Manny Diaz led Miami to 2nd-best recruiting class among second-year head coaches

Manny Diaz led the Miami football program to the second-best recruiting class among second-year Power Five head coaches in an article published by ESPN on Monday. ESPN examined “How second-year college football coaches fared in recruiting this cycle.” Miami was one of six programs examined by ESPN.

Three of the other five programs with second-year head coaches examined by ESPN are also in the ACC. Georgia Tech is in their second year under Geoff Collins, Louisville with Scott Satterfield and North Carolina in the second season of the second stint of Mack Brown were also summarized and recruiting classes listed.

Miami had the 11th ranked recruiting class by ESPN in 2021, North Carolina signed the 12th ranked 2021 Class,  Louisville 40th and Georgia Tech 43rd. Miami improved from 17th in 2019 and 30th in 2019. The 2019 class was signed shortly before Manny Diaz became the head coach following Mark Richt’s retirement.

North Carolina improved from 35th prior to Brown returning to Chapel Hill to 16th in 2020. Both Georgia Tech and Louisville fell from their 2020 rankings after improving from 2019. The Cardinals signed the 68th ranked Class in 2019 and improved to 37th in 2020. Georgia Tech improved from 61st in 2019 to 27th in 2020.

"Manny Diaz Miami Hurricanes2021 class rank: 112020 class rank: 172019 class rank: 30“Over the course of the entire 2019 and 2020 recruiting cycles, Miami saw 17 decommitments in 2019 and 20 in 2020. But Diaz and his staff reduced those numbers in the 2021 cycle to finish with the No. 11 class overall.The biggest impact was likely at quarterback, for obvious reasons, as the staff was able to sign ESPN 300 quarterback Jake Garcia, the No. 3 pocket passer in the class, who flipped from USC. The coaches were also able to bring in five-star defensive tackle Leonard Taylor and nine total ESPN 300 commitments in the class.Having D’Eriq King transfer in and adding offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee went a long way for the on-field product. If Miami can keep pushing forward on the field, Diaz and his staff could crack the top 10.”"

Ohio State and Maryland were the other two schools that were listed by ESPN. The Buckeyes were the only school among the half dozen examined by ESPN with higher signing classes than Miami over the past three years. Ohio State improved from the 16th best signing class in 2019, fifth in 2020 and second in 2021.

Maryland had the sharpest improvement since hiring Mike Locksley as their head coach for the 2019 season. The Terrapins improved from the 44th ranked class in 2019 to 33rd in 2020 and 18th this year. With the changes Miami made on their defensive coaching staff this offseason, the recruiting should continue to improve.