Would Manny Diaz make a better Head Coach than Mark Richt?
The Turnover Chain had extensively documented but what hasn’t been illustrated nationally was Diaz’s conscious decision to teach his players the art of forcing turnovers after Miami struggled to do so in 2016. Miami was 67th in the nation in 2016 forcing turnovers.
The turnover chain was partly conceived to give the players an incentive to force turnovers. The Hurricanes increased their 2016 number to 31 in 2017 which was tied for third in the country.
Miami has 17 this season in seven games which is also tied for third in turnovers forced. The Hurricanes are on pace to force 31 turnovers in 2018.
light. Related Story. Miami Hurricanes turnovers in 2017 by design, not luck
The offense conversely has seemed to regress. With Brad Kaaya at quarterback in 2016, the Miami Hurricanes offense averaged 425.9 total yards per game. That ranked 57th nationally. Miami fell off to 403.3 yards and 60th in the nation in total offense in 2017.
As mentioned earlier in the article Miami is 77th in total offense this season averaging 399.4 yards in total offense. Kaaya wasn’t mobile enough to run run-pass option plays. He reportedly was encouraged by Richt to turn pro after the 2016 season. Perry and Rosier are certainly more adept on RPOs. but neither is the pure passer that Kaaya was.
The likelihood is that Diaz will become a Head Coach somewhere else before Richt decides to retire. This is Diaz’s 13th season as a Defensive Coordinator at an FBS school. Eight of those seasons have been at a Power Five school. Diaz will turn 45 before next season starts.
Next. Miami Hurricanes offense subpar versus power five teams. dark
Richt was hired at Georgia when he was 41 and is 58 now. He shows no signs of slowing down. While the fan base wants changes in numerous ways they won’t happen until the offseason if at all.