Podcast: Jeff Thomas returns, Tate Martell commits and Manny Diaz dominates Twitter
Manny Diaz might as well have been the head of the National Weather Service on Tuesday.
At 7:27 p.m., the new coach sent out a hurricane warning. His tweet had no words, just a GIF of a storm brewing somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean.
At 8:16 p.m., he might as well have said it was a Category 4 storm by the name of Hurricane Jeff. The Miami Hurricanes Twitterverse erupted into a frenzy. Just before 10 p.m., Jeff Thomas took to Instagram to clear up any confusion: The wide receiver was coming back to Coral Gables just a day after he told The News-Gazette in Champaign, Illinois, he was following through on a previously announced transfer to the Illinois Fighting Illini.
This was only the start of an absolutely wild five hours for Miami. When the Thomas frenzy died down, Diaz tweeted out one final GIF, this one a clip from MegaForce, which was nominated for the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture in 1983, depicting a headband-clad man saying, “Tomorrow.”
Apparently, Diaz meant “tomorrow” in the most literal sense. At 12:14 a.m., quarterback Tate Martell announced he was transferring to the Hurricanes after two seasons with the Ohio State Buckeyes. A four-star dual-threat quarterback in the 247Sports.com composite rankings for the Class of 2017, Martell could be Miami’s new quarterback of the future.
On the Eye on the U podcast this week, David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald, recap their Tuesday night spent staring at Twitter and Wednesday morning spent frantically writing all the breaking news. They break down what all this news means for the Hurricanes moving forward.
At the end of the show, it’s a quick schedule breakdown. The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its full slate for 2019, and Wilson and Degnan give their immediate reactions to what stands out about Miami’s 2019 schedule, which includes a five-game homestand, a road game at Marlins Park and only three trips outside Florida all year.
This story was originally published January 17, 2019 at 11:30 AM.