Diaz updates team after Wed. drills, speaks on Lingard

Diaz updates team after Wed. drills, speaks on Lingard

Stefan Adams
After Wednesday’s drills, Miami head coach Manny Diaz stated that he’s been pleased by how his team has looked this week coming out of the bye and preparing for Virginia Tech.

“Yesterday was actually our best Tuesday of the year, was our fastest practice of the entire season - we can measure all the data through our Catapult system,” Diaz said. “The guys have had a great attitude all week.”

Sophomore RB Lorenzo Lingard finally got himself all the way back off knee surgery ahead of UM’s last game against Central Michigan, and although the Canes planned on giving him a few snaps, the fact that Miami failed to ever pull away vs. CMU nixed that idea.

With the Hokies on tap for this weekend in an ACC Coastal matchup, Diaz again stated his desire to get Lingard on the field, but gave a caveat as well.

“We’re hoping so, but part of it is him understanding what to do,” Diaz said of Lingard. “You can’t account for the missed reps. This is not just `run right, run left.’ It’s pass protection, how we get aligned. And when you miss scrimmages, unfortunately miss the Bethune game…

“He’s not doing anything wrong. He’s just developing as a player. Sometimes you have to separate what we feel about a player in recruiting as opposed to their natural development when they get on this campus. Lo is a guy we think has a great future, he knows he’s getting better and better, more comfortable with his knee and a guy that we’ll get more of a role for him.”

Diaz also addressed the outside chatter of a potential Lingard transfer, saying he tells all of his players to “live in the now” and do their best to elevate themselves instead of worrying about what might happen down the line.

“We talk to our players about that all the time, because everybody knows what’s best not just for Lo, but for all of our guys,” Diaz said. “We talk about being in the now, which is what you can control, which is right now, right here. There’s nowhere you can go. You can’t transfer in September or October, there’s nowhere to go. You have to be here right now. So be where you are. We tell all the guys `Be the best you. There’s something you can do to improve who you are, whatever role you have on the field. So focus on what is real, what is actually in your control’.”

True freshman LT Zion Nelson has struggled this season, but Diaz still plans on leaving him out there to work out his issues and continue his development by gaining experience.

“He’s got to play,” Diaz said. “You’re talking about a true freshman playing left tackle. Give me a history of that ... you develop those guys, get them in the game. Every rep matters. You get to the game with what you’ve got, try to get better and better and better. The thing I love about Zion, Zion competes, man. He doesn’t flinch, doesn’t blink, gets back in there.”

Legendary defensive coordinator Bud Foster is in his final season at VT before retirement, and he has always presented a difficult defense for his opponents to solve.

“You’re talking about a defense that historically with Bud Foster is going to make everything difficult for you, will surround your running game with numbers,” Diaz said. “They’re going to challenge you on all the throws and they’re going to force you to push the ball into throws that take longer to develop. That’s why their sack numbers are very good.”

After playing both regular starter Ryan Willis and backup Hendon Hooker in last week’s loss to Duke, the Hokies have publicly declined to name a starting QB ahead of their game against the Canes. With Hooker being more of a runner than Willis, Diaz said that’s something UM is preparing for when they face-off vs. the VT offense, among other things.

“Offensively, they’ve had struggles getting their running game going but are still very dynamic - two-back runs, one-back runs, a lot of motion to get your eyes in the wrong post. And QB run game, which has not been a major part of the offense we’ve seen so far, so we have to make sure we’re prepared for that.”

UM is tied for last in the FBS in terms of converting third downs, with only a 23.3% success rate. Diaz is well-aware of the issue, and the team has dedicated large portions of their practices to getting third downs right.

“As we get better, our third down offense will continue to grow,” Diaz said. “And it’s something we practice all the time, was a major point of emphasis today. We probably spent over 20 minutes or so on third down today in practice, probably 25. It’s getting worked on.”

Diaz also followed up on something his OC Dan Enos said on Monday, saying that he is more confident in the backups on the OL at this point in the season and expects to rotate more come this weekend. Enos previously said John Campbell, Kai-Leon Herbert, and Ousman Traore were working in from the second unit OL.
 

