Diaz talks team as UM looks to bounce back from 0-2 start

Diaz talks team as UM looks to bounce back from 0-2 start

Stefan Adams

Comments (91)

Great job giving us perspective on where we are at this time.
Thanks.
 
I think that Manolo is being way to ho-hum about the problems that we are encountering. Accountability is something which is held in high regard in any successful organization.

He needs to start by growing a pair and putting people on notice, meaning Baker, Patke, Banda, Baxa, etc.. Our special teams have been atrocious for years. He needs to hire a real special teams coach with experience and success.

If Baker can’t hack it, then Manolo needs to call defensive plays and let Baker be the DC in title only. Can’t risk another terrible season. The stakes with our future recruiting classes are too high to be complacent.

You bet your *** that Saban, Meyer, and Dabo would be holding coaches and players accountable for the **** show that we’ve been subjected to thus far this season.

I understand that we have a bunch of young players at very important positions. But some of the errors that have cost us big in the first 2 games are coaching 101. Dude needs to stop being so nice, and start being a ****.
Love it my friend and couldn’t have said it better myself. Fools on here with there fan glasses on keep saying well he’s holding his players accountable, well news flash that’s just half the ******* job! You have to also holding your coaches accountable and so far I haven’t heard him say he’s doing that once! As a matter of fact all I’ve heard him do is blame the players and ignoring the fact that they weren’t put in a position to succeed by the bag full of grad assistants we have coaching our team. And that’s why I’ve already thrown my towel in on Mark Diaz Golden because i can already see the writing on the wall, he ain’t firing his novice buddies and that will be his undoing like the previous two regimes.
 
Coming off his team’s loss to North Carolina this past weekend, Miami head coach Manny Diaz likes what he’s seen out of his team so far in practice this week as the Canes prepare for Bethune-Cookman on Saturday.

“The practice yesterday from a tempo standpoint of just getting from drill to drill and moving around the field was probably one of the best we’ve had in any of our weeks," Diaz said. "It’s our first real game week (without an offseason or bye to prepare). The embracing of routine has been a boost to our guys.”

UM’s running game gashed the Tar Heels, as DeeJay Dallas and Cam Harris combined for 167 yards on 24 carries (6.96 ypc) and were consistently breaking into the second and third levels of the UNC defense. Harris even had a long run negated by a penalty, the second time that’s happened to him in 2 games this season.

“Poor Cam Harris has about 100 yards of rushing taken away on two penalties,” Diaz said. “We want to be a physical downhill rushing attack with running backs that are low to tackle when they get in the open field.”

With the clock about to run out late in the 4th quarter in the loss against UNC, the Canes had one last chance to tie the game, but Bubba Baxa missed a 49-yard FG attempt wide left. It was Baxa’s second miss of the game in which he also had an extra point blocked, but Diaz is fully behind the sophomore kicker.

“The only thing he can do is continue to work, continue to trust himself and fully commit to every kick… the guy can kick as far as he wants to,” Diaz said. “The more he feels us around, support him (the better). He’s going to miss a kick again at some point, it’s going to happen. We can’t demand perfection. But like with all our guys, `Am I improving, finding a way to become the best version of myself?’”

With special teams seemingly costing the team multiple games going back to the beginning of last season, Diaz says UM now working on specials more than ever. While Jon Patke is the official special teams coach, Diaz says every coach on staff pitches in to help cover special teams coaching, including himself.

“We have upped the amount of time we practiced special teams from the past, are 25 to 30 minutes depending on what the day is,” Diaz said. “Our punt coverage vs. North Carolina’s punt coverage yielded us 112 yards of hidden yardage. The kickoff teams were a wash because only one kick was returned. I think we’re starting to see some of the benefits of our (attention) to special teams.”

Sophomore QB N’Kosi Perry missed the first half of practice this morning for personal reasons, but returned for the second half and Diaz says there’s no reason to worry about Perry’s status with the team.

“He’s been very supportive of Jarren (Williams),” Diaz said. “He’s been very professional.”

Diaz is focused on developing more depth up and down his roster and hopes this weekend’s game against Bethune-Cookman will provide opportunities for some younger players to step up.

“Right now, it’s all attention on who can help us win the football game,” Diaz said. “We want to be a team like last week - 10 different receivers caught a ball.”

After junior S Amari Carter was thrown out of the game for targeting in the third quarter vs. UNC, senior S Robert Knowles (5 tackles) came in a played well according to Diaz.

