Caleb Johnson brings speed, physicality to middle of the Miami Hurricanes defense: "I'm ready to go, man"

Jon Vilma. Ray Lewis. D.J. Williams. Dan Morgan. Micheal Barrow. They laid the foundation for Linebacker U and kept it going. For a while in this Miami Hurricanes program, it was almost unfathomable to think the position would ever be a weakness. But over the last three years the level of play simply hasn’t been good enough at The U.

To that point coaches hit the transfer portal this offseason.

And landed Caleb Johnson out of UCLA. He is expected to take over for returning starter Corey Flagg, who is also now getting a look at WILL.

So Cane fans should go ahead and get used to Johnson’s name. He will be calling the defense from the middle, and he’s started 17 games the last two years for the Bruins.

“Right now I’m just here to do whatever I need to help the team win, really help the room,” Johnson says. “Guys like Flagg, (Keontra) Smith, (Waynmon) Steed, we are all going to work together, do what we need to do to win. That’s really my responsibility.”

Johnson will have a lot on his shoulders. He is the anticipated Day 1 starter, and expects to be free to make plays behind a revamped defensive line. Coaches tout his sideline-to-sideline speed along with his physicality at 6-1 and 230 pounds.

“One thing I can say is while I’ve been here [arriving in April] I feel I’ve gotten a lot faster in a short time from coach (Aaron) Feld,” Johnson said. “(Speed) is definitely a huge factor I bring to the field. Be able to cover, blitz, be all over the field.

“I’m ready to go, man. I’ve adjusted pretty good.”

This past season Johnson had 45 tackles with an interception. In the COVID-shortened 2020 season, he had a team high 44 tackles, 7 TFL and 5.5 sacks in seven games. After that season he was named honorable mention All-Pac-12.

Prior to UCLA he attended Fullerton College after coming out of Murrieta (Calif.) Vista High School as a 3-star prospect.

Why did he choose Miami out of the portal and come across the country?

“A huge reason was the staff, you know?” Johnson said. “Coach (Mario) Cristobal and them, I already know what they bring to the table. And talking to all of them on a visit, seeing how they operate was really encouraging. On top of that the team in general. It’s a real good group of guys, a great culture. Everybody is ready to work. They brought me in, it was an easy decision.”

It’s so far, so good for Johnson with the transition to Miami. His biggest surprise? He points to the thunderstorms that are a regular phenomenon outside his dorm window in the Miami summers.

He hopes to be a storm bearing down on opponents when the season arrives.

“It’s been a pretty easy transition,” Johnson said. “I like the way they’ve been teaching the installs, going over it in meetings on the field and restarting, going back to square 1. That has helped me pick it up fast. That’s not going to be a concern. It didn’t feel like a whole big transition. It’s been smooth.

“I feel most things are similar (to what Johnson’s done in the past), it’s just different vocabulary, you know? I feel I already know everything, it’s just different terms. They aren’t asking me to do anything I haven’t done before.”

It’s worth noting that Johnson had a solid 65.3 overall grade last year per Pro Football Focus, including an excellent 73.8 grade when called to cover an opposing back or tight end.

But Johnson will need to improve his tackling a bit from the last two years, as he has struggled at times in that department – in 2020 he graded out at a below average 55.6 in tackling per Pro Football Focus, and last year saw him grade out at 52.5 percent.

“We’re four down (linemen at Miami), I played in a 3-4, so that keeps the lineman  off of me which is great in general,” Johnson said. “On top of that all the linemen we have, we have some guys down there-  I’ll just be free most of the time, which is great for us in general.”

Because Johnson wasn’t at UM for spring ball, there’s going to be a steep learning curve with drills starting in earnest. He will need to show he understands exactly what Kevin Steele wants, as MLB is an extremely important position in making sure everyone is in the right spots and has the right call.

Johnson also won’t simply be handed the job, he has to show he’s better than returning starter Corey Flagg.

“I’m looking forward to playing ball again, have been training all this time, really building that chemistry with the team,” Johnson says. “I’m ready to see what we’re all about.”

He already got a pretty good inkling of what UM is all about, starting with the first team meeting when he arrived.

“At that meeting coach Cristobal was talking about what it meant to be a Cane, the tradition,” Johnson said. “You really felt the pride and caring in what we have to do here. It’s not just `Oh, we’re Miami having fun.’ He made you feel a sense of pride in what we have to accomplish this season.

“I think it’s going to be a great year for us.”