Manny Diaz most concerned with Miami football effort during spring
The Miami football program begins spring practice today with an emphasis on the mentality of their players and the installation of the new up-tempo spread offense under new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee.
There is a lot of excitement surrounding the Miami football program as the Hurricanes commence spring practice on Monday. An almost entirely new offensive coaching staff and three key editions through the transfer portal will give the Hurricanes a new look in the 2020 season.
Head coach Manny Diaz appeared on the Joe Rose Show Monday morning on WQAM to discussing spring practice, what to expect with the new offense, the goals for the Miami football team this spring, the return of linebacker Zach McCloud and the potential for an elite pass rush from Greg Rousseau and Quincy Roche.
After finishing 2019 with a 6-7 record, Diaz knew changes had to be made on the Hurricanes offense. Out are offensive coordinator Dan Enos, offensive line coach Butch Barry and wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield. They have been replaced by Rhett Lashlee, Garin Justice and Rob Likens.
Lashlee, Justice and Likens all have experienced as an offensive coordinator at the FBS level, Lashlee and Likens have been coordinators at Power Five schools. The interview began with Rose asking Diaz what spring practice will look like. Diaz stated the emphasis is more on the Hurricanes’ attitude than schematics.
"“Not really concerned about what is going look like schematically, our effort, the mentality of guys, how we attack the spring. the mentality of the spring, the connection of the players. Every team, every year is a new entity. It’s a different collection of people, the team is ultimately determined by the collection of people we have and the behavior and choices they make. Our whole theme this spring is that no one in our locker room has any status. It ought to be a hungry team that takes the field here in a little bit.”"
Diaz stepped into a tough situation last season. After three seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Miami football team, Diaz had a tumultuous December 2018 before the Hurricanes hired him as head coach. Diaz left Miami in early December 2018 after being hired as the new head coach at Temple.
Eighteen days after being hired at Temple Diaz returned to Miami as the Hurricanes new head coach to replace Mark Richt who retired three days after the loss to Wisconsin. Diaz inherited half a team he did not recruit and players who signed eight days prior to his hiring thinking they would play for Richt.