On Wednesday afternoon, Miami Hurricanes DC Manny Diaz was named as a nominee for the Broyles Award.

Given annually to CFBs top assistant coach, the Broyles Award is among the highest honors in all of college football.

For a bit more narrative, here’s the press release from Miami Athletics:

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- For the third straight season, University of Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz has been selected as a nominee for the Broyles Award, honoring the nation’s top assistant coach.

Under Diaz’s direction, the Hurricanes defense has flourished this season; Miami is ranked No. 2 nationally in total defense, No. 4 in yards per play, No. 1 in tackles for loss per game, No. 1 in third down defense and No. 2 in passing yards allowed.

The Hurricanes are also ranked among the nation’s leaders in rushing defense, team sacks and turnovers gained.

The 53 nominees in this year’s class were selected from approximately 1,500 assistant coaches representing 130 Division One programs across the country. The Broyles Award selection process includes the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), a college football hall-of-fame selection committee and current college head coaches.

An 19-member selection committee of distinguished former head coaches, along with a committee representing the FWAA will select 15 semi-finalists and five finalists from the list of nominees and an overall winner.

Those finalists will be invited to travel to Little Rock, Ark. where the 2018 Broyles Award winner will be announced on Tuesday, December 4th at the Marriott Hotel.

As stated above, Diaz has been the architect behind the wholesale revival of Miami’s once-maligned defense. Under Diaz’s leadership, the Canes’ defense has become one of the toughest and most productive units in all of college football.

A quick list of some National rankings for Miami’s defense:

• Yards per game - 2nd
• Yards per play - 3rd
• passing YPG - 2nd
• Interceptions - tied for 7th
• rushing avg - 15th (3.23 ypc)
• TFL - 1st
• TFL/game - 1st
• sacks - tied for 14th
• 3rd down % allowed - 1st

And that’s not even mentioning the fact that Diaz created the Turnover Chain, which, while not the first turnover prop used in CFB, is EASILY the most iconic.

Diaz has had a case to win the Broyles award in each of the last 2 years, and has a strong case this year as well. Hopefully, he finally gets the recognition he deserves.

Go Canes