Miami LB to quit football, pursue startup success

In a college football climate where players are off teams for worse reasons, Miami linebacker Carter Masek will be leaving football so that he is able to help run Southern Hound, a clothing line startup, with high school teammate Jack VanGessel. Masek was a three-star recruit coming out of East Grand Rapids (MI), and although he was redshirted last season, his loss will affect the RedHawks' depth at the position in the short term with the losses of Kent Kern and Joe Donlan to graduation. Sophomores Sam Connolly, Bradley Earnest, and Junior McMullen are all expected to be in the mix for the inside linebacker spots, while the team has nothing but true freshmen behind them.

Southern Hound officially became a business on April 5, and Masek and VanGessel has doubled the size of their team since that time as the startup currently sells seven different styles of shirts as well as some accessories. The business has had page views from 49 states and eight countries, and is planning on reaching out to Greek life on campuses as well as having a college ambassador program in the coming months. Time will tell if the kids from west Michigan will have success on running a business, but it seems like they are off to a good start.