Miami Football: 3 reasons Manny Diaz was a bad hire for Hurricanes
2. Recruiting was suspect
It isn’t just history against Manny Daiz, his recruiting as defensive coordinator left a lot to be desired, too. Over three years in Coral Gables, Diaz’s defenses had relied almost entirely on Al Golden’s recruits. His best players have been RJ McIntosh, Chad Thomas, Gerald Willis, Jaquan Johnson and Corn Elder. All of those players were brought in by Golden’s staff.
Due to recruiting holes, Diaz has relied on graduate transfers to play pivotal roles, too. Dee Delaney transferred in from The Citadel with much acclaim only to suffer in Diaz’s system. Tito Odenigbo, a transfer from Illinois, was thrust into defensive tackle duty due to losing three tackles after the 2017 season and not having the recruits behind them to fill the void on the rotation.
At linebacker, the ‘Canes were forced into playing Mike Smith in 2018. Smith was a bounce-around guy that was moved to fullback, defensive end, and played linebacker while in Coral Gables. Due to a severe lack of quality and prepared depth inside, Smith played a lot in the Pinstripe Bowl rather than preparing a younger linebacker for the 2019 season in the case that Shaquille Quarterman and/or Michael Pinckney leave early for the NFL Draft.
In 2016, Diaz kept Golden’s recruits from signing else where in Quarterman, Joe Jackson and legacy Pat Bethel. Quarterman has been really good, Jackson has had great spurts, and Bethel has been a let down. In 2017, Miami’s top defensive recruits were lineman DJ Johnson and cornerback Trajan Bandy. Bandy has been a boom while Johnson transferred to Oregon. The 2018 class’s top recruit was Nesta Silvera. A true freshman is hard to gauge but he was absolutely demolished in the Pinstripe Bowl against Wisconsin’s offensive line.