Manny Diaz’s Date With Destiny

In a way, Manny Diaz embodies everything about Miami generally, and Miami football, specifically. The eponymously named son of a former mayor of Cuban descent enters a pivotal third year as captain of Miami’s ship with the daunting task of arresting a 20-year slide and restoring one of college football’s elite programs to their rightful place at the top of college football.

One of the interesting things about Diaz’s path to head coach at Miami is that it is simultaneously extremely unique having never played and having attended rival Florida State while also mirroring one of Miami’s more recent head coaches (Randy Shannon).

Shannon, a Miami-born formerly successful Defensive Coordinator with a fondness for discarding assistant coaches, famously failed at Miami. So how and why will Diaz succeed where 4 previous head coaches have failed? And why is it of paramount importance that this hire succeeds?

Smarter than the Average Bear

Sports narratives are often driven by masculine traits being viewed positively. With some merit. Toughness, strength, fortitude are necessities if you’re going to be successful in football, which often resembles gladiatorial combat as much as a game.

And when those qualities extend to the head coach we view decisiveness and consistency as strengths, and hesitation and erraticism as weakness. But did you ever stop to think about how those qualities could possibly lend themselves to success in the event that the person exhibiting those seemingly strong qualities is actually incapable of performing the job with which he’s tasked? Decisively wrong is actual weakness.

The 4 previously failed Miami head coaches dating back 2 decades have all embodied those winning qualities to some extent, and yet failed because those character traits were being exhibited by someone who was ill-suited to doing the hard work of maintaining or rebuilding the program. Where does Manny Diaz fit on this scale?

The reality is we don’t know. He has certainly eclipsed the low bar Al Golden set when he tried to simultaneously enrich a bunch of yes men while attempting to unwind the soul of the program. But that is hardly a measuring stick for Diaz.

Because for Manny, incremental improvement this year won’t be enough. He has one of the best QBs in college football leading his offense. He has personally taken ownership of a fledging defense that imploded last year in embarrassing fashion.

Diaz made this year the inflection point when he named himself Defensive Coordinator. He can’t very well come to us at the end of an unsuccessful season with D’Eriq King having played his final season at Miami and say, “my bad, I guess I needed an independent Defensive Coordinator.”

I don’t think anyone knows if that was the right move, but there was an inherit nobility in putting his neck on the line. Diaz put the responsibility on himself. There can be no scapegoat, no fall guy. He succeeds or fails on his own merit, absent any ability to apportion blame elsewhere. Manny Diaz broke with his predecessors by exhibiting bravery where others showcased venality, often putting personal gain and relationships above the program.

It might ultimately hasten his exit, but there is little doubt that in betting on himself, Manny has performed the ultimate Miami move, full of bravado and self-belief, he has decided that the best way to lead the program back to the top is to do so personally. It’s bold and decisive…and so we wait to see if that is a strength or a weakness in Diaz’s case.

Why Manny Matters

Ultimately, Diaz will be judged on his record as all coaches are. But in particular, for Miami, Diaz’s success extends beyond the field. Because in Manny Diaz the Hurricanes have more than just a son of a Miami, they have the embodiment of the person we want to lead this program. While Dabo Swinney, who has a $93 million contract, railed against the idea that some players might get some breadcrumbs, Manny took the opposite track. When social strife swept the country last summer, Manny was there, with his players.

In a sport where players are often treated as mere chattel, a means to an end, vessels to be used and disposed of, we should not take Diaz’s empathy for granted. Nor should we dismiss his frequent coaching changes as merely an attempt to save his skin. It’s actually easier to blame the players or keep an assistant coaching buffer between himself and responsibility. In fact, this is often portrayed as positive, when a coach does not fire assistants, standing firm with his people.

But do we ever consider that from the players’ perspective? They have 4 years to play college football. How is it positive to keep an unqualified, undeserving coach on the payroll and waste those players’ careers? It is positive through the lens of the old boys club, where there is a symbiotic relationship between the coaching fraternity and the coverage of it, that leads to stability, and financial gain at the expense of players.

Say what you will about Diaz, but no one will ever accuse me of being a member of that club. From inventing the Turnover Chain, to giving players multiple chances within reason, Diaz has exhibited that blend of sternness, empathy, and freedom that allows players to be themselves while also looking out for their well being.

In the grand scheme of things, none of that will matter. If Miami doesn’t win big soon, Diaz will be looking for a new job and Miami will get back on the coaching treadmill. But wouldn’t be nice if once, just this once, someone that displays empathy and cares actually succeeds? Wouldn’t it be nice if the good guys finish first? Would that it were.

Vishnu Parasuraman is a contributor for @FiveReasonsSports and generally covers the Miami Hurricanes. You can follow him on twitter @vrp2003