Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Diaz gets a shot at Brown
Hurricane Dorian not expected to affect the ACC opener at UNC
CORAL GABLES — With Miami coach Manny Diaz set to lead his Hurricanes in an ACC game for the first time and face off against another mentor, Diaz fully expects the Saturday 8 p.m. kickoff to go on as scheduled — despite Hurricane Dorian accelerating up the East Coast toward the Carolinas on Wednesday.
“It shouldn’t be an issue,” Diaz said, “and if you look at all the projections right now, where it is and where Raleigh and Chapel Hill are, I don’t see any effect on the game.”
The North Carolina coast is on hurricane warning, but UNC’s Kenan Memorial Stadium is nearly a threehour drive from the coast. Diaz doesn’t expect any alterations in travel on Friday.
“All of our routine should be the same,” he said.
So with everything on track, Diaz gets his first shot at UNC coach Mack Brown. Diaz worked under Brown as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Texas from 2011-13. That makes his first two games as a head coach against former bosses, after playing his former coach Dan Mullen and Florida in the opener in Orlando on Aug. 24.
“He had won a lot of games and they had a lot of success winning a lot of games,” said Diaz of Brown, who is in his first season of his second stint leading the Tar Heels, after a successful run with the Longhorns that included a national championship in 2005. “When you get on one of those runs like what Texas had for a while, it can look easy, and it’s never easy. So you learn like you do from every head coach — a little bit of ins and outs of the program and some of the things that make them successful. And you get a chance to choose some of those and incorporate into your program.”
Brown resigned fromTexas after the 2013 season and spent time as a commentator and analyst at ESPN before returning to Chapel Hill, where he also coached UNC from 1988 to 1997.
Diaz said what he learned most under Brown went beyond X’s and O’s.
“There’s some procedural stuff and it’s hard to get into specifics,” Diaz said, “but, yeah, there are some ways that — the way you engage with people around your program that I thought he had a great knack for and some of the things on the inside that are more trade secrets you don’t really talk about.”
While UNC has won five games in the past two seasons combined, the Tar Heels appear to be no slouch now under Brown’s leadership. North Carolina won its opener against South Carolina 24-20 with the ground game effective, freshman Sam Howell showing poise in his first start and the defense appearing formidable.
As Hurricane Dorian first threatened Florida the past week before a projected turn north, the Hurricanes football team did not miss a beat down in Coral Gables.
“We did not miss a day, we did not miss a practice,” Diaz said. “We had to make some adjustments. We were in great communication. The people on campus did a great job of communicating to us, and obviously, making sure the safety of our players was first and foremost.
“And then you have to think about this now: We all know from our personal experience, but on Friday in our team meeting we put up a map and this thing was headed right to West Palm Beach, and the amount of our players that it could have affected or players’ families it could’ve affected at that point — the amount of guys we have that are from Palm Beach County through Duval, even the Southeast coast of the country is dramatic. And obviously the fact that it didn’t come here, well, now that’s caused devastation for the Bahamas, and it still may cause devastation further up the coastline, so we’re not happy it didn’t come here, but obviously it was on everyone’s minds and all of our players’ minds as we were preparing for this game.”
Diaz said the offensive line, after the Gators had 10 sacks against the Hurricanes, has responded well in practice but downplayed the line’s need to respond and turned the focus to the entire offensive unit.
Njoku’s move
Diaz said he has kept the depth chart the same from the opener, but Evidence Njoku, who was previously playing wide receiver but not appearing on the depth chart, announced a move to tight end on Twitter on Tuesday.
“I think he’ll do well,” receiver K.J. Osborn said of Njoku. “Obviously, he’s got to learn the playbook from the tight end perspective and their techniques, but he’s got a big body. He’ll be a fast tight end. I’m not sure if they want to put weight on him or anything, but I think he’ll do well.”
Bolden uncertainty
Diaz was asked about safety Bubba Bolden’s status after he was still ineligible following the transfer from Southern Cal, missing the opener against UF.
“Still waiting to hear,” Diaz said.