Spring Notebook: Canes Keeping It Simple On Defense
Just about everything can be boiled down to pretty simple terms.
While there are many small intricacies and nuances of the game of football that some people spend years trying to master; it still boils down to being able to get the ball in the endzone and stopping the other team from doing the same thing, at least, one less time than you do.
Miami's new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz has been given the task of making sure the Hurricanes' defense improves upon its "meh" performances from this past season.
Will he do it with some complex scheme that no one's ever seen? Or does he have a large playbook with as much vocabulary and vernacular as War and Peace?
Nope. He's keeping it simple – for now.
"We're trying to keep it simple just to get them where they can function in the basics of our defense," Diaz said. "We're not trying to make this thing about the scheme. We're really trying to make this about the personnel we have."
"All we've heard about is 'scheme, scheme, scheme,' but 'the scheme' is not going to save us. The accountability has to go to the personnel that we have and the first thing we have to find out is whether our players are good enough or not good enough. Before, they kind of walked around as if they weren't the problem…and some of them may be and some of them may not be. "
"That's really what this spring is about exposing…who really is good enough to be here and to get Miami to where we all think it should be," Diaz added.
This past season, Miami gave up at least 20 points in all but one game – the season opener against Bethune-Cookman – and allowed teams to eclipse the 30-point mark four times.
The Canes were pretty decent against the pass – allowing just 203 yards per game – but that was likely aided by the lack of resistance opposing teams got when they ran the ball; evident by the No. 102 ranking in rushing yards given up per carry in 2015.
But fret not Canes fan. Miami's defense is no longer working under the guise of those of whom we shall not speak.
Diaz – and by extension, Craig Kuligoski, Mike Rumph and Ephraim Banda – have a plan in place to get Miami back to "where it should be".
UM is switching to a 4-3 scheme – four down linemen and three linebackers – and coaches have already spoken to playing a more aggressive and attacking style of defense this coming season.
Coach Mark Richt said he's won't be doing much checking up on the defense and will focus primarily on the offense because of Diaz's merits as a coach.
"I hired Manny to be the tip of the spear on this thing," Richt said. "Manny is a smart football coach. He understands offensive football, he understands what offenses are trying to accomplish and he'll have something for it."
But him running a 4-3 defense was important too, right coach?
"It wasn't like I had to have a 4-3 no matter what. I [wanted] that. But you've got to hire the right man...and I really feel Manny was the best man for the job and I do love the fact that he runs a 4-3 format because it really just lets guys turn it loose. Kids enjoy doing that."
"If you're a 'read-and-react' kind of team, it's just not quite as fun," Richt added. "If everyone on the team has the chance to make a play – within their gap responsibility – it makes it more fun."
The word "fun" has been thrown around a lot this spring.
"It's not like guys are just doing what they want to do," Richt said. "They are turning it loose because there aren't so many assignments that their minds are bound up. A confused player can't play fast. Coach Diaz makes it simple for the defense but creates problems for the offense."
Diaz's resume speaks for his being able to turn defenses around in a relatively short amount of time.
During his time at Middle Tennessee State (2006-2009), Diaz's defense led its conference in sacks and tackles for loss twice and finished no lower than third in the league in either category during his tenure.
Diaz then took his talents to Mississippi State in 2010, where the Bulldogs defense ranked 22nd in the country in scoring defense and 17th in both tackles for loss and total rushing defense.
After having one good season and one not-so-good season at the University of Texas, Diaz went to Louisiana Tech in 2014 – where he elevated its defense from being ranked No. 114 to No. 19 in total defense.
As impressive as those turnarounds are and no matter how giddy they make Canes fans, Diaz knows that it's early in the turnaround process.
"We won't know what we have until Saturday. The first two practices are like a study-review session. It gets real on Saturday. These guys have the basics of the defense in and now they have to be able to operate when the physicality ramps up when the pads come on."
"Running around with just our pajamas on, everyone looks good," Diaz quipped, speaking about the Canes wearing just jerseys and helmets on the first two days of practice. "It's going to be fun to see what those guys are like the first time the ball gets run down their throat on Saturday."