Diaz wants to restore lore of ‘Quarterback U’

CORAL GABLES – Miami Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz has, for most of his career, focused on the defensive side of the ball, primarily teaching linebackers and safeties.

But as he settles into his first job as a head coach, he knows if the Hurricanes are going to turn the tide after a 7-6 season, fixing Miami’s quarterback play has to be one of his major priorities.

He reiterated that fact on Wednesday morning during a radio appearance with WQAM-560’s Joe Rose and Zach Krantz, noting that in the past, when Miami was successful it was because the Hurricanes had a topnotch quarterback leading both on and off the field.

“Look at the great Miami Hurricanes teams of the past. They weren’t just winning all those games with an OK guy at quarterback. They weren’t winning games with a guy that was just sort of managing things. They were winning with big-time guys,” Diaz said. “This was ‘Quarterback U’ for a long time. We have to create as much competition at that spot to have a guy not sort of win [the job] because he’s the best of the OK guys. We need a guy that can win and that can behave and act like a big-time guy in everything he does to take us where we need to go.”

Last season, finding that kind of quarterback proved to be a tall task for former Hurricanes coach Mark Richt, whose abrupt retirement on Dec. 30 paved the way for Diaz — his former defensive coordinator — to take over.

Miami alternated starts between redshirt senior Malik Rosier and redshirt freshman N’Kosi Perry, who were both inconsistent.

Rosier — who helped lead the Hurricanes to 10 wins in his first year as a starter in 2017 — completed just 53 percent of his passes for 1,053 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions, including three in Miami’s ugly 35-3 seasonending loss to Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Perry, meanwhile, completed 51 percent of his passes for 1,091 yards with 13 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also was involved in several embarrassing social media snafus that forced Richt and Miami to comment publicly and address the issues internally.

Perry was suspended for Miami’s opener against LSU after violating an undisclosed team rule. Fellow quarterbacks Cade Weldon and Jarren Williams were also suspended during the season and maturity in the quarterbacks room became an issue that plagued Richt and his son, quarterbacks coach Mark Richt.

And as the Hurricanes went about preparing for the Pinstripe Bowl, recruiting website 247Sports.com reported in the span of 24 hours that Williams — a four-star prospect out of Georgia who saw limited playing time last year — was transferring, then staying at Miami.

The potential of losing Williams or any of his young quarterbacks puts Diaz in a delicate situation as he begins trying to fix his team’s most visible position. But the coach stressed competition will be essential. He added that while he’s open to bringing in either a graduate transfer or a freshman that will challenge the current quarterbacks on the roster, it’s quite possible Miami’s quarterback of the future is already in Coral Gables.

“We have a very simple job as a coaching staff — we have to field the best quarterback the University of Miami can field next year. And there’s no doubt that the solution to that problem may be on our campus right now,” Diaz said. “But, we have to make sure that we examine all possible solutions and if we do create competition, whether it’s from the outside or whatever, that’s why whoever comes from the outside, no one is guaranteed anything.

“It’s going to get back to the way it was. It’s going to get back to getting on the Greentree Practice Field and winning out there.”

LYNNE SLADKY/AP As coach Manny Diaz continues to settle into his new job, one of the challenges he faces is finding ways to fix Miami's offense and play from quarterbacks like Jarren Williams, above.