Former Pinson Valley linebacker looks for monster junior season at Vanderbilt
Published 10:38 am Friday, June 10, 2016
- Zach Cunningham at Pinson Valley's 2013 National Signing Day ceremony. The four-star linebacker chose Vanderbilt over Tennessee, Auburn and Oregon that day.
Pinson Valley head football coach Matt Glover still calls him the best player he has ever coached, and those words are not hard to believe.
Zach Cunningham graduated from Pinson Valley High School in 2013 as a four-star linebacker, according to Rivals.com, and has gone on to exceed expectations in the Southeastern Conference.
After terrorizing local offensive coordinators, Cunningham signed with Vanderbilt in the Class of 2013. He is now preparing for his junior season in Nashville, where he is not flying under anyones radar.
The local product has landed on numerous preseason college football watch lists, including Sports On Earth’s “College Linebacker Rankings 2016”, which has him listed at No. 11 nationally.
Sports on Earth’s lead college football writer Matt Brown had this to say about Cunningham in his May 31 post that listed the nation’s best 30 linebackers:
“While the Commodores still have a long way to go on offense, Derek Mason has the defense in terrific shape, with Cunningham the key to the whole unit. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound junior broke into the starting lineup in September and emerged as the Commodores’ star last fall, getting voted first-team All-SEC for a season in which he had 103 tackles, 16 ½ tackles for loss and 4 ½ sacks.”
Here is Brown’s national list:
- Anthony Walker, Northwestern
- Jarrad Davis, Florida
- Raekwon McMillian, Ohio State
- Devonte Fields, Louisville
- Jabrill Peppers, Michigan
- Reuben Foster, Alabama
- Tim Williams, Alabama
- Malik Jefferson, Texas
- Josey Jewell, Iowa
- Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Tennessee
- Zach Cunningham, Vanderbilt
- Kendell Beckwith, LSU
- Ben Boulware, Clemson
- Cameron Smith, USC
- Keith Kelsey, Louisville
- Micah Kiser, Virginia
- Calvin Munson, San Diego State
- Jordan Evans, Oklahoma
- Riley Bullough, Michigan State
- Salamo Fiso, Arizona State
- Azeem Victor, Washington
- Steven Taylor, Houston
- Hardy Nickerson Jr., Illinois
- Richie Brown, Mississippi State
- Vince Biegel, Wisconsin
- Matt Milano, Boston College
- Taylor Young, Baylor
- Elijah Lee, Kansas State
- Jason Cabinda, Penn State
- Jermaine Carter, Maryland
