The back story on how UM could have had Alonzo Highsmith without paying a dime but said no
Among the untold stories of this era of Hurricanes football:
UM could have had Alonzo Highsmith evaluating players — a skill he cultivated during more than two decades as an NFL scout and executive — and oversee the football program without needing to pay a dime out of its budget to hire him.
Dan Lambert — the Miami Hurricanes booster, NIL pioneer and founder of a mixed martial arts team and gym — confirmed to me what two sources previously had shared: That Lambert — following Diaz’s 6-7 first season in 2019 — offered to pay Highsmith’s full salary, over multiple years, to work for the Hurricanes. And the university declined.
Lambert — who gave every UM scholarship player a $500 monthly payment this season to promote his business under new NCAA rules — offered the background on the Highsmith story and his meetings with then-athletic director Blake James in a conversation with the Miami Herald before UM’s roundtable discussion featuring former players last Thursday in Miami Lakes.
Highsmith, 56, remains in play for a potential role with UM moving forward. He currently is working in the Seattle Seahawks’ scouting department.
“After the first year of Manny’s tenure, donors sat down with Blake,” Lambert said. “There were some people that had some grievances and let him know that they weren’t happy with the product on the field. I said nothing at that point. I was waiting for everybody else to talk.
“I said I have a simple question for you: ’If you did not have the budgetary concerns that we always hear as excuses and you had the money available to do something big — whether it’s coaching, staff, facilities, whatever it is — I’m not telling you what it has to be, but assume you had that, what would you do? Before you answer, know that the people across this table are willing to make a commitment. If what you say excites us, we’ll come back with the money you’re asking for.’
“I said, ‘Before I leave, I’ll write you a check for half a million bucks and I’ll go out and take these people with me right now who have some crazy contacts and we’ll go hit the pavement with their contacts and go raise the money. Give me something good.’ I didn’t say, ‘you have to fire Manny Diaz or you have to do this.’
“I asked [James], ‘What would you do?’ His answer was ‘I’ll probably hire a couple more analysts and improve the locker room.’ I said, ‘Come on, seriously! It was a serious question. Give me a serious answer.’ He said ‘that’s my answer.’”
Lambert then told James “OK, just so you know, the next time we come here, we’re probably not going to be coming here with checkbooks. We’re probably going to be coming with pitchforks and torches because that’s a really [expletive] answer.”
Soon after that meeting, Lambert called James and said: “Why don’t you bring someone in a capacity in between [James and Diaz] because no offense, I just don’t think you have a good understanding of the football program. You may be very good at lots of other things. Being an athletic director has lots of other job requirements. I don’t think you have an expert in football. I think you need one.’”
Lambert said he then told James in that private conversation: “Whatever you call it — director of football operations, senior athletic director in charge of football. Why don’t you bring in Alonzo [expletive] Highsmith? This guy has a resume a mile [expletive] long? This guy has forgotten things you’ll never know and I’ll never know. Why don’t you bring him in? I’ll pay for him.’”
Lambert said James appeared interested in his idea and “it got to the point where I thought it was done and Alonzo thought it was a done deal.”
Turned out, “it wasn’t a done deal,” Lambert said. “And it wasn’t handled in a very appropriate way in undoing the deal that we thought there was and it never happened. And they brought in Ed Reed and we know how that went and what he does and what he doesn’t do. Ed Reed is obviously a big respected name. I don’t know if he’s there in a full-time capacity, what he does or doesn’t do.”
Why didn’t the Highsmith hire happen? “They didn’t give me any reasoning as to why the kibosh got put on it,” Lambert said. “Everybody has got their theories. People were threatened. People thought they didn’t want people looking over their shoulder. And Alonzo would have. That guy is no [expletive] pushover.
“Talk about checking boxes. Star player, played in the NFL, executive in the NFL. His dad was a coach, has ties in the community, a good evaluator of talent. Knowing the attitude that it takes to do what Miami did at one point, why would you not want a guy like that involved?”
Did Lambert believe James supported hiring Highsmith but Diaz was against it?
“If my life depended on telling you what went through Blake’s head any time I ever talked to him, I would probably be a dead man,” Lambert said. “I have no idea. Was Blake initially receptive to it? He was more of a politician about it.”
WPLG-ABC 10 reported that Diaz nixed the idea of hiring Highsmith.
Would Lambert’s donation for Highsmith have been more than a million dollars?
“Oh yeah,” he said. “I don’t want to say what the [exact] amount was, but Alonzo Highsmith ain’t cheap. He’s an executive in the NFL with a lot of years experience and a crazy amount of contacts in the coaching community and collegiate community and Miami community. I think he would have been a slam dunk. But what do I know?
“People say coaches don’t want to answer to somebody. Every coach has to answer to somebody. Unless you’re the president of the university, you’re answering to somebody.”
James, who was dismissed by UM last week, declined to comment on the matter. So did Highsmith.
According to a source, multiple Power 5 schools have approached Highsmith about a high-level job in their football programs. UM is believed to have some interest in Highsmith, but it’s unclear if that interest is for the AD job or another role.
Several Board of Trustee members would like to see Highsmith considered for AD or another high position in the athletic program. Highsmith would listen if approached.
Highsmith’s evaluation skills certainly would help.
In the Canes’ defense, their 2021 class looks very good and Diaz and his staff appear to have hit on a bunch of these players.
But the number of personnel misevaluations in Diaz’s first two classes (2019 and 2020) — and during Mark Richt’s tenure — suggest another smart set of eyes would have helped, and Highsmith is certainly that.
From the 2019 class, UM - if it had it to do over — likely wouldn’t have taken Jeremiah Payton, Jalar Holley, Adam ElGammal, Peyton Matocha and perhaps Avery Huff and Cameron Williams.
Perhaps another set of eyes would have helped UM realize that a scholarship was being wasted on Butler grad transfer Tommy Kennedy; within a few days after he stepped on the field, Canes coaches realized he couldn’t play at this level.
In previous years, mistakes were made in evaluations of several offensive linemen, from Kai-Leon Herbert to Zalon’tae Hillery to Zach Dysktra. Same at tight end (Brian Polendey), corner (Nigel Bethel) and others.
From the 2020 class, there were fewer mistakes, though a few players who were well-recruited (Jalen Harrell, Daz Worsham, Chris Washington) haven’t broken through.
Of course, Highsmith would not have been around to talk UM out of any of these players in 2019 and 2020 because he wouldn’t have been hired until after those classes were complete. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have helped now, and in years to come.
Now let’s be clear: Every team makes recruiting mistakes. UM’s biggest problems — beyond poor tackling and lack of discipline — has been the dearth of elite NFL prospects compared to the title contenders and the fact that a bunch of players they thought would be really, really good (Mark Pope, Jon Ford, Gurvan Hall, Nesta Silvera, etc.) have never been elite.
Highsmith has worked more than 20 years in NFL personnel. He joined the Seattle Seahawks’ scouting department in 2020 — and remains with the Seahawks — after serving as vice president of personnel for the Cleveland Browns from 2018 and 2019.
Before that, Highsmith spent 19 seasons with the Green Bay Packers player personnel department. During his time in Green Bay, the Packers earned 13 trips to the playoffs, nine NFC North division titles and a victory in Super Bowl 45.
Highsmith cannot be ruled out for the athletic director job. But whether a new AD — and coach — would offer Highsmith a job like the one Lambert conceived must still play out.
