Manny Diaz wants Miami Hurricanes QBs to make it obvious who should start

Speaking on the Joe Rose show on WQAM Monday morning, Miami Hurricanes head coach Manny Diaz continued to state he wants whoever earns the first-team quarterback to make it obvious to the coaching staff who it should be.

All three Miami Hurricanes scholarship QBs took turns impressing offensive coordinator Dan Enos this spring. Jarren Williams and N’Kosi Perry were more consistent throughout the spring. Enos discovered in the spring game that Tate Martell’s strengths are better suited to the shotgun than under center.

All three players were four-star QBs coming out of high school. Diaz asserted that Martell, Perry and Williams all have the confidence to be the Hurricanes starting QB. Diaz stated the team has confidence in all three signal callers. Being the QB is unlike any other position. You become a leader just by being under center.

The Miami Hurricanes QB play in 2018 was abysmal. Miami’s passing offense was bad by nearly every measurable standard. Manny Diaz made it a priority to upgrade the play at QB beginning this season. Enos was brought in from Alabama to facilitate better play at QB and to improve the passing game.

Alabama and QB Tua Tagovailoa set an FBS record for passing efficiency in 2018 with Enos as the QB coach. Enos was set to be promoted to offensive coordinator at Alabama. Hiring him was a huge coup for Diaz. He will have more decision making with the Hurricanes offense than he did in 2018 with Alabama.

Diaz mentioned on Monday

that all three QBs enter the summer with confidence and that the team also has confidence in them.

“The race”

is now on to be the Miami Hurricanes QB per Diaz. Martell, Perry and Williams have the summer to refine their games and learn Enos’ offense.

Diaz wants to finalize his first team a week or two into training camp. The quicker the depth chart gets settled, the quicker Miami can focus on their game plan for Florida on August 24 in Orlando. When training camp begins this summer the QB with the best grasp of the offense will likely be first on the depth chart.

"“I think all three guys go into the summer knowing that they can play, and I think our guys in our locker room know that all three guys can play. And so now to me, now it’s like the race is on…Us as coaches [will] really find out when we come back that last week in July when we report for training camp to see who really grasps this thing and what level we’re at when we come back in August…It will really be up to them to make it obvious. I mean, you want it to be obvious.We’ve been pretty consistent on what it takes to be the quarterback. Number one, that’s the guy that can avoid the critical errors and then it’s the decision-making and then it’s the accuracy. …You can already see they’ve made strides in that because we’re becoming more comfortable with the schemes, so therefore they can make better decisions. And if you’re more confident in your decisions, you’ll throw more accurate balls, and that’s kind of what you start to see happening.That’s why I say guys may pop at different times. One guy may get it after day seven. One guy may get it after day 10. It’s just all part of the teaching process.They’ve got to go and they’ve got to run with that now, and that’s when they’re out there throwing in the summertime with their fellow teammates, and seeing who really is going to take control of the team.”"

Developing team chemistry will be critical from the QB position. Reports at the end of last season emerged the Hurricanes locker room was split between N’Kosi Perry and the graduated Malik Rosier. With three quarterbacks equal in the race to be the starter what happens when the first-team QB is named?

How will the Hurricanes offense, defense and special teams handle it? How will the Hurricanes handle it as a team? That’s up to Diaz and Enos to work with. It’s more than just anointing the player positioned to be the best QB. Miami needs a leader that the entire team will support and get behind.