Manny Diaz’s ‘New Miami’ begins Tuesday on a football field with QB question at forefront
Nearly three months have passed since we last saw the Miami Hurricanes perform on a football field, a sorry sight for those fans who believed (or didn’t believe) the Canes had a chance to defeat Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl.
On Tuesday, The New Miami — the Manny-Diaz-coined slogan that has blossomed into a full-blown Miami mantra — makes its entrance in Diaz’s first official practice as UM’s head coach as spring practice gets underway at the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility.
After UM announced Monday that soon-to-be redshirt sophomore quarterback Cade Weldon will be transferring, the pressing question that revolves around the most important position on the team was thrust back into the spotlight.
Who’s the quarterback?
It’s a question we keep asking not only because former starter Malik Rosier exhausted his eligibility, but because as of Monday morning there still wasn’t an update on enrolled signal-caller Tate Martell.
Martell, the 2016 Gatorade Player of the Year when he played with UM starting tight end Brevin Jordan and future UM safety transfer Bubba Bolden at Las Vegas Gorman Bishop High, transferred to UM from Ohio State in January and was still awaiting word from the NCAA on a waiver he submitted that, if approved, would allow him to play immediately in 2019. Should Martell get the NCAA approval to play this season instead of sitting out the customary NCAA-mandated season for nongraduate transfers, the quarterback race would take on a new dimension.
Unless Martell’s waiver is approved, the main quarterbacks in the 2019 race will be rising redshirt sophomore N’Kosi Perry, a part-time starter last season who showed flashes of excellence but in the long run underwhelmed; and rising redshirt freshman Jarren Williams, a highly rated former prep quarterback who could be the X factor.
Martell, however, will still participate fully in spring practice.
Perry started six games in 2018, completing 97 of 191 passes for 1,091 yards and 13 touchdowns, with six interceptions. He rushed for another 169 yards and one touchdown.
Williams, an Army All-American who threw for more than 3,000 yards and 28 touchdowns with just four interceptions his senior year at Lawrenceville (Georgia) Central Gwinnett High, played in one game and completed one pass for 17 yards, and rushed for a goal-line touchdown.
Peyton Matocha, a 6-4, 199-pound incoming freshman from Houston’s St. Thomas High, will arrive on campus to begin competing this summer.
“We don’t really address it very much,’’ Diaz said regarding Martell’s situation in his last public interview Thursday on WQAM. “No. 1, it’s outside of our control and 2 we don’t play a game in a week or so. So, it really doesn’t matter. … Certainly the quarterback position will be a very high-profile battle. But let’s find out what we got, let’s get everybody running a new offense, learning a new way of going about things and really regardless next Tuesday we’ll be out there and see what the guys can handle.’’
When Diaz was asked which players among the newcomers, including freshmen and transfers, had stood out in UM’s offseason workouts, the coach praised graduate transfer receiver K.J. Osborn, early enrollee freshman offensive lineman Zion Nelson and fellow early enrollee freshman receiver Jeremiah Payton.
Osborn, 6-0 and 205 pounds, had 53 catches for 892 yards and seven touchdowns last season at Buffalo. He’s from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and spent his last year of high school at IMG Academy in Bradenton.
“K.J. Osborn has really, really asserted himself as exactly what we thought he would be, which is an off-the-charts guy in terms of leadership, work ethic and toughness — really has earned the respect of everybody in the locker room.”
Diaz said the 6-5, 240-pound Nelson, a former three-star prospect who played tackle at Sumter High in South Carolina, has proven his physical prowess.
“The tug-of-war drills — there was some toughness and physicality really required,’’ Diaz said. “That’s always going to be harder for the linemen. And to see a guy like him come in and compete the way he competes and to show the toughness he has shown in front of the entire football team, I think he’s gone a long way in terms of earning the respect of the locker room.”
Diaz said the 6-1, 186-pound Payton — a former Neptune Beach Fletcher High Under Armour All-American who was rated by ESPN.com the sixth-best wideout in the nation — has “established himself as a very hard-working guy who has got some toughness about him as well.’’
Except for three scrimmages, including the April 20 spring game at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, the Hurricanes are expected to practice indoors pretty much the entire five weeks as Greentree Field gets resodded. Diaz will no doubt address how or if practicing indoors affects outdoor play in terms of climate and turf. Practices are closed to the public.
We will also learn how much, if at all, Diaz changes the practice format from former coach Mark Richt. Diaz has been assertive in putting his touch on pretty much every part of the program, so it won’t be surprising if he institutes any changes.
This story was originally published March 18, 2019 at 12:18 PM.