Manny Diaz: ‘We’re about to go through a week unlike any I’ve had in my coaching career’
In his first virtual appearance Wednesday since announcing on Twitter last Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, Miami Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz said he will be back at practice when it resumes Monday, but he’s not yet sure of others — including coaches — who will be unavailable.
A somewhat weary-looking Diaz, speaking to the media about the effects of COVID-19 on his program, said “the floodwaters finally caught up to us’’ and that the Hurricanes have learned firsthand “the relentless nature of this virus,’’ regardless of having respect for it since the beginning of the pandemic. “We can see what’s going on with the numbers and where they’re headed and it’s hard to stop.’’
“I will be there in person,’’ Diaz, who said on a Zoom video conference that he was gradually improving. “I’ll be back when we get back out on the field, so, in terms of what it looks like, we’ve got to plan all that. We’ve got to figure out exactly who we all have back, not just player-wise, but staff-wise.
“What is it, Wednesday? Next week, we’re still talking about five days away, so you’re still waiting on, ‘Are people symptomatic? Are they not symptomatic?’ You’ve got kind of a timer that’s going off on people.”
Added Diaz: “We’re about to go through a week next week that will be for certain unlike any other week I’ve had in my coaching career.’’
The Hurricanes (7-1, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who were ranked No. 10 on Tuesday night in the first 2020 College Football Playoff rankings, are in the midst of a coronavirus outbreak among several players and likely coaches. The outbreak forced a two-week program halt in which the Canes shut down the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility, with “a very small group of prior positives’’ doing “some outdoor socially distant running,’’ Diaz said, with limited conditioning.
The ACC rescheduled Miami’s final three games, the first of which is set for Dec. 5 at Winston-Salem, North Carolina, against Wake Forest.
But Wake Forest also has COVID-19 issues, and last Wednesday announced it would not play its Nov. 21 rivalry game at Duke because of coronavirus in the Demon Deacons program.
Wake Forest game
“The Wake Forest question, that all gets handled through the administrative level and the league, but, to your point, they are, by accounts, going through the same thing that we are, obviously not having played for a couple weeks,’’ Diaz said, when asked if he’s concerned by the long layoff and if he keeps in touch with Wake Forest. “We keep talking to the team about in 2020 how we have to prepare for the game will be different. The only thing that this reminds me of a little bit is when we took off, I think, nine days for Irma in 2017 and the guys kind of came back.
“But even then we had the entire team back. Obviously, we went to Orlando [to prepare] for a week. This is going to be different.
“There are going to be guys coming back different times next week, guys getting cleared Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and even Friday. But we have told our team all year long, whenever they allow us to kick off against Wake Forest, when that foot hits the ball, no one’s going to care and it’s going to be about our performance.”
Diaz, one of 18 FBS coaches to reveal a positive test, per Sports Illustrated’s @RossDellenger, said among his symptoms have been “a lot of headaches’’ but that he is “feeling a little better.’’
“There are so many different [coronavirus] stories in our program,’’ he said. “I feel fortunate. I feel like I was kind of in the middle of the gamut. But we’ve had some people that have gone through it and it’s no fun. It’s something that should be taken seriously and hopefully we’re getting past it.’’
Practice next week
Diaz said the UM coaches next week must “be creative’’ and gradual on how they’ll prepare, as “it’s going to be an evolving roster throughout next week as we get guys back not just from different types of quarantine but also from different types of clearance from our medical personnel.’’
“Some guys might be able to get walk-throughs,’’ Diaz said, “some guys might be able to get practice. And then we’ll see what we have on Friday and go play...
“I’m very proud of what we’ve accomplished so far,’’ the coach said in terms of being ranked No. 10 among the CFP’s top 25, adding that it is “a sign of respect.’’
“But we also know that we still have games left to play and nobody remembers where anybody was ranked Thanksgiving weekend, so there’s still a lot to do. Our team, just talking to them, recognizes that there’s another chapter, that we’re not done yet. This team has more to do, and how we finish is still all in front of us.’’
End of season
After Wake Forest (4-3, 3-3), the Canes are scheduled to face CFP No. 19 North Carolina (6-2, 6-2) on Dec. 12 at Hard Rock Stadium and conclude the regular season at home Dec. 19 against Georgia Tech (2-5, 2-4) — unless they qualify for the ACC title game the evening of Dec. 19.
“I want to play as many games with this football team as I can,’’ Diaz said. “I love coaching this team, I love watching the way they play for each other. If they let us play 10 more games, I’d love to play 10 more games.
“We understand that every game we have left is not promised to us and we kind of look at it as a blessing. We kind of felt that way — shoot— the UAB [first] game. Remember, this is still the game they told us all summer long was never going to happen. So, we’re thankful we’ve played eight, we’re thankful we’re 7-1 and ranked 10th.
“But man, we do have a bunch of guys that really want to go back out there and play for each other and play for Miami.”
This story was originally published November 25, 2020 at 2:17 PM.
