Johnson: ‘Best I’ve felt about theUina long time!’

Former UM, Dolphins coach loves the energy and ideas of Miami’s new coach Diaz

Past and present were supposed to meet for dinner and good counsel Wednesday night at Jimmy Johnson’s Key Largo restaurant, The Big Chill. But Johnson had a corporate speech that night, so a lastminute audible was called.

Coach Manny Diaz and his new Miami Hurricanes staff drove to the Keys on Tuesday night to meet the wise man on the mountain — or by the ocean, in this case, since Johnson’s six-acre slice of paradise in Tavernier dead ends into the Atlantic Ocean.

Johnson, at 75, is cutting down on the number of visits these days from the outside, from NFL owners to college coaches driving down A1A to pick his football mind. But UM remains his school. He wanted an up-close look at its next chapter.

Besides, unbeknownst to the new Miami coach, the former UM and Dolphins coach had been a fan since Diaz was Louisiana Tech’s defensive coordinator in 2014. He would watch their games on Saturdays with fellow Fox broadcaster Terry Bradshaw, a Louisiana Tech alum.

“I remember right away that year we said, ‘Geez, this guy is good,’ ” Johnson said of Diaz. “We were impressed. Terry would say, ‘He’s so good, we’re not going to be able to keep him.’

“When [Miami athletic director] Blake James talked to me about hiring Mark [Richt], I said, ‘I’m OK with Mark, but I’m excited about Manny. You’ve got one helluva defensive coordinator.’ So I’ve been following him for years.”

So they talked for three hours on Tuesday.

“We talked what football coaches talk about when they get together,’’ Johnson said. “We talked football. Everything from philosophy of the head coach being involved calling plays, calling defenses, overseeing special teams, recruiting — what we look for in recruiting, what was important, what wasn’t important.”

Johnson, to be sure, is against head coaches calling plays. They need to see the bigger picture, he thinks, especially in college where the demand on a coach’s time goes beyond X’s and O’s to dealing with alumni, administration and recruiting.

“Too many demands,’’ he said. They talked some school history. The titles. The stories. Johnson, for instance, told of being at a coach’s convention in Dallas in 1984 when he stepped on an elevator with Miami athletic director Sam Jankovich. Johnson was coaching Oklahoma State. Jankovich needed a coach to replace Howard Schnellenberger, who left for the USFL. He asked to pick Johnson’s brain about another coach.

“What about me?” Johnson said.

That started one of the great runs in college football, and Diaz knew that story. He read Johnson’s book. He grew up in Miami. And through their hours of talk, Johnson realized his view of Diaz from afar, from watching games, was confirmed up close in this meeting.

“I met Mark, but didn’t spend any time with him,’’ Johnson said. “But Manny’s my kind of guy. I love his energy. I love the enthusiasm. He’s a young, new head coach that’s excited about everything. He’s visited pro camps. He went and visited [Bill] Belichick. He knew Bill and I were close friends.

“He goes around studying other teams and other successful coaches, like any young, rising coach will do. He’s going to go to the best and learn from the best where an older coach is set in his ways. I’m impressed.”

“They trying to do the same stuff we did. Recruit South Florida. Attack. Get smaller guys if they can run. That’s what we were known for, that speed on defense. I liked what I heard.”

Johnson was just putting his boat back in the water Wednesday morning, and the fishing beckons him as football moves to the offseason. He sponsors a fishing tournament in March. His Fox pre-game show will be inducted into the Broadcast Hall of Fame in April. Somewhere out there, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will come to its senses and want him, too.

But those three hours with Diaz confirmed his hopes. As he tweeted out afterward, “Best I have felt about the U in a long time!”