If Manny is betting on himself...

[DTP]

Besides Lb, we have better coaching than last year. TRob work speaks for itself and Simpson was good when he was here

Well if we're being unfair, not that I care about being fair because I HATE THIS DECISION, but.....Safeties and DL just got new coaches that we can argue are homerun hires for those positions. LBs will be the question mark and again, IF, we're being fair, Shaq and 56 may not have been 4 years of All American type players, but they were SIGNIFICANTLY better than what we saw last year....I think 55 and 56 didn't have anyone pushing for their jobs so they were allowed to get complacent, Steed got hurt, Joyner was playing out of position, and we couldn't recruit the position for nothing because we had 3 freshman starters....

I agree with both of you guys. I’m just frustrated by the boneheaded plays we saw on defense last year. I’ll hope for the best

 

[Cajuncane]

Seems to me that in talking to other candidates that Manny probably let them know that his scheme is what he wants run and that’s it.End of discussion.

I’m sure the answer to this scenario will get out at some point and if indeed this was the case Manny’s ice just got a lot thinner and his hot seat a **** of a lot hotter.Manny has banked his career on his defense and his ability to make it work.Baker might just be a product of Manny feeling more comfortable with him to coach LBers since he was gonna call the defense anyways and other candidates knowing this probably figure Manny is in a sink or swim situation and they weren’t willing to leave something stable where they were for the Titanic...

If The BOT did give Manny a semi-open checkbook to fix the defense and this Is what he came up with then there’s no doubt that Manny’s career rides on this season.There doesn’t seem to be any middle ground here.If this defense looks anywhere near what it did last year we will be welcoming a new coach or wondering who the next one will be and Manny Diaz will have ruined his career banking on a defense that had already gotten him fired in the past.

Hope it works out cause that’s what’s the best case scenario for the Miami program.

 

[canesthing3]

1 more thought on all of this.

I’m not at all surprised that he’s betting on himself. He’s proven if he’s going down, he’s going down swinging. So if he couldn’t get the DC that he wanted, why wouldn’t he trust himself above anyone else to save the D when the D has played at its highest level, in the past however many years, with Manny calling plays?

The “I hate every coach we hire crowd” should be happy. There is no where for him to pass the buck too so either Manny gets it done with a proven playcaller on O and himself calling the D or he doesn’t and we can move on to the next coach that you all will inevitably hate.

 

[Mish1123]

Bravo to Manny to take control of his destiny and bet on himself that he can fix the defense. Also, bringing back a veteran DL Coach like Jess is an awesome move. He still needs LB's who can be coached up..this current group is mediocre at best. Don't know what Blake's role will be to earn his keep, but I'm not the one paying him. Overall, good moves

 

[Trav]

I don't mind Manny calling the plays, but Manny calling the plays and being HC? Doesn't he have enough on his plate?

Sure seems like he is married to his D and couldn't find anyone else to run it. As D pointed out, definitely betting on himself.

That doesn't make sense to me. It's not that weird or exotic a defense.

 

[TheU 4ever]

...he can't keep the "Hire a DC" card in his pocket for next year. He has to get it done. Hopefully, that's been made clear to him.

I'm surprised by the move. I always viewed Manny as a political/media type. This is a decision with bad optics. We all remember the Coach D fiasco. The political move would have been to fire Baker, hire a DC and shift the blame. He's putting it on himself.

The good news is that Manny's defenses were strong. His last defense as DC finished 3rd in yards per play, 1st in third down defense and 1st in pass defense. His recent resume is objectively better than any DC available. The bad news is that Blake was running Manny's defense last year. Is Manny that much better as a playcaller, or are there deeper issues?

I like the Jess Simpson hire. He was the DL coach on the '18 defense, which finished 1st in P5 in sack rate and was our best in a decade. Everything I've heard internally is that he was a superstar. DVD is fine as long as TRob is the man. I suspect he is and that he's on board with this plan.

The LBs are going to be the key. That position doomed us last year with Manny's recruits. We didn't get a fresh set of eyes there. What is going to change?

All told, this is a pivotal year for Manny. Will he go down like Golden or save his own career? He just cranked the pressure to 11.

DMoney, how about this line of thought: (1) Manny leaves the day-to-day functions of a DC to Baker (frees Manny to continue the heavy load of being a HC); (2) Baker prepares the strategy/game plan for the next game, but Manny makes the overall decision on what to use and what to nix, and is the only play caller on game day; (3) Manny has already told Baker that he's not cutting it, but until he (i.e. Baker) finds a new job he'll retain him to only manage the day-to-day workload for the Defense (and works up in the booth relaying input/thoughts back to Manny on the field); (4) Manny already has someone in mind for DC, but he won't hire him until Baker is out of here; and (5) Baker may quit, as a result of the demotion, and then Manny is free to do the hiring of the new DC. A lot of ifs, but it may be part of Manny's head game/plan. Just a thought! Your thoughts??

 

[Trav]

Patke can coach on this level, he just can’t recruit.

I think that's backwards

 

[Donny Donowitz]

The real reason this is even possible/happened is because Lashlee can not be supervised and run the offense completely.

 

[DMoney]

DMoney, how about this line of thought: (1) Manny leaves the day-to-day functions of a DC to Baker (frees Manny to continue the heavy load of being a HC); (2) Baker prepares the strategy/game plan for the next game, but Manny makes the overall decision on what to use and what to nix, and is the only play caller on game day; (3) Manny has already told Baker that he's not cutting it, but until he (i.e. Baker) finds a new job he'll retain him to only manage the day-to-day workload for the Defense (and works up in the booth relaying input/thoughts back to Manny on the field); (4) Manny already has someone in mind for DC, but he won't hire him until Baker is out of here; and (5) Baker may quit, as a result of the demotion, and then Manny is free to do the hiring of the new DC. A lot of ifs, but it may be part of Manny's head game/plan. Just a thought! Your thoughts??

