KING INJURY DIAZ’S BEST SHOT AT SAVING HURRICANES’ SEASON

The Miami Hurricanes laid waste to a glorified high school on Saturday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium, expectedly dismantling the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, 69-0.

Still, the day’s biggest beatdown was “The U” getting pummeled on ESPN’s College GameDay when Kirk Herbstreit laid waste to an athletic department that’s been under fire since this year’s embarrassing 1-2 start—the veteran commentator with guns blazing about years of incompetence in Coral Gables—echoed by Desmond Howard, who hammered player development issues at Miami, as well as Florida State.

“If you look at the powerhouse programs—Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State—the president, AD and head coach are all aligned in their vision for what needs to happen,” Herbstreit said on the panel broadcast. “Recruiting, budget, stuff, whatever that means. That’s what it takes.

“Miami does not have that. So I don’t think it matters who the head coach is. Until you get a president, AD and coach together on the same page, I guess football doesn’t matter … It matters to the alums, the brotherhood of ‘The U’, but I don’t know if it matters to the people making decisions at Miami. If they don’t change that, it doesn’t matter who the coach is.”

So with that, thank you for coming to Kirk’s TED Talk, everyone.

Nothing Herbstreit shared was new—the type of noise fans have made on message boards and comments sections of social media pages for the past decade-plus—but it was refreshing to see UM’s top brass lambasted on national television, again, by talking head who carries some weight.

Herbstreit had a previous spirited attack as the 2006 season came to a close and Larry Coker was wrapping his final home game in a win over Boston College; the commentator pointing out that 6-5 Miami was falling from elite status and it’s prehistoric facilities had the program well behind the times and that something had to give.

UM soon made some aesthetic upgrades then—but what can be done all these years later to make football somewhat of a priority—at a time when needed most?

This nationally televised take-down was on display for all the world to see, but did it rattle the cages of Miami’s board of trustees—their big egos, stubborn ways and ongoing failed processes—enough that an epic fail in 2021 will spark change next year?

MIAMI ADMIN FELL FORWARD IN PAST

Truth be told, even when Miami was winning big, the program fell forward—not because its athletic department was hell-bent on building a winner—but due to the securing of next-level local talent and getting lucky on some up-and-comer coaches that proved to be the right guys at the right time.

Howard Schnellenberger landed in Coral Gables in 1979—the long-time Dolphins assistant given the task of building up a Hurricanes program that was almost shut-down for good a few years prior. The fact a national championship was delivered within five years—as promised—the only thing less expected than that type of success was Schnellenberger bolting for the soon-defunct USFL weeks after winning it all.

Then-athletic director Sam Jankovich turned to Jimmy Johnson—Oklahoma State’s head coach, who’d amassed a 29-25-3 recored over five seasons. Johnson would win big at Miami, despite never doing so in Stillwater; a punching bag for the likes of Big 8 powers Oklahoma and Nebraska and a relative unknown.

Dennis Erickson would step-in next; Miami attempting reload with head coaches just as the did football talent and thankfully guessing right. Jankovich turned to his old friend from their Montana State days—fresh off a 12-10-1 two-year stint at Washington State, but a national champion by year’s end.

An offensive coordinator at the likes of Idaho, Fresno State and San Jose State, before his first head coaching stint at Idaho, which led to the pre-Canes gig with the Cougars.

Erickson’s success at Miami was as much about leaving Johnson’s defense as-was—keeping Sonny Lubick on staff and empowering him to run it when Dave Wannstedt followed Johnson to Dallas—as much as the Canes benefited on the field from their new head coach’s innovative one-back offense.

Sometimes the stroke of genius is found in simply not screwing up something that works, opposed to trying to reinvent it.

Tad Foote—UM’s president at the time—arrived in 1981 and was focused on cleaning up his university’s Sun Tan U image. A larger focus would be put on academics, but unlike Miami with Donna Shalala, or even Dr. Julio Frenk “in charge”—a loosely-used term—the Hurricanes were winning big during the Foote era, leaving him to lost most battled he picked with Johnson or Erickson.

Even after Miami was hit with probation in 1994—third-choice, first-time head coach Butch Davis turned out to be the perfect architect for a rebuild. Had UM’s then-athletic director Paul Dee gotten his way—the university’s general counsel since 1981, who literally just fell into an AD role for 15 years—the Canes would’ve seen either Lubick or Wannstedt in the role Davis thrived in.

Right to chase a defensive-minded Johnson assistant—but neither proving to have Davis’ recruiting prowess, which was everything as talent was the key to the Hurricanes’ late nineties comeback.

