Manny Diaz sipped from his water bottle and searched for the correct words. Much like the quarterback his team had just spent three hours trying to tackle, they eluded him.
“I saw football things happen in a football game that allowed them to maintain possession,” he said. “It doesn’t matter. The result stays the same. Read into it what you want. I think there will be some things in the rubble of the loss that will give us encouragement going forward.”
Two days later, after getting to review tape, he still hadn’t found the right words.
“To me 27-0 is a series of events that occurred,” he said. “To me it’s a game and there are football things that occur in a game. That’s the point, the competition and the execution were what they were able to do at a level that we couldn’t match.”
It was 2021, and Diaz’s third season at Miami had opened with high hopes. A season-opening loss to Alabama quickly put that optimism to rest. The Crimson Tide, led by Bryce Young, jumped out to a 27-0 lead with 6:55 remaining in the first half and cruised to a 44-13 win. Miami would lose two of its first three, three of its first five, and nine days after the end of the season, Diaz would be fired.
Football coaches talk about the need for short memories. Most have a 24-hour rule, after which, the team can no longer celebrate a win or mourn a loss. And, to a man, football coaches break that rule.
Three years later, Diaz is back at the helm of an ACC team. He took over the Duke Blue Devils in the offseason and is preparing for his first game as a head coach in 1,007 days. He inherits a team that has had back-to-back eight-win seasons, both culminating in bowl victories. His quarterback is Texas transfer Maalik Murphy, a promising passing talent who won the job in the preseason.
Looking much more relaxed than in his post-Alabama press conferences, Diaz discussed Murphy’s performance in the team’s last preseason scrimmage.
“We had kind of a mock game Friday night,” he said. “Our defense created a turnover and gained a little bit of momentum, and Maalik came up on the next play and threw a beautiful post from about 50 yards out for a touchdown. That’s the type of leadership people want to see—like, a response.”
It’s what Diaz is looking for in his own career. Long heralded as a defensive mastermind as a coordinator for several top teams, his abbreviated three-year stint as Miami’s head coach still stings. He improved the program during his time there, but not fast enough to please the fans or appease the critics. A series of events occurred, and he found himself back in the assistant’s seat.
There is no 24,000 hour rule for Diaz, however. Consider the details of that scrimmage, where Murphy bounced back from adversity to throw the touchdown.
“You put everybody on the one sideline and you’re playing against people who are trying to emulate the schemes of our first opponent,” Diaz explained. “And then what we always do is we put ourselves down 27 to 0. And we play 10-minute quarters.
27-0. With 40 minutes to play.
“We’re just trying to see like, you know, where you’re trying to create an urgency,” he said. “You would imagine that the starters should be better than the backups, but now, all of a sudden, they need to be 28 points better than the backups.”
Was there any special significance, Diaz was asked, to the score and time remaining.
“We just spun a wheel,” he said with a smile. “27-0 is good because it’s (going to take) four touchdowns. We don’t make it 28, because you can get some organic go for two, don’t go for two decisions. … You want your ones to have success, but you still have to create a sense of urgency for them.”
For the record, Murphy and the Duke offense took a 28-27 lead in that scrimmage. Then the turnover and touchdown—with a two-point conversion—put them back down 35-28. Murphy’s response tied the score again, and the Duke ones eventually took a 42-35 win. Diaz was satisfied that the scrimmage had the effect he’d intended as his players prepare for the games that count.
“I’m sure there’ll be plenty of adversity (this season) that we’ll get to bounce back from as well,” he said.
Their coach will also be looking to do the same.
