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Manny Diaz

Coach Macho said:
Everybody wants exotic ****. It looks great on paper. But the best defenses in football, NFL and NCAA, are simple and sound!

We (Miami) generally don't give up big plays until we get cute. It causes us to be unsound and often allows a play to pop.

My philosophy as a DC has always been "I am not going give you anything". I want to be sound and force you to execute. You're gonna earn every play you make.
And even if I blitz, it's going to be sound and in a way that won't leave us vulnerable. Every variable needs to be accounted for, we're not gonna leave a RB uncovered so he can wheel up the sidelines wide open. (like we did versus Toledo)
The first thing I do when I draw something up for an opponent is try to shoot a hole in my own stuff.

Some DC's don't feel this way. They're okay with taking a big gamble. They call a play and then hope that so-and-so doesn't happen. Then if a play pops they'll say "well they caught us blah blah blah".

The complex/elaborate/exotic stuff is good for creating flashy stats (TFL's, sacks, etc) but it's seldom good for getting off the field on 3rd down and/or controlling a GOOD offense.
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What's interesting about that is that your D philosophy sounds a lot like Richt's O philosophy. People want exotic offenses with 9 WR and lots of motion, but Richt just does his "vanilla" thing assuming the D will ***** up eventually. We've had mixed success with it, but I can see how it can work, especially when you have a talent advantage. That's obviously not Manny's philosophy, and it looks like Richt lets him do what he wants on that side of the ball.
 
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This game was a lot closer than most ppl think. Toledo figured out we had problems in coverage when they motioned. Toledo's qb was just garbage.
 
Manuela is mediocre its just that compared to the sh*t show that No' D ofrio was Manny looks like a star.

He has very poor feel for situational calls.

Lately he has been slow to adjust.

Plus his staph is poor at teaching fundamentals.
 
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boxtonenyc said:
I think its misleading to say Diaz is aggressive.

First of all his scheme is a relic of the 90s (the fire zone blitz). The zone blitz is the defensivie equivalent of the wishbone. It doesnt fool people, and it leaves a ton of space for modern offenses to throw the ball.

Yes, he blitzes a lot, but he plays spot drop zone behind it which is as pussified a thing as you can play behind a blitz. In order of most high risk to least risk here is the coverage you can use in a blitz:

cover 0: 6 man blitz, no deep safety, pure man to man everywhere. your man beats you and its a TD.

man-free: five man blitz, a single deep safety. man coverage everywhere else.

pattern read zone blitz: 5 man blitz, players play man coverage within their zones and pass threats off to other defenders. Turns into man coverage aftr routes are run.

spot drop zone blitz: 5 man pressure; players keep everything in front of them and dont get beat deep, no tight coverage. Rally and live to see another down

So yes, he blitzes a lot, but that only tell half the story. On the back end his scheme is painfully amateur and scared, which is why there is always space to throw on 3rd down and why his defense struggles to get off the field.
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Excellent post! Spot on! That is Diaz's defense in a nutshell and the passive spot drop zone blitz is the reason there is a huge hole in the middle of the field. Our front 7 all penetrate the LOS while at the same time our secondary back pedal keeping everything in front of them. That creates a Texas sized void that teams have been exploiting on 3rd down the last 3 years. This year our 3rd down defense is better because teams are exploiting us on 1st and 2nd down more often.
 
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Diaz needs to just have one or the other. YOu cant do Dline stunts AND blitz.

If he wants to run those predictable *** zone blitzes and NOT spy the QB then he needs to keep the Dline stunts to a minimum because that shid just leaves huge holes in our defense.

Why does he think we suck so bad we need to blitz and stunt?

Or is he that much of a smug arrogant prick?
 
Canezum5 said:
Diaz needs to just have one or the other. YOu cant do Dline stunts AND blitz.

If he wants to run those predictable *** zone blitzes and NOT spy the QB then he needs to keep the Dline stunts to a minimum because that shid just leaves huge holes in our defense.

