South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Raising the ’Canes
Diaz hopes to close gap before game against UF
ORLANDO — Manny Diaz and the Miami Hurricanes emerged from the cloud of white smoke and raced onto the field at Camping World Stadium.
The sight of the 45-year-old first-year coach sent an announced crowd of 9,102 UM fans into a frenzy.
The calendar may have read April, but the ’Canes got a sample of what they might experience on Aug. 24 during their season opener against rival Florida in the Camping World Kickoff.
From the moment he took the job, Diaz’s message has been simple: It’s a new day for Miami football.
If you needed a reminder, it was plastered on the large scoreboard before the start of the game. The phrase “The New Miami” greeted fans as they entered the stadium.
It’s a message Miami faithful have embraced after the Hurricanes posted a disappointing 7-6 record last year. Coach Mark Richt announced his surprise retirement after Diaz had left behind his UM defensive coordinator job to take over as head coach at Temple. Diaz changed course, leaving the Owls to take his dream job leading the Hurricanes.
Diaz closed his first round of spring football workouts by making a statement, invading the heart of Gator Country to better prep his team for a showdown with UF in Orlando.
“We were coming and we weren’t sure what to expect,”
Diaz said of the team’s three-plus hour trip up north. “The whole 36 hours were unbelievable.”
Diaz wanted his team to experience a typical road-game week, so the ’Canes did everything they would do normally do during a regular-season road trip — traveling on a bus and attending meetings in hotel ballrooms the night before the game.
“We created as similar as possible to what it’s going to be in August. The game, the crowd and all of that really exceeded my expectations. It was better than I wanted it to be,” Diaz said.
Senior linebacker Michael Pinckney said the time spent in Orlando this weekend should pay off when the team returns in 125 days.
“It’s not going to be a shock to our younger guys when we travel for the first week,” Pinckney said.
Players and coaches raved about fans who attended Saturday’s spring game, greeting many of them on the field after the Hurricanes’ defense edged the offense 35-32 using a modified scoring system Diaz and his staff developed.
Miami won’t settle its starting-quarterback race until preseason camp. Fans got a chance to see candidates Tate Martell, N’Kosi Perry and Jarren Williams all toss touchdown passes Saturday.
The Hurricanes were looking for every advantage they could squeeze out of Saturday’s dress rehearsal for the opener against Florida.
During their heydays, the two programs were perennial powers and were ranked in the top 25 during six of their past eight meetings.
Yet it’s the Gators who will enter the 2019 matchup with more momentum after a turnaround season during which the team won 10 games, including a New Year’s Six bowl. UF followed that up by landing the program’s first top-10 recruiting class since 2014. And the Gators will most likely enter this coming season ranked in the top 10 for the first time since 2013.
“It’s going to be a monster game for both teams,” said Richt, who attended Saturday’s game after being named a college football analyst for the ACC Network. “To start the college football season, [it will] probably be the only college football game on TV at that time, I think. Everybody in the world is going to be watching it and can’t wait to see any college game, let alone the Miami-vs.Florida game.”
Diaz, who developed the wildly popular turnover chain to coax maximum effort out of the Hurricanes’ defense, wants his entire roster to bring the energy that will help close the gaps between Miami and Florida.
He suggested Saturday the Hurricanes are off to a good start.
“What should the minimum expectation be when you come to see the Miami Hurricanes play? You should see a team that loves playing for each other, a team that plays with physicality and a team that plays with toughness,” Diaz said. “And we saw all of those today.”