Mr. James,
My family started as season ticket holders to UM Football back in the 1960s, so I have a bit of perspective about the evolution of the Miami Hurricanes football program. In the early 1980s we witnessed UM Football truly revolutionize the sport by recruiting inner city athletes; the result provided nearly two decades of UM Football dominance, the development of a national brand, life-altering opportunity to many who had never before given a chance to succeed, and a roadmap to modern day college football recruiting.
But over the past 40 years I have not personally experienced a more pathetic on-field product as was displayed this season. Despite recruiting class rankings from 2015 – 2019 of #26, #23, #11, #6, #36, respectively, the football season ends with (among a litany of deficiencies) a losing record, consecutive losses to FIU/Duke/LA Tech, an unprecedented number of team statistical rankings near the bottom quartile of national programs, and no clear path to an improved season in 2020. The negative performance is simply a biproduct of inadequate leadership – players are not accountable for adequate preparation; coaches are not sufficiently recruiting talent, executing on player development, and making in-game adjustments; administration is not focused on hiring proven and competent coaches. These leadership issues start at the top of the administration and trickle down to a culture of mediocrity.
Administrative leadership issues pre-date your tenure with consistently misplaced hirings of first-time coaches in Coker and Shannon, and then the unprepared Golden; however, your rushed hiring decisions in Richt and now Diaz have only served to repeat the errors of the past, thereby creating a 16-year period of irrelevance on the national college football scene.
Despite the current state of the program, UM Football has an opportunity to once again revolutionize the sport. It is public knowledge that Alonzo Highsmith has been contacted by people close to the program, and that Highsmith has interest in joining UM Football. Your opportunity is to implement a Football GM position in college football; Highsmith brings decades of NFL back office experience including college recruiting expertise. Your strength as an AD is fundraising, not making football decisions as evidenced by your rushed hires that have resulted in the worst season in nearly 40 years. It is time for you to outsource all football program operations to someone who actually has expertise in football operations.
Manny Diaz is currently in over his head. He is not known as a strong recruiter, his hand-picked staff needs major replacements after Year 1, and his marketing gimmicks (turnover chain, touchdown rings, dancing, pre-season antics, #TNM) are best characterized as cheap talk. These gimmicks have hurt a declining college football brand. Outreach to the likes of Mike Bobo as replacement OC further exemplify Diaz’s inability to diagnose offensive schematic issues and find a better direction. Manny Diaz is not the answer for UM Football. It is also public knowledge that Mario Cristobal’s dream job is Head Coach at UM. Cristobal is a proven head coach, respected national recruiter, and someone who can bring in a top-notch staff that is required to develop very raw South Florida talent.
The quickest formula for a turnaround to the abysmal 2019 season is a Highsmith / Cristobal pairing. Fan and booster outrage will no doubt gain volume in the coming weeks as a result of today’s embarrassing loss the second mid-major program this year. I encourage you to give serious consideration to major changes that will propel UM Football back to the success we all expect.
My family started as season ticket holders to UM Football back in the 1960s, so I have a bit of perspective about the evolution of the Miami Hurricanes football program. In the early 1980s we witnessed UM Football truly revolutionize the sport by recruiting inner city athletes; the result provided nearly two decades of UM Football dominance, the development of a national brand, life-altering opportunity to many who had never before given a chance to succeed, and a roadmap to modern day college football recruiting.
But over the past 40 years I have not personally experienced a more pathetic on-field product as was displayed this season. Despite recruiting class rankings from 2015 – 2019 of #26, #23, #11, #6, #36, respectively, the football season ends with (among a litany of deficiencies) a losing record, consecutive losses to FIU/Duke/LA Tech, an unprecedented number of team statistical rankings near the bottom quartile of national programs, and no clear path to an improved season in 2020. The negative performance is simply a biproduct of inadequate leadership – players are not accountable for adequate preparation; coaches are not sufficiently recruiting talent, executing on player development, and making in-game adjustments; administration is not focused on hiring proven and competent coaches. These leadership issues start at the top of the administration and trickle down to a culture of mediocrity.
Administrative leadership issues pre-date your tenure with consistently misplaced hirings of first-time coaches in Coker and Shannon, and then the unprepared Golden; however, your rushed hiring decisions in Richt and now Diaz have only served to repeat the errors of the past, thereby creating a 16-year period of irrelevance on the national college football scene.
Despite the current state of the program, UM Football has an opportunity to once again revolutionize the sport. It is public knowledge that Alonzo Highsmith has been contacted by people close to the program, and that Highsmith has interest in joining UM Football. Your opportunity is to implement a Football GM position in college football; Highsmith brings decades of NFL back office experience including college recruiting expertise. Your strength as an AD is fundraising, not making football decisions as evidenced by your rushed hires that have resulted in the worst season in nearly 40 years. It is time for you to outsource all football program operations to someone who actually has expertise in football operations.
Manny Diaz is currently in over his head. He is not known as a strong recruiter, his hand-picked staff needs major replacements after Year 1, and his marketing gimmicks (turnover chain, touchdown rings, dancing, pre-season antics, #TNM) are best characterized as cheap talk. These gimmicks have hurt a declining college football brand. Outreach to the likes of Mike Bobo as replacement OC further exemplify Diaz’s inability to diagnose offensive schematic issues and find a better direction. Manny Diaz is not the answer for UM Football. It is also public knowledge that Mario Cristobal’s dream job is Head Coach at UM. Cristobal is a proven head coach, respected national recruiter, and someone who can bring in a top-notch staff that is required to develop very raw South Florida talent.
The quickest formula for a turnaround to the abysmal 2019 season is a Highsmith / Cristobal pairing. Fan and booster outrage will no doubt gain volume in the coming weeks as a result of today’s embarrassing loss the second mid-major program this year. I encourage you to give serious consideration to major changes that will propel UM Football back to the success we all expect.
