The Miami Hurricanes good, bad and ugly of 2019
With 2019 capped for the Miami Hurricanes with a victory by the men’s basketball team at Clemson it’s time to take a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of the past year.
The year began for the Miami Hurricanes athletic department with Manny Diaz two days into his tenure after the shocking retirement of former football coach Mark Richt on December 30. Diaz was officially introduced as the successor to Richt in a January 2 news conference. The month to follow created news every day.
Hiring an almost entirely new coaching staff, particularly on offense, daily updates from the transfer portal and the men’s and women’s Miami basketball teams highlighted the first month of 2019. The year closed with a whimper for the Miami football team after a 14-0 loss to Louisiana Tech on Boxing Day.
The Hurricanes played like they did not have a puncher’s chance on the traditional British holiday. The victory by the Miami basketball team is big as it put Jim Larranaga and company at 9-3. Miami hoops host Duke on Saturday night in a big ACC after dark matchup. Baseball begins next month ranked fourth in the nation.
The Miami Herald post “Our year-end awards: The best and worst in South Florida sports in 2019” had several references to the Hurricanes in what was mostly a bittersweet calendar year of 2019. The list included the Miami Hurricanes in nearly every category. The list that the Herald had the Miami Hurricanes on is below.
▪ Most regrettable personnel decisions:
1) UM’s Manny Diaz hiring Dan Enos — whose offense flopped — instead of a spread offense innovator. UM ranked in the bottom 10 in the country in red zone, third downs and rushing yards. At least Diaz plans to correct his mistake.
Enos did not deliver on the promises he made when hired. The obsession with the spread offense by the Miami Hurricanes fan base has risen to epic proportions. The spread encompasses many different systems and formations. The bigger breach from Enos as the Miami OC was not playing with tempo as promised.