“He’s a guy that has been a success story, has had some ups and downs throughout his career,” Diaz said of Knowles. “Here’s the rare thing - he’s a guy that stayed, a guy that loves Miami. In this day and age, everyone in the outside world would say `Transfer.’ He loves Miami, hasn’t done that. The way he works and the way he played Saturday - you can see the difference between older guys and younger guys. His demeanor, urgency - he calmed the secondary down when he went in there. He’s always been an ‘A+’ in terms of tackling. I’m very happy to see Rob getting more of a role and having more success.”

Diaz also pointed out defensive tackles Chigozie Nnoruka and Jordan Miller as players he was impressed with on the D-Line after reviewing film.
Sounds like they are really 'fly'n around' out there in practice!
 
Do other coaches count yardage that was gained through penalties and called back?
 
Love it my friend and couldn’t have said it better myself. Fools on here with there fan glasses on keep saying well he’s holding his players accountable, well news flash that’s just half the ******* job! You have to also holding your coaches accountable and so far I haven’t heard him say he’s doing that once! As a matter of fact all I’ve heard him do is blame the players and ignoring the fact that they weren’t put in a position to succeed by the bag full of grad assistants we have coaching our team. And that’s why I’ve already thrown my towel in on Mark Diaz Golden because i can already see the writing on the wall, he ain’t firing his novice buddies and that will be his undoing like the previous two regimes.

Nailed it. My sentiments exactly. I’ve seen this movie way too many times.

The coaches are who they are...

So far Manny is a bag of hot air. Zero substance. Bad coaches lose to bad teams.

I’m sorry... you don’t lose to UNC.
 
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Nailed it. My sentiments exactly. I’ve seen this movie way too many times.

The coaches are who they are...

So far Manny is a bag of hot air. Zero substance. Bad coaches lose to bad teams.

I’m sorry... you don’t lose to UNC.

Manny is doing an incredible job so far. Right now, it's not about results. It's about process. This team isn't winning anything, other than potentially the pathetic coastal, so the focus needs to be on sustained improvement.


The process is heading undeniably in the right direction:
-Incredible progress from the QB position. 71% completions after 2 away games vs solid P5 teams is incredible. We were at 50% in all games last year. This is a huge part of football and cannot be understated.
-OL is extremely young, yet is running the ball very well, and pass pro is improving quickly.
-Special teams remains a work in progress. But the fact he knows he personally has to fix it, and is therefore dedicating his time to it, is encouraging. The way he talks about it is also encouraging. You can see he clearly focuses on KPIs. This is how big-time managers solve problems in the real world: he has broken it down into its component parts, has defined success criteria for each of them (e.g. hidden yardage in punting), and is working towards solutions aligned with that success criteria.
-The recent changes to our recruiting policies were long over due.
-The way he talked about his decision-making processes for going for it on 4th downs and using timeouts was excellent. He is analytical, well-prepared, and knows how to apply theory to reality. He seems like the type of person that would excel in anything he does, be it coaching football, had he stayed at ESPN, or had he entered the business world.


Fans need to stop worrying about wins and losses. Results don't always track performance in the short-term - especially in close games. You need larger sample sizes for that to happen. The most respected analytical systems (Sagarin, FPI, S&P) all have us in the top 30. This is a solid young team headed in the right direction.
 
I think that Manolo is being way to ho-hum about the problems that we are encountering. Accountability is something which is held in high regard in any successful organization.

He needs to start by growing a pair and putting people on notice, meaning Baker, Patke, Banda, Baxa, etc.. Our special teams have been atrocious for years. He needs to hire a real special teams coach with experience and success.

If Baker can’t hack it, then Manolo needs to call defensive plays and let Baker be the DC in title only. Can’t risk another terrible season. The stakes with our future recruiting classes are too high to be complacent.

You bet your *** that Saban, Meyer, and Dabo would be holding coaches and players accountable for the **** show that we’ve been subjected to thus far this season.

I understand that we have a bunch of young players at very important positions. But some of the errors that have cost us big in the first 2 games are coaching 101. Dude needs to stop being so nice, and start being a ****.


Who is to say he hasn't? Do you expect him to go to the media and put his coaches on notice? He'd be an idiot to do that.... Team would regress into complete disarray. Good head coaches watch game film with their coordinators, then coordinators with their players. I have a hard time believing Manny is actively involved.
 
Manny is doing an incredible job so far. Right now, it's not about results. It's about process. This team isn't winning anything, other than potentially the pathetic coastal, so the focus needs to be on sustained improvement.