Why does he think we suck so bad we need to blitz and stunt?

Or is he that much of a smug arrogant prick?
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To your point, normally when all this craziness is done its to try and make up for a talent disadvantage, which is not the case here, nor was it at Texas. You remember our last great D, 2000,1,2, and 3 ? Never hardly blitzed, and when we did it was devastating, that's how its supposed to be played. These guys are not as good as that group no doubt, but we still don't need all the blitzes/stunts. You would think Diaz would watch some of that tape, I know I would. Like I said top of thread, he ain't good enough to be here.
 
boxtonenyc said:
I think its misleading to say Diaz is aggressive.

First of all his scheme is a relic of the 90s (the fire zone blitz). The zone blitz is the defensivie equivalent of the wishbone. It doesnt fool people, and it leaves a ton of space for modern offenses to throw the ball.

Yes, he blitzes a lot, but he plays spot drop zone behind it which is as pussified a thing as you can play behind a blitz. In order of most high risk to least risk here is the coverage you can use in a blitz:

cover 0: 6 man blitz, no deep safety, pure man to man everywhere. your man beats you and its a TD.

man-free: five man blitz, a single deep safety. man coverage everywhere else.

pattern read zone blitz: 5 man blitz, players play man coverage within their zones and pass threats off to other defenders. Turns into man coverage aftr routes are run.

spot drop zone blitz: 5 man pressure; players keep everything in front of them and dont get beat deep, no tight coverage. Rally and live to see another down

So yes, he blitzes a lot, but that only tell half the story. On the back end his scheme is painfully amateur and scared, which is why there is always space to throw on 3rd down and why his defense struggles to get off the field.
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I'm guessing you're GoldenShowers and this sums up pretty much everything we've discussed over the last few years. I think what we've (I and people more hopeful than you, obviously, lol) been waiting for was for Diaz to work with a top DL (and DL coach) and adjust the zone blitz schemes accordingly. I still think there's hope he can further adjust. He's already adjusted a bit this year - not that the results are positive.

Ironically, like I said earlier, people complained about 3rd down % last year while overlooking we were pretty good with yards/play. Now people are complaining about the defense not being right, but 3rd down % is so far improved. I'd say we're actually worse this year by the numbers. I think we're allowing 5+ yards per play. Not good or acceptable given our talent.
 
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LuCane said:
I'm guessing you're GoldenShowers and this sums up pretty much everything we've discussed over the last few years. I think what we've (I and people more hopeful than you, obviously, lol) been waiting for was for Diaz to work with a top DL (and DL coach) and adjust the zone blitz schemes accordingly. I still think there's hope he can further adjust. He's already adjusted a bit this year - not that the results are positive.

Ironically, like I said earlier, people complained about 3rd down % last year while overlooking we were pretty good with yards/play. Now people are complaining about the defense not being right, but 3rd down % is so far improved. I'd say we're actually worse this year by the numbers. I think we're allowing 5+ yards per play. Not good or acceptable given our talent.
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Lu, we have the talent to play big boy football, we need to get back to using our front to get upfield and let the lb's play, they are having to think too much, which slows them down. A good OC with a few horses will eat Manny up
 
I mean you can be a heavy blitz team and still be sound.

Dave Aranda is a 4 man “blitz” guy. It achieves the confusion for the protections while still providing sound coverage on the back end (pattern match zone).

Wade Phillips sends a ton of 5 man Cover 1 pressures, or green dog blitzes (where a sixth rusher will activate his rush if the RB blocks and will essentially rush the RB)

The original 46 was cover 0 a TON.

I prefer four true DL getting after it and letting eveeyone else cover, BUT blitzing schemes can be very sound. Problem is mannys isnt fundamentally sound AND he does a bad job of coaching his LBs
 
Canezum5 said:
Diaz needs to just have one or the other. YOu cant do Dline stunts AND blitz.

