Tuesday's Thoughts: Capitalizing on Miami's Failures

With Miami struggling to a 2-3 record to start the 2021 season, teams will be after the Hurricanes’ committed prospects.

Brian Smith | Oct 12, 2021

The world of college football does not allow for recruiting favors. If a college football program struggles, the vultures begin to hover over the program and begin taking away recruits. For that to transpire, there needs to be substantial evidence that a program would be close to a head coaching change. Down in Southeast Florida, one such program fits that profile well.

The University of Miami was once a proud football program, but now it’s in complete disarray. One could argue that the best thing that happened so far this season was that this past weekend was a bye week, allowing the Miami coaching staff to regroup, and of course players time to heal.

The Hurricanes needed that time off. Here’s why.

Here are the Miami scores for this season: The Hurricanes were blown out by Alabama 44-13, won a thriller versus Appalachian State 25-23, were bludgeoned at home by Michigan State’s offensive line and lost 38-17, and crushed hapless Central Connecticut State 69-0. The last game was the icing on the cake, however.

Miami Head Coach Manny Diaz made a poor decision by not going for the touchdown, and subsequently, Miami lost 30-28 to Virginia by way of a last-second missed field goal.

Brennan Armstrong, Quarterback, Virginia — Virginia players celebrated after scoring a touchdown versus Miami / Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

That’s the 2021 Miami Hurricanes, and it does not resemble anything like the days when defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy or linebacker Ray Lewis dominated for Miami.

Considering how cutthroat college football recruiting is to begin with, imagine how many of Miami’s committed recruits are communicating with coaches from around the country. It could be all of them. Hard to say. Hard to blame the recruits if in fact they are.

Does anyone really believe that Coach Diaz will be around for the 2022 season? Miami fans want him gone. Yesterday!

Hard to blame any Miami fan for that either. Coach Diaz is 16-13 during his two-plus year tenure in Coral Gables, Fla. leading the Hurricanes. That’s not good enough for a proud program like the Hurricanes. Now, onto recruiting information that will open some eyes.

Class of 2022 Commitment Facts

The greater Miami area is well known for its incredible high school football talent. More Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players come from a combination of Dade County and Broward County than any other two counties in the country. With that in mind, the following statistic is just incredible.

**Miami does not yet possess a single committed prospect from Dade County or Broward County. Keep in mind, Dade County would be where the city of Miami resides, and Broward would be the county just to the north of Dade County, and that’s where talent-rich cities like Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach and Fort Lauderdale reside.

**The following programs possess at least one commitment from the class of 2021 from the greater Miami-Fort Lauderdale area: Iowa, Indiana, Georgia Tech, and Pittsburgh.

**Miami currently holds eight committed prospects. Only two of the eight recruits live in Florida.

**On Monday, prized defensive back commitment Trequon Fegans announced his decommitment from Miami:

I would Like To Say That I’m
Decommiting From The University Miami And Reopening My Recruitment... My Recruitment is 1000 % Open!!!
— Tre’Quon Fegans (@Tre2x5) October 11, 2021

**Only one committed recruit will play in Miami’s defensive front seven. That recruit would be linebacker Justin Medlock from Manvel, Texas.

**Despite Miami struggling along the offensive line for years, the Hurricanes only secured the commitment of one offensive line recruit so far this season. He is very talented, but only one offensive tackle: Falentha Carswell, 6’7”, 275 pounds, Sandersville (Ga.) Washington County.

What Happens Next?

There are questions on top of questions. It’s a cornucopia of opportunities; that is for other teams attempting to recruit away Miami’s commitments. Questions to be answered:

**Miami’s defensive back class, even with the loss of Fegans, brings much promise. Can Miami keep those talented defensive backs in the class even if Diaz gets fired?

**Which Miami assistant coaches would stick around during the interim after Coach Diaz leaves? That’s important because someone needs to communicate with committed prospects.

**Can Miami salvage the rest of the 2021 schedule to at least be a respectable team?

Here’s the remaining schedule: Miami at North Carolina (Oct. 16), North Carolina State at Miami (Oct. 23), Miami at Pittsburgh (Oct. 30), Georgia Tech at Miami (Nov. 6), Miami at Florida State (Nov. 13), Virginia Tech at Miami (Nov. 20), Miami at Duke (Nov. 27).

Prediction and More Questions to be Answered

Miami will lose at least two more games, if not three or four. It’s possible that Coach Diaz survives if the Hurricanes win the remaining games, but that simply does not seem realistic. Stranger things have happened. We shall see. Best bet, Diaz will be let go within a week of the 2021 regular season ending.

What happens after Coach Diaz leaves? If Miami finishes 7-5 or 6-6 it would simply be hard to see him not being fired. That’s reality. Will the Miami administration pony up the cash and go after an elite coach?

Will any big-time coach truly want the Miami job? How many of the current commitments stick with Miami? The last question is vital because recruiting is the life of a program. The vultures are circling.