The Miami defense has been one of the best in the country in the three years that Manny Diaz was the Coordinator. The recent addition of Blake Baker as Defensive Coordinator was done with the idea of continuing the continuity that the Miami Football staff has on defense.
Baker spent the last four seasons as the Defensive Coordinator at Lousiana Tech. He replaced Diaz who left after one season to take the same position with Mississippi State. Baker was the Safeties coach in 2014 under Diaz and spent two years with him at Texas as a Graduate Assistant. He is a great addition to the Miami football staff.
Ephraim Banda who is the Co-Defensive Coordinator with Baker was also a Graduate Assistant under Diaz at Texas. Banda also worked with Diaz at Mississippi State. Outside Linebackers Coach and Special Teams Coordinator, Jonathan Patke was a Graduate Assistant at Mississippi State with Diaz and Banda.
It’s clear that Diaz has built a staff of Coaches who are familiar with each other. Getting continuity and coaches that are on the same page are critical for building a program. The other two coaches on the Miami Defensive Staff are Defensive Line Coach Jess Simpson and cornerbacks Coach Mike Rumph.
Simpson gives Diaz the eye of a former Head Coach. He was a legendary High School Head Coach in Georgia before stops at Georgia State and the Atlanta Falcons. Rumph has done a great job developing the cornerbacks in his three seasons on the Miami football staff. Several of his former players are in the NFL.
Diaz spoke about in his words, the “alignment” of the defensive Coaches on the Miami Football staff during an appearance on the Joe Rose show on Wednesday Morning. Christy Chirinos of the Sun Sentinel transcribed the interview.
"“I mentioned the word ‘alignment’ and we have a good thing going on defense, so when we were looking to fill the hole we had on the staff, we found a guy like Blake, who has been with me at Louisiana Tech and understands the system.The most important guys are the guys in the locker room and I want them to feel like they’re coming back to the same defense and the same structure as we had before…I’ve got a staff of guys that I think you’re going to look back on 10, 15 years from now and say, ‘Wow. All those guys worked together on one staff.’“I think Blake is extremely talented. He’ll work very closely with Ephraim Banda. They’ll hold co-defensive coordinator titles and Ephraim has a great understanding of what’s going on in the back end. He and Mike Rumph, of course, were a large part of our success in terms of leading the nation in pass defense this year.Jonathan Patke understands how it all fits together on the inside and his passion and his toughness and what he brings as a coach. I want that to spread to the entire team as our special teams coordinator. I think he’ll have a dramatic impact on our team doing that…Jess Simpson — the word you can use with our defensive line this year — was unbelievable. His instincts to see the 30,000-foot picture from all his background as being a head coach is really remarkable.He will have a role that everyone on our football team will feel because he has a great understanding of messaging and the ins-and-outs of the team. Those guys together on that side of the ball really get me excited.”"
Early in Diaz’s tenure, it’s clear the defense is going to have to continue to carry the offense for the Miami football team to be successful. Diaz has indicated they will take the same aggressive approach on offense that the defense has taken the last few seasons. The new Offensive Coordinator and staff will take time to make an impact.
Defensively, Miami is not without holes. They have to rebuild three-quarters of the secondary and half the defensive line. Miami also needs to be more consistent stopping the run in 2019. Four teams ran for over 200 yards on the Hurricanes in 2018. That culminated with Wisconsin’s 333 yards rushing in the Pinstripe Bowl.