Manny Diaz: ‘I get a little weary’ of July, Aug., Sept. talk. And what about fall camp?
“When something is taken away you realize how important it is,’’ a wise man once said. “We do see how important sports is to our culture.’’
That man: University of Miami football coach Manny Diaz, stuck at home like most of the rest of the nation, isolating himself with his family and practicing social distancing in the age of the coronavirus.
Diaz spoke Monday on 560 WQAM radio for the first time since spring practice ended March 6 after its fourth session that broke for spring break and never resumed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Look, we’re not special. We get to coach football, but everybody is in the same boat. Everybody is trying to live their lives through these crazy, trying times.’’
GROUNDHOG DAY
WQAM host Joe Rose wondered what the past few weeks have been like for Diaz.
The coach spoke about video conferencing each day with his staff and players. The athletes still need to “do everything right’’ academically, he said. “There is still a semester going on.’’
“No one has ever done this,’’ Diaz said. “For all of us obviously it’s been an adjustment. Certainly being around the family a lot more than we normally are has been a blessing. What we’ve tried to do as much as possible is create a structure for our football team... and tried to create a structure for our staff and get some sort of routine to the day.
“We all live and thrive off of routine and then to have that taken away and everyday have this sort of formless groundhog day that we wake up every day.”
WQAM co-host Zach Krantz asked Diaz if there has been any discussions with faculty and coaches about the football season possibly being pushed back.
“It is so far off,’’ Diaz said. “Today is April 6. We play on Sept. 5. That’s in five months. One month ago was March 6. That was our last spring practice.
“How has your guys’ world changed since March 6? So, trying to figure out what’s going to happen on May 6, let alone Sept. 6, we don’t have any idea what the world is going to look like in May. We do know to some point we can control it. What we do today will have a lot to say with what May 6 looks like. What we’re dealing with today has a lot to do with what we did, all of us as a society, two weeks ago.
“That’s kind of the trick to this...When people start poking their heads up and looking to September and to the fall, we’re taking our eye off the ball. All we can control right now is staying apart, staying healthy and staying safe.’’
Training camp talk
Joe Rose: “You can’t just practice a week or two and then go out and play. How many weeks do you need to feel comfortable?”
Diaz: “Need and want are two different things. Obviously on a normal calendar year we’re going to report to training camp in early August. [That’s] the thing that’s hard to answer about that question and I’ve seen people take swings at it.
“I get a little weary when people start talking about July, August, September right now. It’s going to be a little bit dependent on, ‘What social distancing rules are we coming out of? Are we coming out of something that has been a little bit more relaxed so guys can get back into time to work out? Is everyone coming in completely not trained?’
“Joe, you certainly remember when you played. Everybody showed up for training camp in August and played their way back into shape. Somehow you guys made it. A lot of great players showed up in August after hanging out all summer lifeguarding at the pool.
“All kinds of things have been done, so obviously there are needs and there are wants and…the main thing is let’s get everybody back healthy [and] let’s kind of get the country back moving again, and if those things happen the football part will solve itself.”
Virtual recruiting
Diaz also said virtual recruiting “has been fantastic’’ because “it has actually given our coaches a great way to really make some great connections.”
“We’ve all a little bit had our identity taken away from us because most people are not at work,’’ Diaz continued. “They call me a football coach, but I don’t get to coach a lot of football. The kids that they call football players, they’re not playing a lot of football right now. So we’re always trying to make that person-to-person connection. Our recruiting staff is doing a great job. We’ve really tried to take advantage of this period to really make some strong connections.”
Though Diaz and his staff are not allowed to supervise the players “during any type of video conferencing,’’ strength and conditioning coach David Feeley has been sending out videos of productive warmups and exercises they can do in their homes.
‘Alpha’ Canes working out
“We have guys lifting duffel bags filled with water bottles,’’ Diaz said. “It’s hard to find a weight right now to lift. It’s kind of crazy...They’re highly competitive guys. They’re all alphas. They want to get out and work, work, work and we want them to as well. But they’ve got to do it in a way that’s in line with the social distancing guidelines that we all have to follow.’’
Other Diaz comments:
▪ On if he allowed new offensive line coach Garin Justice the autonomy to decide who should line up during the four days of spring: “Absolutely. Yeah. I have got a lot of faith in Garin Justice along with [new offensive coordinator] Rhett Lashlee. The guys at least saw a taste of what this could look like.’’
Football affecting other sports
▪ On if there’s any more pressure on him knowing how important football is financially to all the other college sports: “There’s another thought on that. How much have we learned about how important sports is for community? And how much have we learned about the power of community? When something is taken away you realize how important it is.
“I wonder if we won’t have a sort of renewed level of appreciation of ‘I was there’ and being in the stadium and cheering on whatever team, tailgating, the whole nine [yards]. When these things get taken away... we do see how important sports is to our culture. Certainly because we love the games but it is a sense of community.
“We’re evolutionary trained to want to belong to a group and that’s what sports does for us.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 10:07 AM.
