Hyperbolic rank rigidity for manifolds of $\frac{1}{4}$-pinched negative curvature

A Riemannian manifold $M$ has higher hyperbolic rank if every geodesic has a perpendicular Jacobi field making sectional curvature -1 with the geodesic. If in addition, the sectional curvatures of $M$ lie in the interval $[-1,-\frac{1}{4}]$, and $M$ is closed, we show that $M$ is a locally symmetric space of rank one. This partially extends work by Constantine using completely different methods. It is also a partial converse to Hamenst"{a}dt’s hyperbolic rank rigidity result for sectional curvatures $\le -1$, and complements well-known results on Euclidean and spherical rank rigidity.