In his Monday afternoon presser, head coach Manny Diaz made it known that he will “change his role” regarding his involvement with the defense after UM’s 42-35 loss to Virginia Tech on Saturday sent the Canes to 2-3 on the season.
What exactly that role will be is anybody’s guess.
“I will change my role in terms of the influence on the defense in practice and on a day-to-day basis, because, ultimately, I am responsible for defense,” Diaz said. “It’s not a coaching issue, scheme issue, has nothing to do with Blake Baker or anyone on our staff. There is a lack of connection with players on the defensive side. We don’t look like we trust each other or play with technique.
“We have to get our defense playing like the Miami Hurricanes again.”
Apparently, the new role will not involve calling plays.
“Calling plays right now is something I haven’t thought about,” Diaz said. “That is the last thing of importance, it’s not a play calling issue.”
What impact can Diaz have if he isn’t calling the plays?
“I can hold everybody accountable, and hearing things from my voice is different,” Diaz said. “If it’s not getting done the way it should be, they should hear it.”
The Hurricanes gave up 6 TD’s against the Hokies on Saturday and were unable to step up to make a play on VT’s game-winning drive with the score knotted at 35 late in the 4th quarter.
“It’s simply guys not doing their jobs,” Diaz said. “It all goes back to accountability.”
Despite getting benched for N’Kosi Perry after 3 picks in 3 drives versus the Hokies, QB Jarren Williams will remain the starting QB going into practice this week in preparing for UVA according to Diaz.
“Now come back here and our true work day is Tuesday and Wednesday, come out and play and show everybody you are who they think you are,” Diaz said of what he expects from Williams this week.
Coming off knee surgery, sophomore RB Lorenzo Lingard played in his first game of the season on special teams this week, but came to Diaz after the game saying that his knee is still not healthy and that he would like to redshirt.
“While he’s medically cleared, he’s not right, and he knows that,” Diaz said. “He’s committed to being at the University of Miami, sees a big-time future for himself here. He’s seen action in one game, he can see action in three more games, and we can pick up an extra year of eligibility.
"I think the fact that we had a great, honest conversation - I love Lorenzo Lingard. He loves football. He loves Miami. He has a great demeanor about the way he works every day in practice. I thought that was super mature of him to come and talk about.”
The Canes' OL had another brutal day vs. VT, giving up 7 sacks along with tons of miscommunication issues. Miami now leads the country in sacks allowed with 25 in just 5 games played, but Diaz feels the line has shown positive signs as well.
“When you have five guys that will stay connected and fight, you have a chance,” Diaz said. “It’s hard to put 35 points up and 500 yards if somebody’s not blocking somebody. I’m so proud of the way they’re fighting. The offensive line has gotten negativity here going back to who knows when… we’re playing the best guys we have, what we have to demand out of those guys is will they compete, will they fight, will they strain? As long as they do that, we know that their technique will continue to improve, and I think that's what we're seeing.”
Now with a season of identifying their needs on the OL, does Diaz feel that the team will change their approach in recruiting this cycle?
“In our recruiting, we’re going to try and find people we think can come in and function well for us on the offensive line,” Diaz said. “What you’re looking for is the dog in them, are they a fighter?
"If we can't find them down here (in South Florida), then we'll push out farther into the state. If we can't find them in Florida, then we'll look at outside the state. Even right now, we have a few offensive linemen recruits from outside the state of Florida."
Diaz feels the Canes will have to move on as soon as possible from their defeat, because up next is a Virginia team favored to win the Coastal division and is coming into the game ranked #20 in the country at 4-1. The Hurricanes fell to the Cavs 16-13 on the road last season.
“We have to move on quickly from the Virginia Tech game, which was a disappointment in the outcome," Diaz said. "The way we played, the way our guys fought, stuck together, the mental toughness they showed, it’s hard to feel disappointment in those things... everyone knows we have issues with placekicking, it came up at a critical time, very disappointing. That can happen. What can’t happen is the way we played defensively. Gave ourselves a chance to win the game, responded on offense, and on defense - 42 points to Virginia Tech is not the Miami standard and that is the biggest takeaway from the game. The biggest sense of urgency is to get that corrected immediately.”
