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On Tuesday afternoon, Miami Hurricanes Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz was named as a top 15 semifinalist for the Broyles Award.
Given annually to College Football’s Top Assistant Coach, the Broyles Award is one of the highest honors available in the coaching profession.
Diaz was previously announced as one of 56 individuals up for the award in the earlier semi-semifinalist list.
Miami Hurricanes Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz named Semifinalist for Broyles Award. (Top CFB assistant) #Canes https://t.co/NHLyhVkJBn pic.twitter.com/HKXBVB18uf
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) November 8, 2017
Here’s more from the Broyles Award website:
From the list of 15, five finalists will be selected and invited to travel to Little Rock, Ark. where the 2017 Broyles Award winner will be announced on Tuesday, December 5th at the Marriott Hotel.
Here are the 15 semi-finalists for this prestigious award, also from the Broyles Award website:
Alabama – Brian Daboll, Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Auburn – Kevin Steele, Defensive Coordinator
Clemson – Tony Elliot, Co–Offensive Coordinator, Running Backs
Georgia – Mel Tucker, Defensive Coordinator
Iowa State – Jon Heacock, Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
Miami – Manny Diaz, Defensive Coordinator
Mississippi State – Todd Grantham, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
Notre Dame – Mike Elko, Defensive Coordinator
Oklahoma – Bill Bedenbaugh, Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line
TCU – Chad Glasgow, Defensive Coordinator
UCF – Troy Walters, Offensive Coordinator
USC – Tee Martin, Offensive Coordinator/WR
Washington – Pete Kwiatkowski, Defensive Coordinator
Washington State – Alex Grinch, Defensive Coordinator / Secondary
Wisconsin – Jim Leonhard, Defensive Coordinator
Diaz has led Miami’s defense to a major resurgence, and that unit is a major reason why the Canes are undefeated and in the chase for a spot in the College Football Playoff. If you want to see some numbers that Diaz’s defense has achieved this year, it’s a good thing I love you:
Some stats (rank in the NCAA):
— Canes Football (@CanesFootball) November 19, 2017
Turnovers Per Game: 2.7 (1st)
Turnover Margin: +16 (T-1st)
Sacks Per Game: 3.8 (1st)
Tackles for Loss Per Game: 9.0 (4th) pic.twitter.com/r6VnoBeOiz
Again, congratulations to Manny Diaz for this worthy recognition.
If we’re being honest and objective, Diaz should be a top 5 finalist for this award, if not the outright frontrunner. We’ll see if that comes to pass, but believe me, Canes fans see and value the job he’s done for our team.
Keep it going, Manny!