The speculation about the job security for Manny Diaz began after the Miami football team began the 2021 season with a 2-4 record. When Miami fired athletic director Blake James on November 15 the fate for Diaz was essentially sealed. James’ firing was preceded by the Miami Hurricanes loss to Florida State three days earlier.
Florida State kept their eventual game-winning drive alive when they converted a fourth down and 14 deep in Miami territory. If Miami stopped Florida State on fourth down the Hurricanes would have finished the regular season with six straight wins and an 8-4 record. The fate of the Miami football program changed on that one play.
Despite finishing the season with five wins in their final six games, Diaz was still fired. The one loss was to the Seminoles. After James firing, Diaz and his staff had to deal with the speculation about his own job security following James’ firing. Miami defeated Virginia Tech and Duke in their final two 2021 regular-season games.
While the Miami defense struggled throughout most of the 2021 season, the offense improved. Miami offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee oversaw a record-setting Miami offense. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke finished the 2021 season with six straight games of at least 300 yards passing and three touchdowns.
Thank you to @Coach_MannyDiaz the entire Miami hurricane football team and players and the city of Miami. We loved our 2 years being apart of the U!
— Rhett Lashlee (@rhettlashlee) November 30, 2021
November 29: SMU hires Miami offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee as head coach.
Miami Hurricanes wide receivers Mike Harley and Charleston Rambo also were record setters. Harley set the school record for career and single-game receptions. In the final regular-season game against Duke Harley had 13 receptions. Rambo set single-season Miami records with 79 receptions and 1,172 receiving yards.