The ‘New’ Miami Has Turned out to Be the ‘Worst’ Miami

The Hurricanes experienced mediocrity towards the end of Larry Coker era — that mediocrity was continued under Randy Shannon and Al Golden. Just when the ‘Canes thought they had finally ‘climbed’ out of it in 2017, they returned to it during Mark Richt’s last season as head coach.

With Manny Diaz at the helm, many expected to see the same electricity and fire that he brought to the defense spread throughout the team. Unfortunately, the ‘new’ Miami has been a dud.

Miami’s current record of 6-6 is a far cry from the predictions made at the beginning of the 2019 season. On-air with Golic and Wingo, Manny Diaz himself said “...if we can win our division… we know will be in Charlotte, we have a good idea who will be waiting for us in Charlotte if we get there… We know that [if] we outscore that team, we will be in the playoff…”

With the hype at an all-time high; fans, coaches, and players weren’t expecting Miami to be worse than 2018.

Of course, Miami has suffered worse seasons record-wise, like the 5-7 campaign in 2007. A season that featured horrendous losses against Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma (but they were still able to defeat FIU). This season may not be ‘worse’ than 2007s, but it’s definitely comparable. Despite that, 2019’s losses seem to have reached a new level of embarrassment.

One area of the team that has gotten progressively frustrating is the offense. After laying 52 points on the Louisville Cardinals, the ‘Canes have tallied just 41 in the last 2 contests combined. Offensive coordinator Dan Enos was supposed to bring in a high-powered, state-of-the-art attack, which would spread players around the field and confuse opposing defenses. It seems that the confused one is Enos though, as the offense has gotten worse since 2018 when Mark Richt was calling plays, arguably.

In conclusion, there are 3 losses that separate this Miami team apart from others. 3-win Georgia Tech, FIU, and 5-win Duke. If Manny Diaz wants to keep his dream job, losses similar to those cannot happen. In order to ensure they won’t happen — some heads may have to ‘roll.’ Enos hasn’t turned out to be the play-caller we thought he’d be, and the offensive line is still insultingly horrible. Changes need to be made, and if they’re not, we may be in for a true, full-scale rebuild.