OK, after a night of digesting all this on Manny Diaz..

[k9cane]

I cannot possibly imagine a lazier hire than Diaz.

The problem with Miami right now was not just Richt, but most of his staff. We needed a guy who could come in and revamp the whole staff. But in their lazyness Miami now has a guy who will keep scrubs like Felder, Brown, Patke, Searles, Rumph, and Dugans on staff.

That's the thing that irks me, it's not even Manny himself. He might end up a home run. But what's that definition of insanity?

But to be fair, hasn't the defensive side of the staff basically held up their end of the bargain? It's really the other side of the ball that has been the big problem, hasn't it?

 

[Genghis Cane]

while I didnt love the process and wanted a coach search that extended beyond the walls of the Hecht Center, I think Manny Diaz can work. Again, this all depends in my view on how he constructs his offensive staff. It's clear, he can win all the press conferences, that's for sure

But one thing I keep hearing from those in the know is that Manny checks all the boxes as it comes to the intangibles(leadership, people skills, etc) from those inside the building. And unlike his predecessor(and more on him later), he brings a certain energy and passion. This guy is in his coaching prime.

As for as him as a coach, I know Diaz is a defensive guy, as long as he understands that much of college football is now a race to 40-points(and beyond) and how football has evolved offensively( from style to tempo) than this guy has a chance.

Now, onto Richt, my greatest concern when UM hired him was not his pedigree or acumen but if his best coaching days were in his rearview mirror. And unfortunately it turned out to be true and I was actually shocked by how much the game had passed him by so quickly. But to his credit, at the end he did the admirable thing for the program. If he had stayed, things would have only gotten worse and I think you would've had some transfers, etc. And simply put, Jon Richt, was an issue. There was no way around this.

His retirement saves us from a miserable off-season. There was no hope as long as he was in charge, now we get some new ideas and energy in place. Yeah, color me intrigued because of what Ive been told about Diaz( UM paid a pretty hefty buy-out for a guy who has never been a head coach, they must think highly of him). I wanted Miami to seriously consider the likes of Leach and Babers but I'm just a fan. Whoever is my coach, I'll roll with them till I feel they simply aren't going to get the job done

Good post. I’ll give him a chance, but who he hires as his OC will set the tone for his tenure. It’s a make or break move, in my opinion.

 

[SIBCanes]

Manny is a great hire. He bring continuity to the program and continues the great defensive progress. I think if he brings on a good OC with a more aggressive style listen to @DMoney and @Stefan Adams podcast. Or listen to manny imterview on Joe Rose. CMR retiring and bringing back Manny is a dream.. let’s stop all the negativity and let the process playout unless *****ing like little girls makes you happy. It is and always will be all about The U. Let go Canes!

 

[Insanecane]

That's the thing that irks me, it's not even Manny himself. He might end up a home run. But what's that definition of insanity?

But to be fair, hasn't the defensive side of the staff basically held up their end of the bargain? It's really the other side of the ball that has been the big problem, hasn't it?

I believe keeping Banda and Patke as Co-DC's is a terrible move, and was looking forward to a coach who can bring in a more experienced DC.
That said, under Diaz the defense has been pretty good, but not great. I say that because while some areas see good development (DLine, Safety, and Corners) others tend to stay stale (LBers). But I'd say my biggest beef with the Defensive coaches is their recruiting. Rumph is a terrible recruiter. The guy couldn't close on a horny ***** in Costa Rica even if he was paying her. And what is going on at defensive tackle and defensive end? Safety? Our recruiting has been suspect on the defensive side of the ball under Diaz. Now that he's the HC, the team will take on the personality of the Head Coach -ie- lazy recruiting.

 

[k9cane]

I believe keeping Banda and Patke as Co-DC's is a terrible move, and was looking forward to a coach who can bring in a more experienced DC.
That said, under Diaz the defense has been pretty good, but not great. I say that because while some areas see good development (DLine, Safety, and Corners) others tend to stay stale (LBers). But I'd say my biggest beef with the Defensive coaches is their recruiting. Rumph is a terrible recruiter. The guy couldn't close on a horny ***** in Costa Rica even if he was paying her. And what is going on at defensive tackle and defensive end? Safety? Our recruiting has been suspect on the defensive side of the ball under Diaz. Now that he's the HC, the team will take on the personality of the Head Coach -ie- lazy recruiting.

Yeah no argument, too many whiffs on blue chippers defensively...