Comments (273)

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The comments on Lo and Zion are both terrifying. This is cfb not the pros. Not playing your best player for pass blocking is retarded. If you run a systems too complex for your best playmakers to learn then you’re a dumb ***. Zion not even being challenged? He’s losing me more and more each day
 
“You’re talking about a defense that historically with Bud Foster is going to make everything difficult for you, will surround your running game with numbers,” Diaz said. “They’re going to challenge you on all the throws and they’re going to force you to push the ball into throws that take longer to develop. That’s why their sack numbers are very good.”

Ummmmmmm
 
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Not sure what he means practicing 3rd downs. Poor conversion is due to failures on 1st and 2nd down and penalties which make our average 3rd down more than 10 yards to convert.
Miami is actually good on 1st and 2nd downs majority of the time just terrible on 3rd downs . In his his interview he mentioned Miami is 8th in the country in avoiding 3rd downs so you are doing something right in that regard if you have the time of possession we have and haven’t faced as many 3rd downs as other teams
 
Yeah I don't like his comments on Lo. Smh. Lets hope for the best here. We will see on Saturday if he plays. If he doesn't, we will know what the outcome on this will be.
They better play him, enough with the excuses. Diaz managing this and his comments in recent weeks about it smells very amateur like. I like What the other rbs have done but they aren’t perfect on every play or anyone on offense for that matter, enough to the point where he can’t get in the game.

Robert knowles don’t never know what to do or just mess up but he still gets in every game. Child please...
 
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“He’s not doing anything wrong. He’s just developing as a player. Sometimes you have to separate what we feel about a player in recruiting as opposed to their natural development when they get on this campus. Lo is a guy we think has a great future, he knows he’s getting better and better, more comfortable with his knee and a guy that we’ll get more of a role for him.”

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The comments on Lo and Zion are both terrifying. This is cfb not the pros. Not playing your best player for pass blocking is retarded. If you run a systems too complex for your best playmakers to learn then you’re a dumb ***. Zion not even being challenged? He’s losing me more and more each day
Dude Diaz is a fraud! It’s crystal clear now and I fully expect a mass exodus of some of our most talented players in the off-season. Diaz is digging his grave so I sure hope he likes it when it comes time to lay in it because with his lack luster recruiting and losing players like Lingard idk how Anyone expects this bum to win when he can’t even win now with the most talented team at UM in 10 years. I’m sick of this guy in every way!
 
What about 4th down defensively, Manuel?
 
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The comments on Lo and Zion are both terrifying. This is cfb not the pros. Not playing your best player for pass blocking is retarded. If you run a systems too complex for your best playmakers to learn then you’re a dumb ***. Zion not even being challenged? He’s losing me more and more each day

****! You should know by now that there is NO DEPTH behind Miami's starting 5! Heck, if there was any depth don't you believe Diaz/Berry would replace the kid with another OT?

The grad transfer from BUTLER of all places is a BUST! The kid from Iowa was a LOWER-TIER 3-Star player recruited by good ol' boy Stacey and Richt. There's a true freshmen who only played ONE season of varsity football. Now that's fresh. And Hillary must not have the acumen to pick up the play book and make the offensive line calls. Also, there's a RS-freshmen who seems like a PROJECT player and probably won't ready until his RS-junior season.

So I hope you understand the " Orange and Green picture " I'm painting. Albeit a elementary school type of drawing.:zczkqmritjdsoaq.jpg:
 
So Lo can't even help Zion by chipping the D-Ends? How bad was that knee?
 
The comments on Lo and Zion are both terrifying. This is cfb not the pros. Not playing your best player for pass blocking is retarded. If you run a systems too complex for your best playmakers to learn then you’re a dumb ***. Zion not even being challenged? He’s losing me more and more each day

Our OL needs help from the RBs so if you don't know your assignment then you're getting Jarren killed (more than normal).

Putting Lo in and him getting the ball every time and not using play action will work for a half of football at most.
 
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