Miami football ranked 14th best CFB job ahead of Florida State

Manny Diaz has remade the Miami football program entering the start of his third season. The Hurricanes are coming off an 8-3 2020 season and signed the 11th best Class in 2021. Diaz has preached patience with the 2022 Miami Class and the Hurricanes appear to be on the road for that to pay off in December.

The Miami football program is ranked 14th by 247 Sports in “Ranking the 25 best jobs in college football”  that was posted on Wednesday. Several factors are mentioned by 247. Miami is in a better position because of its proximity to the best area in the country for recruits and its position in the ACC Coastal.

The main competition for the Miami football program to return to the elite of college football is North Carolina in the ACC Coastal Division. Florida State has to surpass Clemson. Clemson has overcome losses during the season but held the ACC Championship for the last seven years.

Beating the Tigers in the ACC Championship Game seems more attainable for the winner of the Coastal Division than for an Atlantic team to be able to beat Clemson and win the division. Florida State has not beaten Clemson in regulation since 2013. Miami has lost their last three games against Clemson dating to 2015.

"14) MIAMIWhy is Miami a better job in Florida State? The Hurricanes are in the more favorable side of the ACC for starters. Forget about The U of the late 1980s and early 2000s for a second. It’s time to reinvent the program everybody loved to hate in Coral Gables.One that took the field with swagger and backed it up with their style of play as a perennial Top 5 team. Located in the middle of one of the country’s most fertile recruiting grounds, Miami struggles to sign those elite players these days.The Hurricanes have managed two 10-win seasons since winning the national championship in 2001, the program’s fourth in a 14-year stretch. No coach has come close to Larry Coker’s success since the turn of the century and Miami’s move to the ACC hasn’t been the grand slam many thought it would.Things can change quickly, however."

Diaz has stated that the focus of the Miami football program will return to the State of Miami initiated by legendary late head coach Howard Schnellenberger in the late 1970s. Miami has proven the ability in recent recruiting cycles to add in recruiting regionally and nationally for elite players.

In recent classes, Miami signed the number one tight end Brevin Jordan in the Class of 2018 and added the top overall player from 2017, defensive end Jaelan Phillips, as a transfer from UCLA during the 2019 offseason. Miami also signed five-star prospects, defensive tackle Leonard Taylor and safety James Williams in 2021.

Securing Taylor and Williams were important for Diaz and his staff to show they can sign the top talent from South Florida. Signing another top 20 class in 2022 will be important for Diaz to continue improving the talent on the Miami roster and to show that the Hurricanes can become a destination program again.