The process is heading undeniably in the right direction:
-Incredible progress from the QB position. 71% completions after 2 away games vs solid P5 teams is incredible. We were at 50% in all games last year. This is a huge part of football and cannot be understated.
-OL is extremely young, yet is running the ball very well, and pass pro is improving quickly.
-Special teams remains a work in progress. But the fact he knows he personally has to fix it, and is therefore dedicating his time to it, is encouraging. The way he talks about it is also encouraging. You can see he clearly focuses on KPIs. This is how big-time managers solve problems in the real world: he has broken it down into its component parts, has defined success criteria for each of them (e.g. hidden yardage in punting), and is working towards solutions aligned with that success criteria.
-The recent changes to our recruiting policies were long over due.
-The way he talked about his decision-making processes for going for it on 4th downs and using timeouts was excellent. He is analytical, well-prepared, and knows how to apply theory to reality. He seems like the type of person that would excel in anything he does, be it coaching football, had he stayed at ESPN, or had he entered the business world.


Fans need to stop worrying about wins and losses. Results don't always track performance in the short-term - especially in close games. You need larger sample sizes for that to happen. The most respected analytical systems (Sagarin, FPI, S&P) all have us in the top 30. This is a solid young team headed in the right direction.
This is the kind of objective view that can only come once the tears have dried. 0-2 hurts bad, but its nice to see the pieces being put in place.
 
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Manny is doing an incredible job so far. Right now, it's not about results. It's about process. This team isn't winning anything, other than potentially the pathetic coastal, so the focus needs to be on sustained improvement.


The process is heading undeniably in the right direction:
-Incredible progress from the QB position. 71% completions after 2 away games vs solid P5 teams is incredible. We were at 50% in all games last year. This is a huge part of football and cannot be understated.
-OL is extremely young, yet is running the ball very well, and pass pro is improving quickly.
-Special teams remains a work in progress. But the fact he knows he personally has to fix it, and is therefore dedicating his time to it, is encouraging. The way he talks about it is also encouraging. You can see he clearly focuses on KPIs. This is how big-time managers solve problems in the real world: he has broken it down into its component parts, has defined success criteria for each of them (e.g. hidden yardage in punting), and is working towards solutions aligned with that success criteria.
-The recent changes to our recruiting policies were long over due.
-The way he talked about his decision-making processes for going for it on 4th downs and using timeouts was excellent. He is analytical, well-prepared, and knows how to apply theory to reality. He seems like the type of person that would excel in anything he does, be it coaching football, had he stayed at ESPN, or had he entered the business world.


Fans need to stop worrying about wins and losses. Results don't always track performance in the short-term - especially in close games. You need larger sample sizes for that to happen. The most respected analytical systems (Sagarin, FPI, S&P) all have us in the top 30. This is a solid young team headed in the right direction.
I wouldn't say incredible job because it needs to provide results, but this is a nice perspective
 
What do you want him to say to the press?

“Want to start off by letting everyone know that I called Banda, Patke and Bubba into my office this morning. Let them know they’re on my **** list. Any more bull**** and they’re done. Thanks. Go Canes.”

I want him to show some fire. After every loss, J.J., Dennis and Butch all looked like they had just been to a funeral. They hated losing more than anything else. Just haven’t seen that out of Manny yet. Little Nicky and Urban Liar both have exhibited that same trait throughout their careers.

If the HC doesn’t show the players that a loosing culture is unacceptable by holding everyone accountable, including himself and the other coaches, then it’s a bad sign from the get go.

‘Bama can win a game 45-3, and Saban will look and sound deflated. He’ll talk about how it’s unacceptable to play lackadaisical, and if you don’t want to be there, he’ll ship you out. We were once like that. Under the last few regimes it seems like we’ve become more like a country club.

It’s called not resting on your laurels and expecting greatness every rep, every practice, every day and every Saturday. I’ll say it again, it all starts at the top.

I’m not giving up on Manolo yet, it’s too early in his tenure, but the warning signs are there. If he is flexible in his thinking and really wants to win big, he’ll do what needs to be done when the time comes. If not, he’ll be another carcass in the ever growing list of failed UM corches. I’m hoping that it’s the former.
 
I want him to show some fire. After every loss, J.J., Dennis and Butch all looked like they had just been to a funeral. They hated losing more than anything else. Just haven’t seen that out of Manny yet. Little Nicky and Urban Liar both have exhibited that same trait throughout their careers.

If the HC doesn’t show the players that a loosing culture is unacceptable by holding everyone accountable, including himself and the other coaches, then it’s a bad sign from the get go.

‘Bama can win a game 45-3, and Saban will look and sound deflated. He’ll talk about how it’s unacceptable to play lackadaisical, and if you don’t want to be there, he’ll ship you out. We were once like that. Under the last few regimes it seems like we’ve become more like a country club.

