Manny Diaz, Miami's coach, defended his program Monday after sharp criticism of the university's lack of commitment to football.
Kirk Herbstreit, who questioned the commitment made on Saturday's College GameDay, posted comments that went viral that reached Diaz. Herbstreit asked if the athletic department was open to making changes to support football. He also pointed out that there are still ongoing problems that have prevented Miami from becoming a national power in the past decade.
Diaz opened Zoom's press conference by stating that he disagreed with those comments. He also noted that Julio Frenk, the university president, was the one who pushed for the season to continue during last year's coronavirus pandemic. Diaz stated, "That would be an impressive take for someone who didn't seem to be that interested in athletics."
Diaz also highlighted the Hurricanes' improvements to their facilities, including the construction of a new indoor practice area and dorms. Next is a plan to renovate the locker rooms. He also recognized the inequal playing field within collegiate athletics when comes to revenue and resources.
Diaz stated that "there will always be someone with more resources." "That's not an issue in Miami. This is a college football problem that everyone wants to talk about. Our greatest resource at the University of Miami is our people.
You can make your organization better by adding more people. Diaz stated that our staff has been improved by a supportive administration. Our support and recruitment staff have increased and gotten better each year. And our locker has gotten more efficient every year. It's not there yet. However, recruiting is the only way to move forward at the University of Miami. We can't turn our recruits away because of something that happens in a short term.
The Hurricanes lost 38-17 to Michigan State in Week 3. This triggered panic amongst the Hurricanes fans who began to question whether Diaz was the right coach to take the team forward. Miami will face Virginia at 2:2. Monday's questions were mainly focused on the program's state.
Diaz repeatedly stated that the Hurricanes must have time to recruit classes together in order to elevate the program. He cited the Clemson model to become a champion every year. He also said that Miami needs to be better right now and took full responsibility for how the Hurricanes lost to Alabama, Michigan State.
Diaz stated that while you can compete in ACC, which remains our standard, you can still have a long-term vision of what it takes for a roster to be built. "I am responsible for the performance of this year. However, I know that the only way to move forward is to be able stack classes. Look at the work of Clemson when they were building. They couldn't overcome Jimbo (Fisher), and the Seminoles.
They kept recruiting and they found a transformative quarterback. Then another one came along and the rest is history. That's how they got where they are today. They have a pattern to how these things happen, but I doubt they were saying, "We'll be fine when Trevor Lawrence arrives." They were still competing at that point."
In his third year at Miami Diaz also knows what lies ahead for the rest of the season. Despite struggling to get started, Miami still has the entire ACC schedule in front of it, and Diaz recognizes that the team must perform better going forward.
Diaz stated that "our expectation is to perform." "We are aware of what is at stake over the next eight weeks. We think we had as good of a chance as anyone.
