After Tuesday’s practice, Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz addressed the fanbase anger at the three game losing streak and the state of the program.
“I mean, everyone should be angry,” Diaz said. “What happened last Saturday is wrong, and we have to fix it. To me we have to get better, playing better. … If you’re wearing a U on the side of your helmet, there’s a lot that comes with that. A U on your coaching shirt? There’s a lot that comes with that. And there’s a standard you have to play to.
“Sometimes when things start going bad (we) look at other things we want to blame that are not us. Ultimately everyone has to feel that personal accountability that we all individually have to get better. You want us to play better? Play better. You want us to win? Play better. You want us to win? Coach better. We all have to do better, and that’s how the team gets better.”
On facing the triple-option, Diaz loves scheming up against that type of offense and says he’s confident his unit will continue to respond when put in bad situations.
“Our guys are kind of weird, we like playing against this, it’s a great offense to scheme against,” Diaz said. “Our guys like playing against these guys, we’ve had some good games against them the last couple of years, tight games. But I will say this: Our guys, and we are 10 weeks in, if you even look at the Duke game - you look at what our guys do in adverse situations, our record being this in November, how will they respond? Well I don’t know, how did they respond six times when they got put out on a short field against Duke? They held them to six points. How do they respond in the second half of this game?
“As a coach, almost as a parent, `Will they do it again?’ And then they do it again. You’re just so proud of them because they’ve shown this amazing mental resilience. That comes from our leadership, our age, our experience, from Jaquan Johnson and Gerald Willis, Shaq Quarterman, Joe Jackson and Mike Jackson. The list goes on and on and on. They’re all afraid to be the one that lets the pack down, and that’s the most amazing thing. That’s the thing we’re talking about that we have to protect as we go through these last (games), protect the pack and play for each other. And they’ve done that all year.”
The Canes have lost two commitments in the past few days, but Diaz is not concerned about the state of recruiting.
“We know that decommitments are the new normal, right?” Diaz said. “Whether you’re winning all your games or not. We had decommitments last year when we were No. 2 in the country. Part of that is just the way kids are right now."
What still makes Miami an attractive option to those that are considering UM?
“I think they see you can play for an elite defense here. Everyone knows how young we are on offense and we’ve got some recruits we really think can make some immediate headway on that side of the ball. And we all know success is not lingering… The relationships we form with the guys we are recruiting will tell at the end.”
In terms of having a down season, Diaz is a believer that kids in the local community are more affected by the negative talk than others outside of South Florida might be.
“If you think about how many people in America are disappointed with how their season is going, it’s kind of remarkable,” Diaz said. “There’s not that many people that have met their expectations. Do the kids hear the negativity more where they live? There’s no question. There’s a lot of schools we’re recruiting against that are all disappointed in the way they’re playing, but we’re not in their echo chamber…I think the kids are buying into the future of the program, where they fit in the program."
“I mean, everyone should be angry,” Diaz said. “What happened last Saturday is wrong, and we have to fix it. To me we have to get better, playing better. … If you’re wearing a U on the side of your helmet, there’s a lot that comes with that. A U on your coaching shirt? There’s a lot that comes with that. And there’s a standard you have to play to.
“Sometimes when things start going bad (we) look at other things we want to blame that are not us. Ultimately everyone has to feel that personal accountability that we all individually have to get better. You want us to play better? Play better. You want us to win? Play better. You want us to win? Coach better. We all have to do better, and that’s how the team gets better.”
On facing the triple-option, Diaz loves scheming up against that type of offense and says he’s confident his unit will continue to respond when put in bad situations.
“Our guys are kind of weird, we like playing against this, it’s a great offense to scheme against,” Diaz said. “Our guys like playing against these guys, we’ve had some good games against them the last couple of years, tight games. But I will say this: Our guys, and we are 10 weeks in, if you even look at the Duke game - you look at what our guys do in adverse situations, our record being this in November, how will they respond? Well I don’t know, how did they respond six times when they got put out on a short field against Duke? They held them to six points. How do they respond in the second half of this game?
“As a coach, almost as a parent, `Will they do it again?’ And then they do it again. You’re just so proud of them because they’ve shown this amazing mental resilience. That comes from our leadership, our age, our experience, from Jaquan Johnson and Gerald Willis, Shaq Quarterman, Joe Jackson and Mike Jackson. The list goes on and on and on. They’re all afraid to be the one that lets the pack down, and that’s the most amazing thing. That’s the thing we’re talking about that we have to protect as we go through these last (games), protect the pack and play for each other. And they’ve done that all year.”
The Canes have lost two commitments in the past few days, but Diaz is not concerned about the state of recruiting.
“We know that decommitments are the new normal, right?” Diaz said. “Whether you’re winning all your games or not. We had decommitments last year when we were No. 2 in the country. Part of that is just the way kids are right now."
What still makes Miami an attractive option to those that are considering UM?
“I think they see you can play for an elite defense here. Everyone knows how young we are on offense and we’ve got some recruits we really think can make some immediate headway on that side of the ball. And we all know success is not lingering… The relationships we form with the guys we are recruiting will tell at the end.”
In terms of having a down season, Diaz is a believer that kids in the local community are more affected by the negative talk than others outside of South Florida might be.
“If you think about how many people in America are disappointed with how their season is going, it’s kind of remarkable,” Diaz said. “There’s not that many people that have met their expectations. Do the kids hear the negativity more where they live? There’s no question. There’s a lot of schools we’re recruiting against that are all disappointed in the way they’re playing, but we’re not in their echo chamber…I think the kids are buying into the future of the program, where they fit in the program."
