but I can come off the edge, I can carry people in coverage, I understand the defense as a whole. And now I get to use my athleticism to become a dynamic playmaker.”
In an abysmal year for the Gators on defense, Diabate’s growth was one of the few bright spots. And now the 2021 squad stands to benefit from it.