 

[fraggle]

while I didnt love the process and wanted a coaching search that extended beyond the walls of the Hecht Center, I think Manny Diaz can work. Again, this all depends in my view on how he constructs his offensive staff. It's clear, he can win all the press conferences, that's for sure

But one thing I keep hearing from those in the know is that Manny checks all the boxes as it comes to the intangibles(leadership, people skills, etc) from those inside the building. And unlike his predecessor(and more on him later), he brings a certain energy and passion. This guy is in his coaching prime. Miami is a job where you can coast into retirement

As for as him as a coach, I know Diaz is a defensive guy, as long as he understands that much of college football is now a race to 40-points(and beyond) and how football has evolved offensively( from style to tempo) than this guy has a chance.

Now, onto Richt, my greatest concern when UM hired him was not his pedigree or acumen but if his best coaching days were in his rearview mirror. And unfortunately it turned out to be true and I was actually shocked by how much the game had passed him by so quickly. But to his credit, at the end he did the admirable thing for the program. If he had stayed, things would have only gotten worse and I think you would've had some transfers, etc. And simply put, Jon Richt, was an issue. There was no way around this.

His retirement saves us from a miserable off-season. There was no hope as long as he was in charge, now we get some new ideas and energy in place. Yeah, color me intrigued because of what Ive been told about Diaz( UM paid a pretty hefty buy-out for a guy who has never been a head coach, they must think highly of him). I wanted Miami to seriously consider the likes of Leach and Babers but I'm just a fan. Whoever is my coach, I'll roll with them till I feel they simply aren't going to get the job done

Good points, fans here are not considering that Richt may have requested Diaz as a replacement otherwise we'd still be talking about what will Richt do about the offense and what a disaster 2 DC's for our defense. The way this happened and Richt walking without a buyout implies that may have been the deal. So all those complaining would be complaining regardless. Pure speculation on my part but seems reasonable...Richt and Diaz both love the U and it is reasonable that Richt probably knew what would happen with his surprise retirement plus realized Diaz leaving would make his job far more difficult. I was pleased when I heard Richt retired and I am sure many here felt the same, it is quite possible that would not have happened without a plan.

 

[g8rh8rMD]

while I didnt love the process and wanted a coaching search that extended beyond the walls of the Hecht Center, I think Manny Diaz can work. Again, this all depends in my view on how he constructs his offensive staff. It's clear, he can win all the press conferences, that's for sure

But one thing I keep hearing from those in the know is that Manny checks all the boxes as it comes to the intangibles(leadership, people skills, etc) from those inside the building. And unlike his predecessor(and more on him later), he brings a certain energy and passion. This guy is in his coaching prime. Miami is a job where you can coast into retirement

As for as him as a coach, I know Diaz is a defensive guy, as long as he understands that much of college football is now a race to 40-points(and beyond) and how football has evolved offensively( from style to tempo) than this guy has a chance.

Now, onto Richt, my greatest concern when UM hired him was not his pedigree or acumen but if his best coaching days were in his rearview mirror. And unfortunately it turned out to be true and I was actually shocked by how much the game had passed him by so quickly. But to his credit, at the end he did the admirable thing for the program. If he had stayed, things would have only gotten worse and I think you would've had some transfers, etc. And simply put, Jon Richt, was an issue. There was no way around this.

His retirement saves us from a miserable off-season. There was no hope as long as he was in charge, now we get some new ideas and energy in place. Yeah, color me intrigued because of what Ive been told about Diaz( UM paid a pretty hefty buy-out for a guy who has never been a head coach, they must think highly of him). I wanted Miami to seriously consider the likes of Leach and Babers but I'm just a fan. Whoever is my coach, I'll roll with them till I feel they simply aren't going to get the job done

Great poster, great post.

The devil will be in the details. We need to see great personnel decisions now.

Things don’t always work out in life exactly the way you envision or wish them to, you have to be able to adapt. That’s something we know Manny can do.

Like you, I’m trepidatious about this, but am choosing to be cautiously optimistic right now.

 

[k9cane]

Good points, fans here are not considering that Richt may have requested Diaz as a replacement otherwise we'd still be talking about what will Richt do about the offense and what a disaster 2 DC's for our defense. The way this happened and Richt walking without a buyout implies that may have been the deal. So all those complaining would be complaining regardless. Pure speculation on my part but seems reasonable...Richt and Diaz both love the U and it is reasonable that Richt probably knew what would happen with his surprise retirement plus realized Diaz leaving would make his job far more difficult. I was pleased when I heard Richt retired and I am sure many here felt the same, it is quite possible that would not have happened without a plan.

I think one thing people are missing is that they really couldnt wait on Diaz, given that he was literally interviewing OC's for Temple. So basically this had to happen within 24-36 hours or he becomes entrenched at Temple and stuck

Again, not defending the process or even the hire, but there was a circumstance here that led to this process

 

[k9cane]

Great poster, great post.

The devil will be in the details. We need to see great personnel decisions now.

Things don’t always work out in life exactly the way you envision or wish them to, you have to be able to adapt. That’s something we know Manny can do.

