Diaz will debut vs. ex-mentor

UM coach worked under UF’s Mullen at Mississippi St.

CORAL GABLES — When Manny Diaz makes his head coaching debut Saturday night for the Miami Hurricanes against the No. 8 Florida Gators in Orlando’s Camping World Stadium, he will do it versus a former mentor.

Diaz was defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under Florida coach Dan Mullen for two different seasons when Mullen led Mississippi State. It was 2010, and then again in 2015, after Diaz left the Bulldogs to coach Texas’ defense for three seasons and then Louisiana Tech in 2014.

For Diaz, it was a game in 2009 when he was coordinator for Middle Tennessee State where he feels he made an impression on Mullen, then in his first year as a head coach after a successful stint as UF’s offensive coordinator, to hire him that offseason.

“Mississippi State in 2009 came to Middle Tennessee, and they had Anthony Dixon, who was an All-SEC running back,” Diaz recalls. “We had a bunch of little feisty Blue Raiders that were trying to grab his heels and get him on the ground.

“What you want in this profession, you want your résumé to be your tape and you want your résumé [to be] actually what you put on the field and not making phone calls or running the hallways at the convention.

… Whatever it was we put on tape prior to scouting us and on that day, he had an idea when he had a defensive coordinator spot open. After the year, we got in contact that way.”

Mullen remembers his train of thought after going up against a Diaz-led defense, in a game Mississippi State won, 27-6.

“After we played him, I put his name in my folder as people to consider if the position came open,” Mullen told reporters in Gainesville on Monday. “And then afterwards, meeting him and found out just, you know, how intelligent he was. He had the energy, he had an interesting scheme, he wasn’t afraid to think outside the box with his scheme and then had the intelligence to back it up.”

The two, who each said that they still get along, used “outside the box” to describe each other’s approach to coaching football on their respective sides of the ball, Mullen an offensive wiz, like Diaz with his defense.

“I think Dan and I have always seen the game through a similar lens,” Diaz said last week. “He’s always tried to be very creative. He’s always been a very demanding coach to make sure his guys perform.

“I think that’s why we’ve always mixed well together when we’ve been together.”

Their results together showed. Mississippi State went 9-4 in 2010 and 2015, and the Bulldogs have only had one 10-win season (2014) this millennium.

Diaz knows it’s a challenge against Mullen. For one, because Mullen, taking over the Gators last season and converting a four-win team in 2017 to 10-3 a year ago, has a leg up with the continuity on his staff after Diaz revamped the entire offensive side since taking over Miami following Mark Richt’s retirement.

Much of Mullen’s staff at UF was with him at Mississippi State, including both coordinators in Todd Grantham (defensive) and co-offensive coordinators John Hevesy and Billy Gonzales.

“They’ve been together a long time,” Diaz said. “You’ve heard me talk in the last eight months how important staff synergy is and chemistry and unity and how the players respond to that. Well, he’s got that on his offensive staff, and that’s what we’ve been trying to build here on our defensive staff.”

Mullen’s creativity as a play-caller heightens the attention to detail and chess match UM will be up against.

“I’m sure he’ll have a few wrinkles that he hasn’t shown us before,” said Miami defensive coordinator Blake Baker. “We always have to be alert for a new wrinkle that he hasn’t shown us. I’m sure he has something in his back pocket.”

Diaz feels there won’t be a familiarity advantage either way on Saturday night.

“We know him, and he knows us,” Diaz said.

“Just get on the grass, and it’s going to come down to all the standards of who can block and who can get off blocks who can cover and who can throw and catch.”