Hyde: Diaz brings basics to defense
Diaz eschewed flashy fixes, used basic approach to repair ‘D’
Welcome to the Office of Ordinary.
There’s nothing sexy in here. Nothing fun. It’s filled with ordinary ideas such as using common sense, getting eight hours of sleep, never complaining, slogging away at your desk and keeping your radar up for what can be better.
This, right here, is the oh-so-ordinary office that saved the Miami Hurricanes football season.
All offseason, Miami worked from the Department of Flash.
Players jumped in a wrestling ring. Coaches boated up Miami River. It served a smart, narrative-changing purpose for a new regime. Everyone loved “The New Miami” to the point that those flashing “The U” handsignal should have said, “The New.”
But a month into the season, The New Miami was playing like The Same Miami. It was after a dismal home loss to Virginia Tech that firstyear head coach Manny Diaz did something from the Office of Ordinary: He began spending more time in practice with his struggling defense. “That’s it, really,” he said. It would be more fun if he changed schemes, dialed up more blitzes or invented the “46” defense again, right? But, nope, no new inventions, and he said the Hurricanes barely blitzed Saturday in their 27-10 win at Florida State.
What changed was everything else about this defense. Quarterback Jarren Williams provides the hope for big steps ahead, but the defense is the foundation. And a month ago, Diaz, who ran the defense the previous three years as coordinator, knew the unsexy problem.
“We were just lacking, somehow, player-to-player accountability,” he said. “I’ve been on teams where the collection of guys somehow just doesn’t click.
“The personalities we lost over the last year’s defense were far more important than losing me as a defensive play-caller. Gerald Willis, Jaquan Johnson, Sheldrick Redwine — we can go down the list.”
The truth was up there in lights, searing from the scoreboard in the way for all to see.
Giving up 42 points to Virginia Tech? No turnovers in their
two ACC games? This defense was common in a manner it hadn’t been the previous three seasons under Diaz.
“Defense is about connectivity, trusting each other and playing together,” Diaz said. “We looked like we didn’t have that. I felt like I had to jump in and try to be the glue to bring everyone together.
“After every play in practice, if there were any gray areas of communication or trust, I’d hop in. I told them, ‘I’m here to exist in the gray areas.’ ”
Since Virginia Tech scored those 42 points, the Hurricanes defense has been on the field for 41 points in four ACC games (Georgia Tech scored two touchdowns with the defense off the field).
Miami is 3-1 in those games.
Its season has a chance again. Its players are developing too. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
“Everyone seems to think the Greg Rousseau of right now was available to us all along,’’ Diaz said.
Rousseau had three sacks at Pittsburgh and four at Florida State. That can help this defense to another level.
Miami isn’t playing great football or had a signature win just yet. Still, it’s telling how much one win changes everything.
Florida State is in soulsearching shambles today, with coach Willie Taggart fired and the school trusting the same officials who hired him just 21 games ago to find a successor.
Miami, at 5-4, has a chance thanks to this defensive turnaround.
“It’s closer,’’ Diaz said. “You’ve got to do it every week.
“We played well against Virginia, then tackled very poorly against Georgia Tech. And now [Louisville] is better than the offenses we’ve seen.”
It was fun how The New Miami came into being with flash and noise to accompany the loud creation of Diaz’s Turnover Chain. There was a time for that. But there’s also a time for making smart, commonsense decisions that don’t make big headlines.
Even The New Miami, you see, needs an Office of Ordinary.