It’s not often that you see a sixth-year player taking snaps at the Power Four level, but an eighth-year player? You can count on one hand the number of active players who have suited up for that long, and Miami Hurricanes linebacker Mohamed Touré is proudly one of them.
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After Miami’s highly anticipated season opener against Stanford, former ESPN analyst Booger McFarland was totally blown away after discovering just how long the 24-year-old has been in the college football realm.
“Miami has a corner that is in his 8th year of college football. 24 years old, wow,” Anthony ‘Booger’ McFarland tweeted.
College football fans quickly noticed a funny mistake in McFarland’s post. He called Touré a “corner,” but Touré is actually a linebacker.
Booger’s ‘wow’ is quite valid considering how Touré is still playing college football after so many years.
His long career may sound strange, but NCAA rules allow it because of several special situations.
Touré began his college career at Rutgers in 2019. He redshirted as a freshman, which meant he could practice and develop without using a full season of eligibility.
Then came the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The NCAA gave all college athletes an extra year, so that season did not count against Touré’s eligibility.
But injuries added even more time to his college career. Touré suffered two serious ACL injuries at Rutgers. One happened in spring 2022, while the other happened during training camp in 2024. Both injuries forced him to miss an entire season.
Instead of playing, Touré spent months recovering and working through rehab. Because the injuries were beyond his control, the NCAA gave him medical waivers. Those waivers allowed him to get back the seasons he missed.
That gave Touré a chance to continue his college football journey much longer than most players.
In 2025, Touré decided to leave Rutgers and join Miami after entering the transfer portal. Within little to no time, he instantly became the heart and soul of the Hurricanes’ defense.
He absolutely crushed his debut season in South Florida, leading the entire team with 84 total tackles, along with two sacks and six pass deflections over 16 games.
His veteran dominance was a massive reason why the No. 10-seeded Hurricanes defied expectations and surged all the way to the College Football Playoff National Championship game, where he recorded a season-high 11 tackles in a tough 27-21 loss to Indiana.
That background brings us directly to Friday night’s high-stakes matchup at Stanford Stadium, where Touré officially ran out of the tunnel as a starting linebacker for the No. 7-ranked Hurricanes.
Lined up right in the middle of the box next to Chase Smith, his presence was crucial as Miami had to replace a ton of departed talent, including first-round NFL Draft edge rushers Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor, along with veteran linebacker Wesley Bissainthe.
Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles was also on the sidelines scouting the matchup.
Believe it or not, Touré isn’t even the first player in recent program history to pull off this mind-boggling level of longevity under Mario Cristobal. Just a couple of seasons earlier, former Miami tight end Cam McCormick made massive national headlines by playing a historic, record-breaking ninth year of college football after enduring a truly unprecedented string of severe injuries throughout his career.
Now, Touré enters the remainder of the 2026 season holding a coveted spot on the prestigious Butkus Award Watch List as one of the top linebackers in the nation.
At 24 years old and now a graduate student, he stands as the undisputed vocal leader of a reloading Miami squad with championship expectations. After the dominant 45-6 victory over Stanford, it is easy to understand why this “super-duper senior” chose to forgo the NFL Draft and hunt for redemption on one final, historic college football run.