Miami football alum Alonzo Highsmith issued a six-word response to Manny Navarro of The Athletic following the breakdown of potential contract talks for him to join the Hurricanes.
Alonzo Highsmith was a member of the legendary 1986 Miami football team that created swagger for the Hurricanes. Highsmith spent the last 20 years as a scout and administrator for the Green Bay Packers and Cleveland Browns. He issued a six-word statement to Manny Navarro of The Athletic.
“Finding better players…Coaches coaching better” is the simplistic statement that Highsmith stated to Navarro in an exchange posted on the Miami Hurricanes page of The Athletic on Tuesday. The lack of development of talent has been a frequent criticism of the Miami football program for about a decade and a half.
The days of several Miami Hurricanes to stepping up to the podium at the NFL draft to be greeted by NFL Commissioners Paul Tagliabue and his successor Roger Goodell on day one are mostly long gone. Tight end Brevin Jordan and defensive end Greg Rousseau are the only current Miami football players projected as first-round picks.
The position that Highsmith wanted, and merited purely based on experience, created a disconnect for what head coach Manny Diaz and athletic director Blake James were offering. Diaz and James were working to try and hire Highsmith for the role of the chief of staff for the Miami football program.
— Miami Athletics (@CanesAllAccess) January 16, 2020
Highsmith elaborated further to Navarro about what caused the discussions to fall through. In reality, in the end, the position that excited the Miami fan base wanted did not exist. Even with a booster offering to pay for Highsmith’s salary, creating the position proved to be too difficult for Diaz, James and Highsmith to agree on.
"“It fell through because it was all speculation…We never agreed to any deals. I’ve given the athletic department advice on many things and met with Blake on several issues because I’m in the NFL. It was all exploratory and interesting, but we never discussed a contract and I was never offered a job.”"
Now its time for Diaz, James and the Miami football program to move forward. There have been several overreactions on Twitter. Some Hurricanes fans have suggested this is the end of the Miami football program or that the jobs for Diaz and James are on the line. That is just speculation from those not close to the program.
Diaz has accomplished getting a new offensive coordinator which fans have begged for during the last three Miami football seasons. The Hurricanes also added former Florida International Kicker Jose Borregales who helped defeat Miami in November. Now it’s time to look forward with the Hurricanes on the verge of signing a new QB.