I think these coaches will be the coaches against Alabama.

 

[BeastMode]

I don't think he wants anyone else.

he doesn’t. With him calling plays he is willing to ride on it being 100% on him. Got to respect it in a way. He is going to live or die on this job because of himself and no one else.

 

[Suarez]

has a head coach taking over the play calling reins to right a ship ever gone well?

 

[paksat]

well richt, mullen, mack brown all thought he could call a very good defense.

there's been some decent head coaches that thought he was good, I can't blame him for saying, "give me the keys again"

f it, let's roll

 

[AlexCane]

Who else is going to pay Blake Baker 500k a year to coach football?

He isn't going anywhere.

****. Long time, man.

Still, for his own personal development, this is a step back. If he wants to rise up the coaching ranks, being DC in title alone isn't furthering his career. If it was me, I'd give up $ if it meant autonomy and an ability to make a name for myself down the road.

 

[firstandcanes]

I guess best case scenario would be to win 9 or 10 games with a kick *** offense and have Manny finally accept that the defense needs an overall to get to the next level.

 

[skyman]

So we still dont have a quality LB coach on staff.. got it

 

[twes.305]

Baker literally brings nothing to the table, why is he still employed.

 

[TrueFloridian]

...he can't keep the "Hire a DC" card in his pocket for next year. He has to get it done. Hopefully, that's been made clear to him.

I'm surprised by the move. I always viewed Manny as a political/media type. This is a decision with bad optics. We all remember the Coach D fiasco. The political move would have been to fire Baker, hire a DC and shift the blame. He's putting it on himself.

The good news is that Manny's defenses were strong. His last defense as DC finished 3rd in yards per play, 1st in third down defense and 1st in pass defense. His recent resume is objectively better than any DC available. The bad news is that Blake was running Manny's defense last year. Is Manny that much better as a playcaller, or are there deeper issues?

I like the Jess Simpson hire. He was the DL coach on the '18 defense, which finished 1st in P5 in sack rate and was our best in a decade. Everything I've heard internally is that he was a superstar. DVD is fine as long as TRob is the man. I suspect he is and that he's on board with this plan.

The LBs are going to be the key. That position doomed us last year with Manny's recruits. We didn't get a fresh set of eyes there. What is going to change?

All told, this is a pivotal year for Manny. Will he go down like Golden or save his own career? He just cranked the pressure to 11.

It’s eerie similar to what CMR did. He thought he could turn it around if he called the plays. We all know how that worked out. It’s a big mistake IMO also that Manny didn’t hire a DC. There’s a lot of NFL head coaches and DC’s out of work looking to resurrect their careers. Or even if it’s for a few years before retirement in Sunny south FL that’s fine, too. It’s much easier to recruit when you have a big name. Instead parent’s are thinking who TF is Blake Baker. Oh yeah, the guy that is nobody and just got his play calling duties stripped away.

What proves Manny is having a hard time getting rid of his staff is keeping Rumph as a RECRUITING coordinator. The guy is the worst **** recruiter we’ve ever had. He makes Kul look like a stud on the trail.

 

[Silver King]

...he can't keep the "Hire a DC" card in his pocket for next year. He has to get it done. Hopefully, that's been made clear to him.

I'm surprised by the move. I always viewed Manny as a political/media type. This is a decision with bad optics. We all remember the Coach D fiasco. The political move would have been to fire Baker, hire a DC and shift the blame. He's putting it on himself.

The good news is that Manny's defenses were strong. His last defense as DC finished 3rd in yards per play, 1st in third down defense and 1st in pass defense. His recent resume is objectively better than any DC available. The bad news is that Blake was running Manny's defense last year. Is Manny that much better as a playcaller, or are there deeper issues?

I like the Jess Simpson hire. He was the DL coach on the '18 defense, which finished 1st in P5 in sack rate and was our best in a decade. Everything I've heard internally is that he was a superstar. DVD is fine as long as TRob is the man. I suspect he is and that he's on board with this plan.

The LBs are going to be the key. That position doomed us last year with Manny's recruits. We didn't get a fresh set of eyes there. What is going to change?

All told, this is a pivotal year for Manny. Will he go down like Golden or save his own career? He just cranked the pressure to 11.

On the other hand you want a guy who is confident in betting on his own ability to get the Job done, dig out of the hole; particularly when he's had success at doing that Job on something he built.

 

[Hurracanes]

He wouldn´t have waited for 2-3 weeks to bet on himself. If I had to guess, I believe he tried to get a good DC and he failed. That is a problem but the bigger problem is why did it fail. A few reasons.

A. He wanted to remain in control (partially or totally) of the D and no one in the candidate pool of DCs was going to allow that.

B. He couldn't find a qualified DC. Why? Either he doesn't have the pull, or they don't have confidence in him, or the conditions for taking the DC job were unacceptable (see A above). Another reason we couldn't find an acceptable DC could be that Manny wanted a certain scheme or certain personnel such as Baker, Patke and/or T-Rob and the candidate pool found that condition to be unacceptable.

None of the above is good. Manny's return to playcalling is not good. He just is not experienced enough as a head coach to master all the duties of the head coach AND call plays.

I hope I am wrong.

 

[SCarolina Ibis]

"The linebackers are the issue." Well no ****. They've been recruited & coached by Diaz, Baker & Patke. To put that in perspective, no D had a better resume than Patke.