Miami loses starting center Nick Linder to transfer

Miami center Nick Linder will transfer out of the program just weeks before the season, the team revealed Monday.

Linder, the projected starter, graduates this month and is going home to train.

"Nick is going to sit out this season, he's going to go home I think and train for one semester and then he's going to transfer somewhere else," Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt said, according to Susan Miller Degnan of the Miami Herald. "He's a graduate transfer. He graduates in a couple days."

Richt seemed to be caught off guard by the transfer.

"You have to ask him," he said. "When guys leave, it just puts pressure on the rest of the team. He's a really good player and he really knows what he's doing. Certainly, I'm disappointed, because I'd rather him be here than not be here."

The senior started nine games last season before a shoulder injury ended his campaign. Linder's brother, Brandon, who also played for the Hurricanes, recently inked a five-year, $51.7-million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, making him the highest-paid center in NFL history.