Miami linebacker Mohamed Toure has landed on the Butkus Award Watch List, putting him in the conversation for college football’s top linebacker honor as the 2026 season approaches.
The recognition comes after a remarkable year in Coral Gables for Toure, who transferred to Miami last season following his second ACL injury and still turned in a full-season workload. He started all 16 games and finished as the Hurricanes’ tackle leader with 84 total stops, including 38 solo tackles and 46 assists. He also added three tackles for loss, two sacks and six passes broken up.
Toure’s impact showed up in the College Football Playoffs, too. With Miami leading Texas A&M 7-3 and less than two minutes left, the Aggies were knocking on the door at the goal line.
Marcel Reed briefly found Rueben Owens II for what looked like a touchdown, but Toure jarred the ball loose with a hard tackle. Bryce Fitzgerald then sealed the game with the interception on the next play.
What makes Toure’s case even more unusual is the road he’s taken to get here. He’s about to enter his eighth season of college football, a stretch that began with the 2019 recruiting class that included Jayden Daniels, George Pickens, Puka Nacua and Bo Nix - all now in the NFL.
His career timeline is a long one: he played two games as a freshman in 2019 and redshirted, appeared in nine games in 2020 when the NCAA gave Division I athletes an extra year of eligibility, then played 13 games in 2021 and posted 51 total tackles, eight tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. A torn ACL wiped out his 2022 season, and he bounced back in 2023 with 13 games played and 93 total tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, finishing second on the Scarlet Knights’ defense.
Toure is not the only player to spend eight years in college football. Northern Illinois linebacker Kyle Pugh and Oregon and Miami tight end Cam McCormick also reached that mark.
Even after that winding path, Toure has carved out a major role for Miami. With edge rushers Akheem Mesidor and Rueben Bain Jr. gone to the NFL, he remains one of the Hurricanes’ key returners on the front seven alongside defensive tackles Justin Scott and Ahmad Moten Sr. and linebacker Chase Smith.
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