If he wants to run those predictable *** zone blitzes and NOT spy the QB then he needs to keep the Dline stunts to a minimum because that shid just leaves huge holes in our defense.

Why does he think we suck so bad we need to blitz and stunt?

Or is he that much of a smug arrogant prick?
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I don't believe he's smug and all that. But STUBBORN, yes!:eek:
 
Just to play devil's advocate, a few things definitely need to be squared away.

First and foremost, we're not as talented as we think we are.
Mike Jackson gets worked weekly and nobody says ****, yet Knowles gets blasted on here daily. He (Jackson) is severely overrated by our fan base. He gets hyped because he picked a few ill-advised passes last season and he looks great in his uniform. He has slow feet and gets worked by any WR who's decent at running short/intermediate routes.
Our DE's are playing at a pedestrian level right now, which makes me question Simpson's coaching ability. They possess no pass rush moves. They're all predictable. Garvin always tries to rip around the edge and lately has been getting pushed outside the pocket. Jackson tries to bull-rush everybody. Neither one of them possess a counter-move when their first move fails. For a DL/pass-rush junkie like me, it's ugly to watch.
Can anybody sit here and honestly tell me that they look like they've gotten better? I wanna give Simpson the benefit of the doubt but the team that he built just got beat by a Deerfield team that drove 10 hours and Jalar Holley was a complete non-factor. I loved his energy in practice, but so far he's looking more like a rah-rah guy and less like a technician.
Our DT's are very pedestrian. Willis (and Nesta when he's in) are elite IMO. The rest will be working regular jobs when they leave UM. They are nowhere near the level we need at Miami.
Our CB's get beat inside far too often. When we play press, it's a "catch" technique, so we're not really getting our hands on WR's. It's passive and allows a free release, which defeats the purpose of playing press IMO.

There's not a single coach on this defensive staff that deserves an automatic pass because no unit looks stellar. Even the LB's have regressed IMO.
This all falls on the CEO of the defense. The DC sets the tone for what he wants done with his DL, secondary, etc.
 
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Coach Macho said:
Just to play devil's advocate, a few things definitely need to be squared away.

First and foremost, we're not as talented as we think we are.
Mike Jackson gets worked weekly and nobody says ****, yet Knowles gets blasted on here daily. He (Jackson) is severely overrated by our fan base. He gets hyped because he picked a few ill-advised passes last season and he looks great in his uniform. He has slow feet and gets worked by any WR who's decent at running short/intermediate routes.
Our DE's are playing at a pedestrian level right now, which makes me question Simpson's coaching ability. They possess no pass rush moves. They're all predictable. Garvin always tries to rip around the edge and lately has been getting pushed outside the pocket. Jackson tries to bull-rush everybody. Neither one of them possess a counter-move when their first move fails. For a DL/pass-rush junkie like me, it's ugly to watch.
Can anybody sit here and honestly tell me that they look like they've gotten better? I wanna give Simpson the benefit of the doubt but the team that he built just got beat by a Deerfield team that drove 10 hours and Jalar Holley was a complete non-factor. I loved his energy in practice, but so far he's looking more like a rah-rah guy and less like a technician.
Our DT's are very pedestrian. Willis (and Nesta when he's in) are elite IMO. The rest will be working regular jobs when they leave UM. They are nowhere near the level we need at Miami.
Our CB's get beat inside far too often. When we play press, it's a "catch" technique, so we're not really getting our hands on WR's. It's passive and allows a free release, which defeats the purpose of playing press IMO.

There's not a single coach on this defensive staff that deserves an automatic pass because no unit looks stellar. Even the LB's have regressed IMO.
This all falls on the CEO of the defense. The DC sets the tone for what he wants done with his DL, secondary, etc.
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spot on. kirk herbstreet out of the blue said jackson might be the best cb in the nation and a lot of us started "believing" that even tho there was no actual video evidence to the fact

as far as the way our cbs play. a lot of us have been screaming about that for the last 2 years.
 
