Diaz taking over football program at Temple, but he will remain with Hurricanes for bowl game
CORAL GABLES — Moments after he was officially introduced as Temple’s new head coach, former Hurricanes defensive coordinator Manny Diaz — wearing a cherry-and-white tie and a Temple lapel pin on his suit — said he still had a bit of unfinished business in Miami.
So when the Hurricanes take the field against Wisconsin on Dec. 27 in the Pinstripe Bowl in New York, Diaz will be on the Miami sideline one last time, coaching the players who have — more than once during his three-year tenure in Coral Gables — heaped praise on him.
“I felt I owed it to those kids to finish what we started this year,” Diaz told reporters in Philadelphia. “We’ve got an amazing thing going and there are some special guys. I just wanted to be with them one more time.
“I just felt like for me to do my duty as a coach to these young men, my job right now is unfinished. We’ve got one more chance to play and coach together, and I can’t wait for that.”
Diaz, a 44-year-old Miami native who for three seasons helped reshape the Hurricanes defense after joining Mark Richt’s staff in 2016, also had praise for his former boss.
Diaz thanked Richt for the opportunity to return to his hometown and be a part of the UM program, a move Diaz said helped prepare him for his first head coaching job, which now awaits at Temple.
Diaz also said he is quite confident that Miami’s defense will continue to succeed — even without him directing it.
“Mark Richt is a great man that’s going to win big at the University of Miami [and] there’s a lot of great players in that locker room that are going to win big at the University of Miami,” Diaz said. “Just like what we’re talking about with Temple, this is a program that has established that it’s bigger than any one person.
“The University of Miami has been playing football for a long time. It’s been playing great defense for a long time. Myself and the guys on the defensive staff, we’re humbled that we had an opportunity to play defense at the University of Miami’s standard.
“It’s nothing we invented; it’d been going on there long [before] I got into coaching. All kinds of coaches have run through national championships there. … That program belongs to the players down there and it’s bigger than any one man or one person. I know those guys will be fine in the future.”
That said, the challenge now for Richt and Miami is to find a replacement who can sustain and build on the success Diaz had in Coral Gables.
While the Hurricanes endured a four-game losing streak this year and finished with a disappointing 7-5 regular-season record, Diaz’s group wasn’t the reason for Miami’s struggles.
The unit finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the nation in total defense, allowing opponents an average of just 268.3 yards per game and 4.16 yards per play, which ranks third in the nation.
With Diaz at the helm, the Hurricanes also had the nation’s toprated passing defense, with opponents managing an average of just 140.8 yards per game. And Miami was the national leader in opponent third-down-conversion percentage, allowing teams to convert just 41 of their 173 opportunities.
Diaz’s aggressive, attacking style was also popular with recruits, and with the early signing period now less than a week away, the Hurricanes will be tasked with trying to salvage an already-sagging recruiting class that took another hit after Diaz’s departure was announced.
Two 2019 prospects — threestar cornerback Jarvis Brownlee of Carol City and three-star linebacker Samuel Brooks of Miami Northwestern — both announced via Twitter in the last 24 hours that they were backing away from their verbal commitments to the Hurricanes. Two more 2020 UM recruits — three-star safety Jaiden Francois and four-star linebacker Keshawn Washington — have also backed away from their verbal commitments
Still, some prospects have said they intend to stick with Miami despite not yet knowing who their defensive coordinator will be.
“I am still solid with the University of Miami,” four-star defensive end Jahfari Harvey told Canesport.com. “I trust Coach Richt to hire a great defensive coordinator and I wish Manny Diaz the best at Temple.”
As for Richt, he too had praise for Diaz on Thursday, saying in a statement: “In his three years in Coral Gables, Manny proved to be one of the top assistant coaches in the country and did an unbelievable job leading our defense. I have no doubt that he will experience great success as a head coach and we wish him, Steph, Colin, Gavin and Manny all of the best.”
Richt went on to say the Hurricanes would launch a nationwide search for their new defensive coordinator, though there was no indication of a timeline or whether a new coordinator will be hired before the early signing period begins Wednesday.
“We have already received great interest from around the country,” Richt said. “Our football program, our university and our facilities are among the best in the country, and coaches want to be a part of something special.
“Our coaches are on the road recruiting the next generation of Canes, and I am excited about the young men scheduled to sign with us next week.”
One thing Diaz did say would stay in Miami is the Hurricanes’ famed turnover chain, which he helped create ahead of the 2017 season.
That year, while Miami rose as high as No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings, the chain became a viral sensation. It has become a fan favorite, Miami’s players love it and more than a few recruits have said they can’t wait to wear the gaudy gold chain when they force a turnover as a Hurricane.
Diaz, though, said Temple fans shouldn’t be surprised if the Owls have an incentive prop of their own next fall.
“The turnover chain, I think, will always belong to the University of Miami,” he said. “That was never about me to begin with anyway. It was a Miami thing, and once it was born it could never go away. I think it’s part of the culture now at the University of Miami. That’s not to say that there may not be something that fits Philadelphia. … I still think players like to have incentives for making plays. We’ve got nine months to figure [something] out.”