Decisiveness hiring Manny Diaz saved Miami football future
The loss to Wisconsin began a whirlwind six weeks for the Miami football program. The loss to the Badgers was Miami’s worst in a bowl game since a 40-3 loss to LSU in the 2005 Peach Bowl. The beating by the Tigers was the worst for the Miami football program in their illustrious bowl history.
Miami’s inept performance on offense in the loss to Wisconsin in the Pinstripe Bowl caused outrage from anyone who follows the Hurricanes. Miami had 169 yards of total offense against the Badgers. Quarterbacks Malik Rosier and N’Kosi Perry combined to go 6-17 for 48 yards and four interceptions.
That abysmal performance of the offense brought a near ultimatum from James almost immediately after the game.
— Miami Athletics (@CanesAllAccess) December 28, 2018
"James’ statement read: “Our football team’s performance tonight — and at other times this season — is simply unacceptable to all of us who love The U. I am committed to getting UM Football back to national prominence and that process is underway. We will compete for ACC and national championships and I know that Coach Richt is alongside me in that commitment to excellence.’’"
Richt’s commitment to Miami seemed to be less than it was to Offensive Coordinator Thomas Brown and his son Jon, who was the Quarterbacks Coach, on a professional level. Richt himself seemed somewhat defeated after the game. The former Hurricanes quarterback discussed what happened in the breakdown from the offense against Wisconsin.
"“Offensively, there’s not many nuggets you can really pull from today…My guess is it wasn’t a very good performance, just put it that way, obviously. Starts with me, for sure. Really that’s where the buck stops. Head football coach, play-caller, the whole bit. Just a poor job by me.”"
That last sentence was the key one for Richt going forward. A plethora of reports indicated that Richt was implored, if not commanded to make changes on the offensive staff and potentially give up play calling . The two Coaching positions he was expected to change were Brown and his Jon.