Like you, I’m trepidatious about this, but am choosing to be cautiously optimistic right now.

This is now on the UM admin to give Diaz a real budget to get a real offensive coordinator and surrounding staff. What's that old saying?

You get what you pay for

 

[k9cane]

Good post. I’ll give him a chance, but who he hires as his OC will set the tone for his tenure. It’s a make or break move, in my opinion.

Like the Ten Commandments, you can set that in stone

 

[Dingaan1828]

I’m in wait and see mode. I want to see how his staff shapes up. I know from his comments when he was still our DC that he was frustrated by our lack of offense, which put his defense with their backs to the goal line time after time. I can’t imagine him going with a conservative offense. We’ll see. If nothing else, the next few weeks are going to be real interesting.

 

[g8rh8rMD]

K9, my view.

1. This was the single worst hirong process I have ever seen, anywhere. There can be no doubt that our bad results flow from the top of an institution that not only doesn’t give a **** about football or sports, but also doesn’t know how to make thoughtful decisions at all. Just embarrassing.

2. That said, here we are. Manny. He can hopefully succeed. But my concerns are different than most. Folks are okaywith his aggressive style. Me too. Folks are asking about his offensive views. Fair enough. We will learn quickly there. I suspect he’ll hire someone credible. However, I have more basic questions about him as a Hc. First, can he actually manage a staff and program? He’s never done it before. The details. S&C, ST, culture, etc. second, recruiting is a giant question with manny. He was not good as a DC as far as recruiting at all. Not successful particularly. Not proactive, not focused, not on top of his position coaches. He let Kul go unmanaged. He largely ignored LB for a couple seasons. He didn’t seem organized or urgent at all as far as recruiting goes. That is a huge red flag for me.

3. The bull story around Manny includes his family connection to Miami. For that to mean anything beyond tailgates, he really must figure out how to become a monster recruiter, or hire a recruiting coordinator and hand them the keys to the city.

In my dream, he hires Butch to be AHC/DC and recruiting coordinator, and pays him equal to what Manny makes, and much more than Butch currently makes, even if it means a cut for Manny. Tell Butch to teach him the ropes for 3 years on all of this, and it would be the best money Manny ever spent. But dreams are for after parties. In the real world, I am concerned that there is a lot more to runnijg a program than people are talking about here, and Manny has never done any of it, and has a staff around him that has never done it, and hardly seen it.

Agreed on many of your points. I’m not joking when I say that Jimmy and Mark should be put on retainer by the U as “program ambassador/coaching consultants”. Do I think Mark has all the right answers for us? **** no! But both of those men could be immensely useful to Manny as he gets his feet on the ground and goes about making those CEO type decisions about S&C, training table, recruiting staffing, donor and community outreach, etc. he shouldn’t listen to them at all times, but being able to bounce ideas off such accomplished and experienced men who have done it before would be invaluable to him.

We are where we are. The U needs to give Manny the tools he needs to succeed.

 

[k9cane]

I’m in wait and see mode. I want to see how his staff shapes up. I know from his comments when he was still our DC that he was frustrated by our lack of offense, which put his defense with their backs to the goal line time after time. I can’t imagine him going with a conservative offense. We’ll see. If nothing else, the next few weeks are going to be real interesting.

I do like what he said to Joe Rose on what he'd like to see on that side of the ball

Ive said for awhile, college football is a game now where it's a race to 40. It's not about controlling the clock, etc. The game has changed and that whole adage about 'defense wins championships', while still true, the reality is its impossible to win one with a bad offense

Just think about this, if Miami only scores 28 a game this season - not all that much by todays standards - they go 11-1 in the regular season.

 

[CANEFAN83]

Do we know how much manny will make per year and how many years of the contract? I would hope for closer to 3 years in case he doesn't work out, we can move in a different direction.

Also, I hope our assistant hires under Diaz prioritize OC, OL, and ST, all positions we were horrendous at under Richt.

 

[OldhamA]

I cannot possibly imagine a lazier hire than Diaz.

The problem with Miami right now was not just Richt, but most of his staff. We needed a guy who could come in and revamp the whole staff. But in their lazyness Miami now has a guy who will keep scrubs like Felder, Brown, Patke, Searles, Rumph, and Dugans on staff.

Not if he wants to succeed.

I'm hoping he guts the O staff and leaves most of the D staff in place.

 

[k9cane]

OK, so I was out at the gym and I read on Twitter that Manny Diaz has blown out the whole offensive staff...

To me, this is a positive sign. Diaz wants a clean break from a unit that severely hampered his side of the ball and wants something fresh and new. Just root out the whole cancer.

Yeah, this is a guy who recognizes the problem and is willing to make tough decisions to act upon it.

Manny.... Ok, I see you...