UNEXPECTED ANNOUNCEMENT: THE MAIMI HURRICANES’S COACH IS ON LEAVE BECAUSE OF…

On December 6, 2021, Miami Athletics informed Head Football Coach Manny Diaz that he would not be retained for the 2022 football season.

This came a week after Miami struggled to a 7-5 (4-3 ACC) season that is yet another in a long string of bad and unacceptable performances for the Canes under Diaz’s tenure.

The marriage between Diaz and Miami started with a bang. He was brought in to be the defensive coordinator by former head coach Mark Richt in 2016. This was following Diaz’s time at both Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State as DC. Both stops saw Diaz lead units that were vastly improved from the years before his arrival in Ruston and Starkville, respectively.

Upon his arrival in Miami in 2016, Diaz was a breath of fresh air following the tenure of Mark D’Onofrio and a passive defensive scheme that was never going to work at Miami. Diaz was the young hotshot DC who was rebuilding his career, a native son of Miami returning home to help the Canes get back to the business of winning. And, at first, it worked.

From 2016-18, Miami’s defense was among the best in the country. Highlighted by the 2017 unit which ranked 4th in sacks (44), 4th in TFL/game (8.54), 5th in total TFL (111), tied for 6th in turnover margin (+13), 12th in yards per play allowed (4.77), and allowed one of the lowest passer ratings for opposing players in the country (116.46). When you bookend that performance with other accolades, like the 2018 passing defense being the best in America BY FAR (allowed 135.6 yds/gm on the lowest passer rating allowed of any team in the country — 101.39), and you see why Diaz was a rising star in the coaching world back then.

After twice being a Broyles Award semifinalist for Best Assistant Coach in America, Diaz finally stepped up and accepted an opportunity to become a head coach for the first time. And that opportunity was with the Temple Owls. And on December 13th, 2018, Diaz was introduced as the new Temple coach.

Then, something very unexpected happened: Miami head coach Mark Richt suddenly resigned on December 30th. That happened while I was at brunch, but more importantly, while Diaz was home in Miami on break before returning to Philadelphia to lead the Owls through workouts and spring practice.