Looking back over that decade of dominance—luck and fate played a hand in Miami’s football success as much as any elite players who took care of business on the field. There is zero reason a private university in South Florida—ready to close the program’s doors in the mid-1970’s—should’ve reached this level of achievement; especially knowing that university presidents and athletic directors weren’t actively attempting to build a powerhouse program.

Schnelly gamed the system by convincing the best local talent to stay home, while chasing down elite in-state players and cherry-picking the nation’s best. The Canes had a competitive advantage other’s lacked—while a new brand of football and standard was set.

The problem with being an innovator; the rest of the world eventually catches up and that thing which once made you special, or a standout—everybody is now doing it.

The good fortune and lucky breaks of yesteryear are no longer enough to make the Hurricanes a winner. To thrive in this modern era of college football, one must adapt, or die—for Miami that means having a football-minded president who empowers a football-driven athletic director who will secure funds to hire a quality head coach—all proving that a successful football program is an important piece to the university’s overall mission to dominate on the field, not just the classroom.

Anything less is simply theatre and a waste of everyone’s time and energy—off-season after off-season spent complaining about a sub par product, as Miami has been a revolving door of wrong hires; five different head coaches over a 14-year span between 2006 and 2019.

If Miami doesn’t have the heart to build a winner, suck it up and have the stones to admit everything Herbstreit and others called out is true—allowing fans to adjust expectations; accepting the Hurricanes will never be an elite program again.

DIAZ ERA: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

Manny Diaz is just the latest of many low-rent, lazy, cheap hires the University of Miami has made in the wake of Davis’ 2001 departure and the only way change will be made during, or after the 2021 season—a complete and utter collapse in year three.

Truth be told, a wheels-off year could absolutely be in the cards after what’s been witnessed four games into the season—with ACC play just getting underway this Thursday.

Lopsided losses to Alabama and Michigan State—while relying on a freshman kicker’s clutch leg to survive Appalachian State—Diaz was exposed early-on, but might’ve found a stay of execution depending what he chooses to do with the youth movement that was underway against Central Connecticut State.

Sixth-year quarterback D’Eriq King has the heart of a lion and is gutsy a player the Canes have seen in a while—but there’s no denying that last year’s ACL injury and the beating taken early this season have him a hobbled and missing the first step that made him a gamer last fall.

Tyler Van Dyke and Jake Garcia got the nod by default—both giving a glimpse of Miami’s future holds at quarterback. Again, the stats came against a glorified high school and players that wouldn’t even make the Canes’ scout team, but both looked capable—combining for 417 yards and five touchdowns in roughly three quarters of action—spreading the ball out to some equally-as-exciting young, talented receivers. 

Smacking around the Blue Devils on Saturday afternoon has zero currency for Diaz if Miami doesn’t build on it this short week with Virginia heading south for a Thursday night showdown.

Much like Diaz didn’t have to make the tough call firing Blake Baker this off-season—LSU hiring UM’s maligned defensive coordinator to coach-up Tigers’ linebackers—Miami’s third-year head coach has an easy out keeping a banged-up King on the bench and sticking with his Van Dyke / Garcia two-headed monster.

Diaz was already playing the “whatever gives us the best chance to win” card in Saturday’s post-game presser—stating he’d reevaluate King’s health after Monday practice—which is hopefully coach-speak leading to another go-around with the back-ups.

The five-day turnaround  is the most controversy-free way to test these murky quarterback waters once more before the bye week and nine-day layoff—Miami needed to settle on a quarterback before road game at North Carolina on October 9th.

Whoever is under center, Diaz also has a decision to make regarding an overall youth movement that must take place—after seeing what guys like Romello Brinson, Brashard Smith and Xavier Restrepo were doing to inject some life into the offense, while Thad Franklin and Cody Brown look to solidify the number two spot behind Cam Harris, with Don Chaney Jr. out for the year and Jaylen Knighton suspended for one more game.

On defense, James Williams reeled in his first interception and Leonard Taylor was commanding some extra attention from the Blue Devils’ offensive line.

Basic and non X’s and O’s as it sounds, there was simply more energy on the field and the Hurricanes looked like a more passionate bunch with younger talent in the game. Whether this lights a fire under veterans, or pushes freshman to scrap harder in practice to officially take over—something has to give—and Diaz would be wise to realize this.

Weeks back Mel Tucker and Michigan State took it to Miami in gritty fashion; the Big Ten team from East Lansing the ones who wore the Hurricanes down in the fourth quarter, putting the game away. A big reason for the Spartans success year two under Tucker—reeling in 20 new faces via the Transfer Portal this off-season and opening up every position in may-the-best-man-win fashion.

