He’s been described as one of the Hurricanes “heart and soul” players, a human “eraser” who has an uncanny ability to mitigate any of the mistakes the Miami defense might make.
And on Saturday, when he and his teammates trailed rival Florida State at the half, Jaquan Johnson — back on the field after missing two games with a hamstring injury — stood up in the locker room and delivered the kind of speech that likely would have made one of his role models proud.
“He gave us an Ed Reed kind of speech,” tight end Brevin Jordan said, referencing the former Hurricanes great who has become a mentor of sorts to Johnson in recent years.