Manny Diaz wants Quarterbacks penalized on targeting calls

In a curious response to a question about the ejection of safety Amari Carter in the Miami football team’s 17-9 victory over Virginia on Friday head coach Manny Diaz said he wished that quarterbacks were flagged on a targeting call.

The call against Miami junior safety Amari Carter was his second ejection for targeting in 2019. Carter will have to sit out the first half of the Miami football game against Georgia Tech this Saturday. Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz wants more responsibility taken by quarterbacks on targeting calls.

Carter’s ejections also brought up the biased suggestions that referees and the ACC are against Miami. The statement by Manny Diaz was likely a defensive response from a coach is frustrated by the calls going against his player. The call against Carter earlier in the season when he was ejected against North Carolina was questionable.

A week prior, a Northwestern player stayed in the game after a nearly identical tackle against Stanford. The call against Carter in the win over Virginia was followed to the rule. It was neither the referee or Carter’s fault he was ejected for targeting. If Carter doesn’t make the play he did on the ball, Virginia likely scores a touchdown.

Carter made the right play by trying to turn his body and separate the receiver from the football. Unfortunately, he led with his head and the officials had no choice but the eject Carter by the letter of the rule. Diaz is as transparent as a football coach as there is. He is not going to make excuses.

In this case, he might have gone a bit too far on a tangent to protect his player. It makes no sense for a QB to get flagged for targeting. Making the QB sit out a play for trying to throw a post pattern is not going to happen.

Diaz is right that Virginia QB Bryce Perkins might have put his receiver in a position to get hit hard, but that is not a play that should result in a penalty against the offense. Diaz was using an extreme example to make a point.

"“What I wished happened, I wish the flag was thrown and I wish the quarterback had to come out for a play because balls that are late over the middle–if you throw a post at a post safety, there’s going to be a collision. Right? That’s an avoidable play.If it’s a post and there’s a post safety there, don’t throw a post over the middle of the field with Amari Carter there. It’s going to make a loud noise when that happens. It’s hard on a guy like Amari. We do not have a better human being on our football team than Amari Carter.He is as good of a kid as we have on this team and so to feel like a bad guy for what has happened to him this year, I think is unfair.”"

Carter’s suspension for the first half is not as meaningful as it would have been earlier in the season. Carter was ejected against North Carolina in the first quarter so he was not required to sit out any part of the next game for the Miami football team against Bethune-Cookman. The Hurricanes’ depth at safety is better than in September.

Senior Robert Knowles and sophomore Bubba Bolden will play alongside starter Gurvan Hall in the first half until Carter is eligible to return. Bolden made his Miami debut earlier this month against Virginia Tech when he became eligible. The NCAA needs to look into the targeting call and eligibility requirements more efficiently.