A peek into approaches of UM’s Diaz and Enos
Several times in the past two weeks, we were treated to a glimpse into the personalities and approaches of University of Miami coach Manny Diaz and offensive coordinator Dan
Enos, arguably the two most significant figures in the Hurricanes football program.
What we witnessed wasn’t surprising, but it reinforced two notions:
1) Diaz has injected more energy and bravado into this program than arguably any Hurricanes coach since Jimmy Johnson and Butch Davis.
2) Enos is demanding and meticulous and a stickler for details, and that’s a big reason he tends to get the most out of the players he coaches, particularly quarterbacks.
Diaz was in classic form at a Hurricane Club event before the spring game in Orlando, serving up his unique blend of boldness and bravado.
“When the Canes show up, it’s a big event,” he told the adoring audience.
And then this: “One of the cruelest, unexpected effects of the turnover chain is we have a party on our sideline, and the other team is so jealous they weren’t invited. They watch on the JumboTron and say, ‘I wish I was at Miami.’ ”
And this: “You are either a Cane or you wish you are a Cane.”
When the subject of victory formation came up, Diaz cracked: “To me, we’re true Hurricanes. We run the score
up!”
The man certainly understands his audience and knows what they crave.
And Diaz is the most socialmedia savvy coach in Canes history.
As WQAM 560 play-by-play announcer Joe Zagacki passed him the microphone before the spring game, while leading the crowd in a chant of “Manny! Manny!” Diaz whipped out his cellphone and started filming the lathered-up audience on a live Instagram feed.
“Show everybody what’s up!” Diaz shouted.
Now Diaz knows the swagger must be backed up with on-field performance.
Meanwhile, watching Enos do his job this spring has been eyeopening. It’s not a coincidence that every starting quarterback who has started for Enos this decade — at Central Michigan, Arkansas and Alabama — immediately has seen enormous jumps in their completion percentages.
That’s a byproduct not only of Enos’ teaching skills, but also not letting any mistakes slide.
“The [three quarterbacks] are all getting accustomed to how I coach them,” he said. “I’m very demanding and I confront them to do it correctly all the time and I don’t take a play off because that’s not fair to them. All three are buying in. Sometimes I tell them, ‘Don’t listen to the tone; listen to the message.’ Part of the reason I tell them I coach them very hard is to make the games easier.”
After a poor practice in the final week of spring ball, he gathered the entire offense for “a heart to heart about the expectations, the standard we’re trying to set.”
Several times this spring, Enos could be heard admonished players who weren’t doing something correctly. Players who made mistakes were required to do push-ups.
And here’s the key point Enos tells his players, which he shared at a recent luncheon in Pinecrest: “The secret to a person’s success lies in their daily agenda. I want to be starting quarterback at The U, for example. When you go to bed at night, what did you do today to accomplish that goal? People ask, ‘How do you do deal with the stress?’ I tell our players there’s nothing to ever worry about as long as you’re prepared. And I teach them how to prepare.”
For players who want structure and to be coached to the max, Enos looks like the the ideal fit.
All of UM’s quarterbacks have improved their mechanics in their first five on-field weeks under his guidance.
Tate Martell’s accuracy jumped dramatically. So did N’Kosi Perry’s from last November. His pre-snap motion and varied offensive looks will undoubtedly help, but the biggest value to his hiring is coaching QBs.
Enos, who begins his day at 5:45 a.m. with a workout, told the Pinecrest audience that 10 years into his coaching career
(in 2001, as quarterbacks coach at Western Michigan) he was making only $26,500 and “my buddy from home said, ‘How do you do it? You don’t make any money.’ I said, ‘I don’t care. I love what I do. I love coaching. I‘m a teacher, I’m a mentor. I love being around these young men.’ ”
That’s one reason, he said, that he has spurned multiple overtures from NFL teams.
Enos changed changed coaching jobs 13 times — Miami is his 14th — but sees positives in that. “It’s a new journey every time we move,” Enos said of his family. “We’re helping our children build life skill lessons.”
Diaz has plenty of substance — he’s a master game tactician and an outstanding talent evaluator — but he won the offseason partly with his style.
And Enos has shown why he has a chance to fix the position at UM that hasn’t produced a long-term starting NFL quarterback this century.
It will be fascinating to see it play out.
CHATTER
Not only does Diaz’s 2020 recruiting class rank fourth in Rivals.com’s rankings, but Miami’s 10 four-star nonbinding commitments are the most in the country.
A We hear the player the Dolphins had interest in drafting, had they successfully moved down from 13th in the first round, was Mississippi State defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, who went 19th to the Tennessee Titans. But the Dolphins were thrilled with Christian Wilkins at 13.
NFL Network lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah hopes the Dolphins were fibbing when they say there will be a quarterback competition between Josh Rosen and Ryan Fitzpatrick.
“Come on, come on! It’s an evaluation year of Josh Rosen,” Jeremiah said. “He has to start Week One! They have to get him out there for an entire season so they can get a fair evaluation.
“And if it’s not good enough, they will not hesitate to take [a QB] the following year. I’m hopeful for him he will find some stability, find some success. That would be the luxury of all luxuries. Now that they’ve collected all these picks next year to not have to use one on a quarterback would be the best thing for them.”
The Marlins were probably right in moving on from Derek Dietrich (.196 for Reds), but they miscalculated in their conviction that they had found a multi-position gem in Rosell Herrera (.172). … Brian Anderson said the Marlins have told him they eventually want to move him back to third base permanently.