Simplifying Miami football offense should increase productivity

The prostyle offense is becoming antiquated in college football. The refusal for numerous coaches in the Miami football program to adapt to a more modern offensive and particularly the spread ultimately cost them their jobs. The spread might save Manny Diaz his job.

Manny Diaz brought in Dan Enos as the new offensive coordinator for the Miami football program about two weeks after being named head coach at the end of December 2018. The Hurricanes offense was a complete flop in 2019. The inability of Enos to lead the Miami offense to any consistency in 2019 led to his firing.

Diaz took action by relieving Enos of his duties as the offensive coordinator following the Hurricanes 14-0 loss to Louisiana Tech in the Independence Bowl to end the 2019 season. A few weeks later highly regarded Southern Methodist offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee was hired by Miami for the same position.

Lashlee is being brought in for much the same reason Enos was beyond the obvious of upgrading the production on offense. Miami needs to change the culture and play at quarterback. In an interview with Andy Staples of The Athletic, Lashlee discussed how simplifying the offense will help the play on the field.

"“One of the things that makes our style of play so effective and unique is that it’s very simple for our players. We don’t have 250 plays on a wristband. We don’t have long verbiage.At the end of the day, if you have really good players…like the athletes we can attract here at Miami…if they’re playing and reacting more than they’re thinking, they’re going to play better and they’re going to play faster. What we do is not complicated to us, but it seems complicated to a defense.That’s the sweet spot we’re looking for.”"

Expect the playmakers to be put in better position to succeed in 2020 in the Lashlee offense than they were under Enos. Criticism emerged during the 2019 season that Enos stuck to his offense too often and did not adapt to the personnel on the Miami football roster. Lashlee has adjusted to the skill set of his QBs frequently.

Lashlee tutored Cam Newton and Nick Marshall at Auburn and Shane Buechele this past season at SMU. Newton, Marshall and Buechele all brought different abilities to the Lashlee offense at QB. In the same interview with Staples, Diaz discussed what to with Lashlee calling the plays for the Miami offense in 2020.

"“It’s reflective to a lot of the high school talent…It’s also still about finding the right fit, right time. The right fit and the right time for Rhett Lashlee to come here made a lot of sense.His combination of what he’s doing offensively now, where he’s been, who’s he’s learned from, the influences he’s had, the successes he’s had, the different types of quarterbacks. When Miami has had the quarterback position humming, Miami has competed for championships.When you develop quarterbacks, one with runners, one with non-runners, one with guys in between there are a lot of exciting things as well.”"

Hiring Lashlee and signing D’Eriq King through the transfer portal is expected to upgrade the QB room for the Miami football program in 2020. With fewer plays and a more simplified offense, the Hurricanes players will be in a better position to succeed. Miami has the skill position players on their roster to have a good offense.

The context of the statements by Diaz and Lashlee in the interview with Staples was that the Miami offenses of the past were not putting the players in position to succeed. With the talent available in South Florida and currently on the Miami roster that might finally be changing in 2020. The offensive tempo will also increase.

SMU finished seventh in the country in total plays in 2019. Even in years when Miami had good offenses in total yards and yards per play the Hurricanes were still running antiquated methodical offenses. This is a pivotal year for the Miami football program. The 2020 season might the year the Miami offense evolves into the 21st century.