Manny Diaz Hired as Hurricanes Defensive Coordinator

Miami Hurricanes head coach Mark Richt has been hard at work assembling his coaching staff since being hired. His most recent hire is 41-year-old former Texas Longhorns defensive coordinator Manny Diaz – hired to the same position at Miami. Diaz started his coaching career at Florida State before moving on to multiple positions at other schools. In 2006, Diaz was hired for the first time as a defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee, where he led their defense until 2009. In 2010, Diaz moved on to Mississippi State. His defense with the Bulldogs ranked 22^nd in the nation in points per game (19.9) and in the top 50 in several other categories including rushing yards per game and red zone defense.

Diaz rose to prominence as the defensive coordinator for the Texas Longhorns from 2011-2013. His time there did not end well. After his defense gave up a school record 550 yards against Brigham Young University, Diaz was fired by head coach Mack Brown. In 2014, Diaz moved to Louisiana to lead Louisiana Tech’s defense and most recently he was back with an SEC school – the Mississippi State Bulldogs. His 2014 Louisiana Tech defense led the nation with 15 fumble recoveries and 25 interceptions.

Richt has made it a point to bring in some high-profile named coaches with SEC experience in an effort to turn around the once promising Hurricane football team. Richt definitely noticed that the Bulldogs 2015 defense was a top 10 red zone defense and only gave up 23.2 points per game in a high-powered conference.

Manny Diaz will bring an aggressive 4-3 scheme to Miami. This scheme will allow the defense to prosper and bring an aggressive attitude back to Miami which has lacked in recent years. It will not be a surprise, if after 3 or 4 years, Diaz has multiple high draft picks from the linebacker position and his defenses regularly rank in the top 25 throughout most statistical categories.

Other SEC coaches on the staff include co-offensive coordinator Thomas Brown (previously running backs coach at Georgia), defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski (previously defensive line coach at University of Missouri), offensive assistant Jon Richt (quality control in 2014 at Georgia), and special teams coordinator Todd Hartley (director of recruiting at Georgia).