‘Spread’ the word: Miami Hurricanes about to ‘dramatically’ change their offense
University of Miami coach Manny Diaz saw the ugliness that everyone else saw last Thursday in the Independence Bowl, and Monday he said he’s about to do something about it.
Four days after Miami was embarrassed on national television in a shutout loss to Louisiana Tech, and three days after UM announced the firing of offensive coordinator Dan Enos, Diaz went on 560 WQAM and said he will switch to an up-tempo, spread offense.
“We’re going to get the tempo jacked up here,’’ Diaz told host Joe Rose on Monday. “We’re going to start to spread the ball out and get the ball to our athletes in space and do something here that hasn’t been done and people have not seen.”
He did, however, leave the door open for still incorporating some of the conventional, pro-style, dropback offense the Hurricanes have used for decades, saying “there’s no wonder scheme that solves all equations.”
Here’s how the conversation went:
Rose: “Dan Enos is now officially out. How many more coaches do you expect? Have you made up your mind yet on what direction you’re going to go and if a new coordinator comes in do you bring new coaches, let him pick some new coaches? What are you going to do there?”
Diaz: “Right now the whole focus is getting the right offensive coordinator. I’ve already spoken to probably seven or eight guys both at the college and pro level trying to find the guy that’s got the style of offense. We’re going to be a dramatic change in how we look on offense and the style that we play with.
“We’re going to get the tempo jacked up here. We’re going to start to spread the ball out and get the ball to our athletes in space and do something here that hasn’t been done and people have not seen. So, we’re trying to find the right guy to get that done.
“There are some outstanding candidates that are out there. Once we secure that guy, we do have good coaches on our staff, we’ll do what we always do and see what the proper fit is going forward.”
Rose: “Would you like to see more of the spread offense?”
“Spread is definitely sort of an ambiguous word. There are all kinds of different kinds of spread offenses. There is no doubt there is a style of play in college football that is dominant at the top of the top 25 chart.
“So, yes. ‘’
Added Diaz: “There’s no wonder scheme that solves all equations. However, there are better ways to utilize your personnel and get things going and that’s what you’re seeing now in college football and that’s what we’re going to model ourselves after as well.”
Rose inquired about the quarterback situation, in particular redshirt freshman starter Jarren Williams, who finshed 9 of 20 for 94 yards, with one interception, against the Bulldogs.
“What amazed me the most watching the game [was that] Jarren Williams, even on short passes, just didn’t look like the guy I saw throwing touchdowns against FSU and Louisville,’’ Rose said. “What happened to Jarren Williams?”
Diaz: “Well, that’s the greatest mystery. If I showed you the lead-up two weeks prior to, we were really trying to decide… We had the same question after FIU and Duke, right? So you get into December and say, ‘Hey listen, let’s make sure we’re competing and trying to do everything right.’
“If I showed you the practice film of him just hitting his drops and ripping it down the field you’d say, ‘Ok, this is the guy that we see the good in.’
“So, whatever happened in terms of whether it was losing his confidence after the FIU game or whatever it was, something obviously broke — whatever the disconnect is. Look, it’s been the same way around here for a while now. We’ve got to get the quarterback fix solved. We have seen glimpses this year that when the quarterback thing looks solved, the Miami Hurricanes look like a pretty good damned outfit. When the quarterback thing looks like it’s not solved, we look pretty poor.
“.. It’s all still fixable, and it’s all still there in front of us.”
UM redshirt sophomore N’Kosi Perry also played in the bowl, going 5 of 13 for 52 yards with an interception. And redshirt sophomore transfer Tate Martell, a spread-style quarterback, got his first UM action as a signal caller, competing in one series and throwing one pass for a 7-yard completion in a drive that lasted six plays and gained 7 yards.
Keep in mind that UM signed consensus four-star, pro-style quarterback prospect Tyler Van Dyke on Dec. 18, but that Van Dyke was recruited by Enos and as of early Monday there had been no public comments from Van Dyke on the firing. However, Van Dyke’s Suffolk (Connecticut) Academy coach Drew Gamere told the Miami Herald on Monday that even though he has “respect for’’ Enos and had a strong relationship with him, Van Dyke is “still excited’’ about being a Cane and will enroll as planned in January.
Rose also asked Diaz if Enos news that was reported by the Associated Press just before kickoff of the Independence Bowl was “supposed to leak out’’ and if it affected anybody during the game.
“Whatever the story that came out the decision wasn’t made to part ways until after the game,’’ Diaz responded. “The season is the season. The season ends after the bowl game. You owe it to the kids to finish the entire body of work. There was a lot of evaluation that went on during the bowl prep of the good, bad and indifferent…
“We still had a chance in the bowl game to see could there be potential for any improvement with the idea of, ‘Hey, this is something that can be turned around and get better’ ... Obviously the way that we performed in the bowl game just showed that was not the case.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 8:11 AM.