Diaz also mentioned that walk-on backup kicker Camden Price was unavailable for VT, as he was serving the first game of a two-game suspension. He is expected to sit out again this week and come back for the Georgia Tech game in 2 weeks.
What exactly that role will be is anybody’s guess.
“I will change my role in terms of the influence on the defense in practice and on a day-to-day basis, because, ultimately, I am responsible for defense,” Diaz said. “It’s not a coaching issue, scheme issue, has nothing to do with Blake Baker or anyone on our staff. There is a lack of connection with players on the defensive side. We don’t look like we trust each other or play with technique.
“We have to get our defense playing like the Miami Hurricanes again.”
Apparently, the new role will not involve calling plays.
“Calling plays right now is something I haven’t thought about,” Diaz said. “That is the last thing of importance, it’s not a play calling issue.”
What impact can Diaz have if he isn’t calling the plays?
“I can hold everybody accountable, and hearing things from my voice is different,” Diaz said. “If it’s not getting done the way it should be, they should hear it.”
The Hurricanes gave up 6 TD’s against the Hokies on Saturday and were unable to step up to make a play on VT’s game-winning drive with the score knotted at 35 late in the 4th quarter.
“It’s simply guys not doing their jobs,” Diaz said. “It all goes back to accountability.”
Despite getting benched for N’Kosi Perry after 3 picks in 3 drives versus the Hokies, QB Jarren Williams will remain the starting QB going into practice this week in preparing for UVA according to Diaz.
“Now come back here and our true work day is Tuesday and Wednesday, come out and play and show everybody you are who they think you are,” Diaz said of what he expects from Williams this week.
Coming off knee surgery, sophomore RB Lorenzo Lingard played in his first game of the season on special teams this week, but came to Diaz after the game saying that his knee is still not healthy and that he would like to redshirt.
“While he’s medically cleared, he’s not right, and he knows that,” Diaz said. “He’s committed to being at the University of Miami, sees a big-time future for himself here. He’s seen action in one game, he can see action in three more games, and we can pick up an extra year of eligibility.
"I think the fact that we had a great, honest conversation - I love Lorenzo Lingard. He loves football. He loves Miami. He has a great demeanor about the way he works every day in practice. I thought that was super mature of him to come and talk about.”
The Canes' OL had another brutal day vs. VT, giving up 7 sacks along with tons of miscommunication issues. Miami now leads the country in sacks allowed with 25 in just 5 games played, but Diaz feels the line has shown positive signs as well.
“When you have five guys that will stay connected and fight, you have a chance,” Diaz said. “It’s hard to put 35 points up and 500 yards if somebody’s not blocking somebody. I’m so proud of the way they’re fighting. The offensive line has gotten negativity here going back to who knows when… we’re playing the best guys we have, what we have to demand out of those guys is will they compete, will they fight, will they strain? As long as they do that, we know that their technique will continue to improve, and I think that's what we're seeing.”
Now with a season of identifying their needs on the OL, does Diaz feel that the team will change their approach in recruiting this cycle?
“In our recruiting, we’re going to try and find people we think can come in and function well for us on the offensive line,” Diaz said. “What you’re looking for is the dog in them, are they a fighter?
"If we can't find them down here (in South Florida), then we'll push out farther into the state. If we can't find them in Florida, then we'll look at outside the state. Even right now, we have a few offensive linemen recruits from outside the state of Florida."
Diaz feels the Canes will have to move on as soon as possible from their defeat, because up next is a Virginia team favored to win the Coastal division and is coming into the game ranked #20 in the country at 4-1. The Hurricanes fell to the Cavs 16-13 on the road last season.
“We have to move on quickly from the Virginia Tech game, which was a disappointment in the outcome," Diaz said. "The way we played, the way our guys fought, stuck together, the mental toughness they showed, it’s hard to feel disappointment in those things... everyone knows we have issues with placekicking, it came up at a critical time, very disappointing. That can happen. What can’t happen is the way we played defensively. Gave ourselves a chance to win the game, responded on offense, and on defense - 42 points to Virginia Tech is not the Miami standard and that is the biggest takeaway from the game. The biggest sense of urgency is to get that corrected immediately.”
Diaz also mentioned that walk-on backup kicker Camden Price was unavailable for VT, as he was serving the first game of a two-game suspension. He is expected to sit out again this week and come back for the Georgia Tech game in 2 weeks.
