Manny Diaz knows play on field most important for Miami football recruiting

Miami football head coach Manny Diaz was quoted on ESPN.Com last month that the most important thing for the Hurricanes recruiting is to back up their stellar offseason on the field this fall.

Manny Diaz has won the offseason in the state of Florida and had one of the best debuts of a coach in recent memory. The Miami football coach knows he needs to lead his team to success on the field to back up the buzz he has created for the Hurricanes during the 2019 offseason. Diaz and his staff have work to do.

When Diaz took over he made it a priority to reset the culture on the Miami Hurricanes and to upgrade the talent on the roster. He was hired on December 30 which was eight days after the early signing period for college football. That made it difficult to salvage a mediocre recruiting class.

Diaz took advantage of the transfer portal and went hard after star players looking for new addresses in 2019. After adding two transfers during the early signing period Miami added six more during the traditional signing period in February. Those additions plus new offensive and recruiting staffs created a buzz.,

Spring practice for the young Miami football players and transfers have been an adjustment. Several of the transfers and the freshmen early enrollees on offense are also having to learn new offensive coordinator Dan Enos’ offense. Quarterback has also been an issue of concern and one that Diaz has said is a priority in the future.

"“Early on, we wanted to create a program that our players were excited to walk in the building and go to work because if they’re excited to be here, in turn, the recruits will be excited to come here.But it can’t just be fluff and it can’t just be all flash, there has to be substance to it, which I think we’re creating. But there’s no doubt that we want to have high energy and play the game with a lot of passion.We’ve seen some other schools that tried to stir things up in the, quote-unquote, honeymoon period, and then didn’t have the wherewithal to follow through once the games came along.We know, ultimately the best recruiting is when we play on Saturday afternoons in the fall. Getting the team in our locker room on board to play as well as we can play will have a lot to do with how those potential recruits see us, and ultimately want to join Miami.”"

Diaz emphasized that the players in his program are going to be held accountable and they will emphasize fun. Accountability and fun were lacking for the Miami football team at the end of 2018. Issues off the field and a listless team against Wisconsin led to Mark Richt’s decision to resign three days after the end of the season.

As Diaz’s first offseason moves forward the Hurricanes will measure themselves in Florida and nationally when they kickoff against Florida August 24 in Orlando. The game is not going to make or break Diaz’s tenure in Miami, but it gives them a huge opportunity to make an impact on the field and recruiting.

If the Hurricanes can defeat Florida it will give a huge boost to the 2019 season, momentum for the season and in recruiting. Diaz has stated that the transfer portal was used to boost the roster as it’s currently constructed. The hope is to not have to add transfers in the future as frequently as they did during the 2019 offseason.