Miami AD on offseason of staff changes: Manny Diaz ‘as good as any coach’ at evaluating
It was a third consecutive offseason spent tinkering and reshaping the Miami Hurricanes’ coaching staff for Manny Diaz.
When Miami hired Diaz in the final days of 2018, he replaced the entire offensive staff. After a sub-.500 debut season in 2019, Diaz changed his offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.
The first weeks and months of 2021 have been spent focusing on the defense, with new defensive line, linebackers, defensive backs and cornerbacks coaches all in place since the end of last season, and the staff is apparently still changing.
The constant changes have the Hurricanes in a better place than they were when Diaz took over and Blake James is supportive of the latest batch of coaching changes.
“He, I think, is as good as any coach of really evaluating what needs to get better and what changes need to take place in order for us to get better,” the athletic director said. “He’s got — already just in a short window — a track record of showing that he’s willing to make changes and so far the changes that he’s made have really worked out well.”
Only one assistant coach — strikers coach Jonathan Patke — has not changed since the day Diaz took over, and the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach have changed multiple times. The inside linebackers coach could also be changing for the second time as Travis Williams is set to reunite with UCF Knights coach Gus Malzahn and become the new defensive coordinator in Orlando, ESPN reported.
The inside linebackers coach has been in Coral Gables for less than three weeks.
James said he was not aware of Williams’ decision — he said he hadn’t even yet met the new position coach — but he was supportive of the move.
“I’ve heard the speculation that Travis would have an opportunity to become defensive coordinator and work with Coach Malzahn at Central Florida. When you look at it from that perspective, it’s an opportunity for him to further improve his situation,” James said. “As you know, that’s not his role here with us. Anytime someone leaves, you’re disappointed. The timing, though — it’s part of the industry that we live in. It’d be hypocritical to question it in one case, but be happy and fine with it when it benefits you in another.”
One of Diaz’s biggest offseason decisions was to leave the defensive coordinator post unfilled. On Feb. 3, Diaz clarified he will serve as the de facto coordinator — the same role he held from 2016-2018 before he left for an 18-day stint as coach of the Temple Owls — and James said the decision was the product of discussions between the two about the direction of the program following a season-ending two-game losing streak.
“We did talk about the balance of being the head coach versus being a coordinator. We had an open conversation, back and forth. Manny feels very confident in what his role will be and really in the support that he’ll receive from the staff that’s around him to have us ready to go on game day,” James said. “A lot of conversations about, first, what his thoughts were after the season was over on what we need to look at doing differently, and how we would do that and who would help. I don’t think I would call it a stamp of approval. I would call it a good open dialogue and understanding what our expectations are of our football program, and there’s not a person who understands it more clearly than Manny. And I’m excited to continue to support him and that we’ve been able to make the changes we have, and I’m confident things will equate to even greater success in the future.”
‘Full crowd’ at Miami-Alabama?
James spent about 12 minutes talking with reporters for the first time in 2021 on Tuesday as part of Miami baseball media and he began by addressing the attendance situation for Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field this season.
The Hurricanes, he said, are still trying to finalize a plan, but he expects attendance to be somewhere around 20 percent capacity, ideally beginning with Miami’s home opener Feb. 26 against the Virginia Tech Hokies.
James said he was meeting with campus leadership later in the day Tuesday and a formal plan could be announced in the next few days.
“When we feel it’s right for our campus, at that point we’re going to open that up, but, yes, the plan is that we’ll have fans at some point,” James said. “I’m hoping by opening night versus Virginia Tech.”
James also offered some early insight about the potential of fans at football games next season, beginning with the Hurricanes’ opener against the Alabama Crimson Tide in September in Atlanta.
“I’m encouraged, with the further distribution of the vaccine and in people taking the steps that need to be taken, that we’ll be able to open up in Atlanta with, I’m going to hope for, a full crowd and that’s the same opportunity that we’ll have back here in Miami,” James said, “but I think it’s too early on to make a real prediction.”