Swampcity said:
I'm a Manny fan ... however, he needs to go back to base football and let the players talent takeover.

Manny is mistaken if he thinks his schemes are making the plays as opposed to the players.
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Could not agree more. The tape doesn’t lie, the Def was definitely better year 1. We haved improved in to & tfl, but way more busted plays, blown coverages, blown up blitzs and dudes just wide open in space. Defense definitely more stout, coincidentaly when they had less to process.
 
Macho, plus 1000 man, you know where it all starts, up front. We have not had a badass front since I don't when. Wait yes I do, Butch's bunch. You look at these top 3 maybe 4 teams, monsters up front. Richt needs to recruit the **** outta linemen, both sides. Fast backs are a dime a dozen in SoFlo, put any of em behind those lines and they good. I will be ****ed if butch starts signing better linemen than us
 
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Coach Macho said:
Just to play devil's advocate, a few things definitely need to be squared away.

First and foremost, we're not as talented as we think we are.
Mike Jackson gets worked weekly and nobody says ****, yet Knowles gets blasted on here daily. He (Jackson) is severely overrated by our fan base. He gets hyped because he picked a few ill-advised passes last season and he looks great in his uniform. He has slow feet and gets worked by any WR who's decent at running short/intermediate routes.
Our DE's are playing at a pedestrian level right now, which makes me question Simpson's coaching ability. They possess no pass rush moves. They're all predictable. Garvin always tries to rip around the edge and lately has been getting pushed outside the pocket. Jackson tries to bull-rush everybody. Neither one of them possess a counter-move when their first move fails. For a DL/pass-rush junkie like me, it's ugly to watch.
Can anybody sit here and honestly tell me that they look like they've gotten better? I wanna give Simpson the benefit of the doubt but the team that he built just got beat by a Deerfield team that drove 10 hours and Jalar Holley was a complete non-factor. I loved his energy in practice, but so far he's looking more like a rah-rah guy and less like a technician.
Our DT's are very pedestrian. Willis (and Nesta when he's in) are elite IMO. The rest will be working regular jobs when they leave UM. They are nowhere near the level we need at Miami.
Our CB's get beat inside far too often. When we play press, it's a "catch" technique, so we're not really getting our hands on WR's. It's passive and allows a free release, which defeats the purpose of playing press IMO.

There's not a single coach on this defensive staff that deserves an automatic pass because no unit looks stellar. Even the LB's have regressed IMO.
This all falls on the CEO of the defense. The DC sets the tone for what he wants done with his DL, secondary, etc.
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Jackson looks great because he has the luxury of playing aggressive coverage knowing he has help over top. When Jaquan was on the sideline, Toledo targeted him because Rob Knoweles was back there looking at the sky saying "Look! Airpane!"
 
Loose Cannon said:
Jackson looks great because he has the luxury of playing aggressive coverage knowing he has help over top. When Jaquan was on the sideline, Toledo targeted him because Rob Knoweles was back there looking at the sky saying "Look! Airpane!"
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That would be a logical explanation if Jackson didn't also get beat when Johnson was on the field. (but he does)
And he gets beats mainly on short/quick routes, which has nothing to do with help over the top.
He's just not THAT good.
Great zone corner. Suspect man corner.
 
Loose Cannon said:
Jackson looks great because he has the luxury of playing aggressive coverage knowing he has help over top. When Jaquan was on the sideline, Toledo targeted him because Rob Knoweles was back there looking at the sky saying "Look! Airpane!"
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Jackson made some plays where he had text book coverage against some meh ACC teams last year. You couple with the fact we have been thin at CB for a while, he began to look better than he actually was. Now that’s not to say he didn’t drastically improve from being a waste to an actual contributor but he isn’t a #1 CB and if we are talking about being a playoff team then he would be our 3rd guy at best.
 
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