Miami Hurricanes offense designed to be sophisticated and fool defenses

Manny Diaz hired Dan Enos to be the Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator to bring their offense into the 21st century. Enos has gotten a lot of praise from Diaz and the Miami players about the potential of the Hurricanes offense.

Mark Richt ran a pro-style offense that everyone except him and those closest to the former Miami Hurricanes coach could see was antiquated. Under Enos, the Miami offense will be more wide open and far less predictable.

In an article posted to ESPN earlier this week, quarterbacks Tate Martell and Jarren Williams and Manny Diaz discussed how the Miami Hurricanes offense will look with Enos calling the plays this fall. Different formations, a lot of motion and shifting and Quarterbacks being under center and in the shotgun are expected for Miami.

The Miami offense had two of its more successful games of 2018 when they were forced to use more of the spread due to injuries to all the tight ends on the Hurricanes roster. Using four wide receivers often the Miami offense produced 55 points in victories over Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh to end the regular season.

Going back to Richt’s staid pro-style offense Miami was humilated 34-3 in a loss to Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl. The Hurricanes are likely to have some growing pains with the Enos offense. The New Miami play caller will put the Hurricanes QBs in a better position to succeed than they were under Richt.

Williams spoke to Andrea Adelson of ESPN about what makes the New Miami offense so difficult to defend.

"“We can run one play out of 10 formations and it will look like 10 different plays to the defense. Basically, there’s always going to be an answer built in the offense, so you really can’t be wrong as long as you’re reading it and doing what you’re coached to do.”"

Miami has the skill position players at running back, wide receiver and tight end to succeed. The key is going to be the play at QB from Martell, Williams or N’Kosi Perry and the success of the offensive line. The Hurricanes need to protect the QB and get efficient play and accurate passing from their signal callers to succeed in 2019.

Diaz spoke to Adelson about how critical the play is at QB for Miami.

"“The one thing about the quarterback: They are holding the matches. They can burn the house down sooner than anybody else.Not to oversimplify, but if you don’t make any big mistakes and you know where to go with the ball, were you accurate enough to get it there? If you handle those three things, we’re going to have a chance to succeed in this offense.”"

Enos has the Miami offensive players believing in his system. The battle last season between Perry and the since-graduated Malik Rosier reportedly split the locker room. The inconsistency of the offense was rumored to have created a rift between the Miami Hurricanes offense and defense.

Diaz, Enos and co-defensive coordinators Ephraim Banda and Blake Baker will work hard to ensure that doesn’t happen in 2019 and beyond. Getting a cohesive effort and contribution throughout the Miami football team will go a long way towards ensuring a more united team.

Martell told Adelson he is looking forward to the offense Enos has been working hard to install for the Hurricanes this season. Miami should have more available options than they did in the Richt offense.

"“It’s going to be awesome when it all comes together because it makes sense, and there’s always an answer…You can ask any of the guys, they all believe in it and that’s why everybody’s willing to work.Once everybody’s on the same page, it’s going to be a tough offense to stop. Along with our good defense, it’s going to be something special to watch this year.”"

In Richt’s three years leading the Miami football team, the defense under Diaz was always elite. The Hurricanes offense was good in Richt’s season with Brad Kaaya at QB. Under Rosier in 2017 and Perry and Rosier in 2018, the Miami offense has been erratic. More consistency from the Canes offense is critical in 2019.