Diaz reveals positive for COVID-19
College football coaches aren’t immune from COVID-19, as has become clear across the nation and on Friday morning became public in Miami.
Hurricanes football coach Manny Diaz posted on Twitter that he has tested positive for the coronavirus and is in quarantine but feeling well “overall.”
“I have tested positive for COVID-19,” Diaz posted at 8:13 a.m. Friday. “I am currently in isolation and feeling good overall. I will continue to work with our team virtually as we prepare for our next game at Wake Forest.”
That game against Wake Forest is supposed to be played Dec. 5 in WinstonSalem, North Carolina. But Wake Forest’s team also reported a coronavirus outbreak this week and had to cancel it’s game against Duke this Saturday.
It remains to be seen whether other coaches on the UM staff contract the virus.
COACHING STAFF PRECAUTIONS
Diaz was asked by the Miami Herald before the Canes’ last game at Virginia Tech what precautions he takes regarding the coaching staff not being affected by the virus and how he would deal with the scenario if it should happen.
At least 16 college coaches have tested positive, including Florida State’s Mike Norvell before the UM game. A couple weeks ago, the NFL’s Miami Dolphins had five assistants who missed a game with COVID-19 issues. This week, among the latest college football coaches or top administrators to announce their positive re
UM coach Manny Diaz said on Twitter that he tested positive and is in quarantine. His Hurricanes already had games rescheduled due to a coronavirus outbreak.
sults: Tennessee athletic director and former coach Phillip Fulmer and Maryland coach Mike Locksley. Maryland’s game against Michigan State, originally set for Saturday, was canceled, one of at least 16 cancellations or postponements this week.
“We sort of have unofficial if-this-then-that staff dynamics,” Diaz said on Nov. 9 about his staff situation. “We try to do a really good job in the building. We don’t meet in our normal offensive and defensive staff rooms. We meet in big team meeting rooms. We’re in large areas.
“We’re all spread out apart from each other. We’re obviously always wearing masks when we’re in the building, so we do as much as we can. And it’s still hard and there is no guarantee that it won’t affect our staff.”
On Monday evening the Atlantic Coast Conference announced that a coronavirus outbreak in the Hurricanes program had forced Miami to postpone its next two games — against Georgia Tech (originally this Saturday at Miami) and Wake Forest (originally Nov. 28 in Winston-Salem) — and re
scheduled those and the regular-season finale against North Carolina (originally Dec. 5 at Miami).
LATEST UM SCHEDULE
The 12th-ranked Hurricanes (7-1, 6-1 ACC) now have the following schedule to end the regular season:
Saturday, Dec. 5: at Wake Forest.
Saturday, Dec. 12: North Carolina at Miami.
Saturday, Dec. 19: Georgia Tech at Miami, but only if UM is not in the ACC Football Championship Game (that night) or if the result of the Georgia Tech at Miami game would affect who plays in
the league title game.
Note that late Friday morning the ACC announced the Pitt at Georgia Tech game has been moved to Thursday, Dec. 10. The game had been scheduled for Dec. 12.
GREAT SEASON, BUT...
Miami has won its last four games and has not had as good a start to a season since 2017. But the Canes had six players suddenly on their “unavailability” list revealed, as is now customary for this season, an hour before the Virginia Tech game. That number rose to 11 players unavailable before the North Carolina State game and finally to 13
players unavailable last Saturday.
“I can’t speak for the other programs,” Diaz said earlier this week, “but what we know is we don’t have a coronavirus-incollege football problem. We have a coronavirus-inAmerica problem. And everyone can see, I would hope can see — I can’t say everyone can see because the way things are in
2020, everybody can’t agree on anything; But certainly the math is saying that the numbers are really, really getting to a bad place.”