It’s called not resting on your laurels and expecting greatness every rep, every practice, every day and every Saturday. I’ll say it again, it all starts at the top.

I’m not giving up on Manolo yet, it’s too early in his tenure, but the warning signs are there. If he is flexible in his thinking and really wants to win big, he’ll do what needs to be done when the time comes. If not, he’ll be another carcass in the ever growing list of failed UM corches. I’m hoping that it’s the former.

This was a vague, cliche-filled, anecdote-heavy, analysis-light post.

Manny was pretty upset after the UF game. He said it's never OK for Miami to lose to Florida. Was he more or less upset than Saban was during Bama's 6-loss season in his 1st year there? How do you know? You are able to remember back to another team's press conferences from 12 years ago? Even if your memory is that sharp, how do you compare how "deflated" each coach was?

"It all starts at the top." Great, thanks. Hadn't heard that before.

Fans have nothing to say, but they're unhappy with 0-2, so you get vague psychoanalysis such as this. Can everyone just relax and let the season play out?
 
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Manny is doing an incredible job so far. Right now, it's not about results. It's about process. This team isn't winning anything, other than potentially the pathetic coastal, so the focus needs to be on sustained improvement.


The process is heading undeniably in the right direction:
-Incredible progress from the QB position. 71% completions after 2 away games vs solid P5 teams is incredible. We were at 50% in all games last year. This is a huge part of football and cannot be understated.
-OL is extremely young, yet is running the ball very well, and pass pro is improving quickly.
-Special teams remains a work in progress. But the fact he knows he personally has to fix it, and is therefore dedicating his time to it, is encouraging. The way he talks about it is also encouraging. You can see he clearly focuses on KPIs. This is how big-time managers solve problems in the real world: he has broken it down into its component parts, has defined success criteria for each of them (e.g. hidden yardage in punting), and is working towards solutions aligned with that success criteria.
-The recent changes to our recruiting policies were long over due.
-The way he talked about his decision-making processes for going for it on 4th downs and using timeouts was excellent. He is analytical, well-prepared, and knows how to apply theory to reality. He seems like the type of person that would excel in anything he does, be it coaching football, had he stayed at ESPN, or had he entered the business world.


Fans need to stop worrying about wins and losses. Results don't always track performance in the short-term - especially in close games. You need larger sample sizes for that to happen. The most respected analytical systems (Sagarin, FPI, S&P) all have us in the top 30. This is a solid young team headed in the right direction.
LOL. I hope that was schtick.
 
Back in the early Cane years when the dynasty was being form there was a nose tackle Tony Fitzpatrick short guy not big at all 5'10" 2430 maybe but what a load he was always double teamed he was a nightmare to block he played the way he trained one tough dude he was.

GOCANES
Wait was he 2,430lbs or was he from the future year 2,430?
 
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The part between the first word and the last word.
It's a lot easier to dismiss a post altogether than it is to debate against the individual points, isn't it?

I can't find much in the post to disagree with, unless you're just set against a general positive tone.
 
This was a vague, cliche-filled, anecdote-heavy, analysis-light post.

Manny was pretty upset after the UF game. He said it's never OK for Miami to lose to Florida. Was he more or less upset than Saban was during Bama's 6-loss season in his 1st year there? How do you know? You are able to remember back to another team's press conferences from 12 years ago? Even if your memory is that sharp, how do you compare how "deflated" each coach was?

"It all starts at the top." Great, thanks. Hadn't heard that before.

Fans have nothing to say, but they're unhappy with 0-2, so you get vague psychoanalysis such as this. Can everyone just relax and let the season play out?

Here we go yet again. We’ve gone through this same **** over and over again for over 15 years now. Porsters like yourself blindly defending whatever new HC is supposed to be the new savior of the U, all else be damned. It’s beginning to resemble Groundhog Day.

As I stated before, I’m pulling for Manolo to succeed, as the Canes winning is what matters most at the end of the day.

As far as Saban’s comments are concerned, you can find tape of him from just a couple of years ago lambasting the team after they had won by over 40 points. That’s called staying on top of ****. Most players don’t like Saban’s personality, but they know two things about him:

1. He’ll be tough on them, many times he’ll be an @$$hole, but at the end of the day they will win at a high rate.

2. He will develop them and put them in positions to succeed on the field.

I can’t stand the guy, but he can coach. He also surrounds himself with competent people. The bag game helps him land the top fish, but you can have a team filled with 5-Star players and still suck. In this day and age, coaching and development are paramount.
 
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