Sparty is experiencing a rebirth as a result and the Hurricanes could be in store for something similar if Diaz has the guts to coach with some feel, opposed to playing it safe and following the tired “seniority” blueprint.

DEFINING DECISIONS ON HORIZON

A crossroad moment for a fanbase tired of losing, as on a macro-level it could serve Miami better in the long run should Diaz experience a complete collapse this season; very doable with Virginia, North Carolina and Clemson-killers North Carolina State on deck.

The Canes could easily be 3-4 by late October, if not 2-5 with the wheels completely off and sticking to the current script. Conversely, should Diaz shake some things up—realizing what is at stake for both he and this program—Miami might just turn a corner and eke their way to 4-3, which is nothing to celebrate, but based on the remaining schedule would make 8-4, or even 9-3 a reality.

Without making some next-level coaching decisions over the coming days and weeks, a 7-5 or 6-6 feels in store—which is most-likely what it would take for the University of Miami to pull the plug on Diaz after year three; as the noise gets more deafening each season the Canes underachieve their way to what has pretty much become .500 football for this program the past decade-and-a-half.

That said, even if Miami did pull the plug on Diaz—what’s next? Where would UM’s top brass turn for its next head coach—a hands-off president, a lame duck athletic director and an incompetent, dated, egotistical board of trustees crying poor while constantly getting in their own way?

Diaz learning on the job and pulling himself out of this early 2021 mess is scarily Miami’s best option—unless a collapse made enough noise and woke up enough folks internally that it’s now or never to chase down Mario Cristobal—the Canes’ window to rejoin the elite, closing a little more each season.

Even if Miami is able to get past a struggling Virgina squad, the piss-poor play against every team not named Central Connecticut State still gives reason to question this team’s ability to win at North Carolina—where the Canes are 3-5 since joining the ACC—or to go toe-to-toe with a North Carolina State program on the rise, after outplaying Clemson.

Pittsburgh appears sub par, but will play Miami gritty in their house. Florida State is down, but will always find another gear against the Canes in Tallahassee. Virginia Tech is rarely an easy out home or away—and Duke is quirky in Durham for a finale.

There are legitimately no gimmes left on this schedule and every setback has the ability to completely derail Diaz-led teams that have struggled with both success and failure.

Bigger than the battles on the field, Diaz is set to battle with his own ego a belief that he has everything under control—starting with what to do with King, who went all-in on Miami last year, while committing to a bonus-year return—even before a bowl game knee injury.

Knowing what is personally on the line for Diaz—that a disastrous three-year campaign could cost him his dream job—will he keep a hobbled, experienced starter on the bench, for one of two green guys who would have learn on the job; potentially providing a spark and at least setting up 2022 optimism?

For better, worse—the sport has changed and it’s now an era where entitled optimistic freshman can soon turn disgruntled—quick to bolt for the Portal over playing time. Not only does Diaz have a budding quarterback conundrum on his hands—but the combination of losing big in 2021 and keeping young kids on the bench; it could be a death blow going into another potential rebuild.

Pacifying underclassmen and choosing potential over security—young talent, versus elder statesman—another sub-plot that will dictate the course of this season, and beyond. Decisions need to be made and articulated correctly; that the best combinations of players will see the field and the door wide open for the hungriest, most-productive Canes to shine.

Should Diaz take the lazy way out, handing the job back to King out of loyalty or obligation, while continuing to field upperclassmen due to their experience-level—the wheels will fast fall off—whereas going down swinging with fiery younger players at least sets a building-for-the-future narrative that gives a modicum of hope and buys him more time.

Miami did what it was supposed to do to Central Connecticut State on Saturday. Will Diaz do what he needs to do the rest of this season. Virginia has oft given the Hurricanes fits over the years—especially on the road—but a COVID-related bonus as UM will play host for a third consecutive year as last year’s Charlottesville game moved south due to the ACC’s scheduling.

A short-week win sets up extra practice and recovery time before the road trip to Chapel Hill—arguably the most-defining game of Diaz’s tenure, now 0-2 against former mentor Mack Brown—but it’s all moot if easy-route decisions are made this week and the Canes can’t overcome a beatable Cavaliers team.

Chris Bello has been covering University of Miami athletics since the mid-nineties. Getting his start with CanesTime, he eventually launched allCanesBlog—which led to a featured columnist stint with BleacherReport. He’s since rolled out the unfiltered, ItsAUThing.com where he’ll use his spare time to put decades of U-related knowledge to use for those who care to read. When he’s not writing about ‘The U’, Bello is a storyteller for some exciting brands and individuals—as well as a guitarist and songwriter for his band Company Jones, who just released their debut album “The Glow”. Hit him on Twitter for all things U-related @ItsAUThingBLOG.

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