Midnight update: UM will play Wichita State at 12:10 p.m. Saturday on CBS. Here's the full NCAA Tournament schedule for Saturday:

12:10 p.m. CBS Providence I Miami vs. Wichita State Ian Eagle/Chris Webber/Len Elmore//Evan Washburn After Conc. I CBS Providence II Duke vs. Yale Eagle/Webber/Elmore//Washburn 5:15 p.m. CBS Des Moines I Kentucky vs. Indiana Jim Nantz/Grant Hill/Bill Raftery//Tracy Wolfson 6:10 p.m. TNT Denver I Iowa State vs. Arkansas-Little Rock Andrew Catalon/Steve Lappas//Jamie Erdahl 7:10 p.m. TBS Raleigh I Virginia vs. Butler Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner//Lewis Johnson After Conc. I CBS Des Moines II Kansas vs. Connecticut Nantz/ Hill/ Raftery//Wolfson After Conc. I TNT Denver II Utah vs. Seton Hall/Gonzaga Catalon/Lappas//Erdahl After Conc. I TBS Raleigh II North Carolina vs. Providence Harlan/Miller/Bonner//Johnson

Quick 6 p.m. update: With Chris Johnson re-signing with Arizona after visiting the Dolphins today, Miami is still looking for a veteran running back to complement Jay Ajayi.

One name they've shown interest in this week: Packers free agent James Starks. There has been communication between the sides, though it's uncertain yet where this will go or if he will visit. [FRIDAY 9 AM UPDATE: STARKS IS RE-SIGNING WITH GREEN BAY].

Starks, 30, last season ran for 601 yards and two touchdowns and averaged 4.1 yards per carry in 16 games, including four starts. He also caught 43 passes for 392 yards and three touchdowns.

He has played his entire six-year career with Green Bay and has a 4.3 career average on 555 rushing attempts. He also has caught 106 passes for 883 yards.

Miami previously had some contact with free agent Alfred Morris, but it's unclear if that will go anywhere.

Other running backs still available include Ronnie Hillman (played under Adam Gase in Denver), Arian Foster, Reggie Bush, Pierre Thomas, Tim Hightower, Stevan Ridley, Ahmad Bradshaw, Stephen Jackson, Fred Jackson, Joique Bell, Bobby Rainey and Jordan Todman.

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Some Hurricanes players and fans have gotten their wish: UM has ditched ousted defensive coordinator Mark D’Onofrio’s read-and-react approach and hybrid scheme --- which former players said could be confusing --- and replaced it with new coordinator Manny Diaz’s attacking 4-3 system that accentuates speed and instincts.

But as Diaz indicated Thursday, the onus is on the players to prove they’re good enough to play this style, and play it effectively. That will begin to become evident when UM practices in full pads for the first time on Saturday, after Tuesday and Thursday sessions in shorts.

“All we’ve heard about is scheme, scheme, scheme,” Diaz said Thursday. “The scheme is not going to save us. The accountability has got to go to the personnel we have. The first thing we’ve got to find out is whether our players are good enough or not good enough.

“They’ve kind of walked around as if they really weren’t the problem. Some of them may be. Some of them may not be. That’s what really this spring is about exposing is who really is good enough to be here to get Miami to where we all think it should be.”

And if the personnel isn’t good enough, will Diaz need to alter his approach?

“If you can’t cover you can’t cover,” he said. “If you can’t play the line of scrimmage, you can’t play the line of scrimmage. You can do what you can try to do to hide that. The No. 1 thing is just improve. You’ve got to improve what you have. That’s the message we have to get out to the defensive kids here is South Florida: If what we have isn’t what we need it to be, we’ve got to get better.”

Coach Mark Richt made clear Thursday that Diaz “is being hired to run the show” and “I’m not going to be over there trying to tell the defense what to do. There might be some things where I say, 'if the defense does this to us, it’s problematic. You might want to think about it.' But I’m not going to claim to be an expert compared to what Manny knows.

“I’m not going to spend a lot of time [on defense]. I’m going to be coaching offense. I’m going to be very involved in special teams. I will meet with the defensive staff once early in the week to kind of get a feel of what’s happening, what he’s thinking, and [a second time] after games, we’ll review everything together and talk about personnel.”

Richt said he wasn’t adamant about hiring a coach who will play an attacking 4-3 style, as Diaz will, but he prefers that.

“It wasn’t like I had to have a 4-3 no matter what,” Richt said. “I was wanting that. But you’ve got to hire the right man. And if he has run a 3-4 with some 4-3 concepts, if he’s the best man for the job, hire him.

“But I really feel like Manny was the best man for the job and I do love the fact it’s in a 4-3 form, because it does just let guys turn it loose. And kids really enjoy doing that. If you’re a read and react team, it’s just not quite as fun.”

Richt added players like “if everybody on the team has a chance to make a play within their gap responsibilities.”

Richt said on defense “you want guys with speed. You want guys who are very, very athletic. But you want guys that are going to be coachable and teachable. It’s not like guys are just doing what they want to do. They’re turning it loose because there aren’t so many assignments that their minds are binded up. A confused player can’t play fast. Coach [Diaz] makes it simple for the defense but creates problems for the offense.”

Highly-regarded new defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski, who coached four first-round NFL draft picks at Missouri (Shane Ray, Aldon Smith, Ziggy Hood and Sheldon Richardson), says Diaz “is like a borderline Einstein genius” and he has the same defensive philosophy as Diaz.

“If there’s a lot of thinking required, I did something wrong,” Kuligowski said. “You cannot ask somebody to run through a wall and then before you run through the wall, please analyze the wall and check for the weak spot. That is what your scouting report before the game is supposed to tell you... [You've got to] find the hole and the ball, and run through it... We attack and then we react."

Players have expressed enthusiasm about the change in defensive approach, and Kuligowski said: “Everybody usually gets excited about a change. I’ve had some success in the past so I think the kids are hoping for the same thing for them.”

Diaz and Kuligowski don’t have a strong feel yet for exactly what they have with personnel.

“There’s nobody out here on our defense where you say, ‘This guy, wow, is he a star!’” Kuligowski said. “There’s nobody. Hopefully, by the end of two a days, we’re saying we have like 5 to 10 stars. That’s what we’re trying to look for as coaches in the evaluation process. We’re looking for consistency, competitiveness, toughness, can we trust them.”

Some of their initial thoughts on personnel:

• Kuligowski, on defensive ends Chad Thomas and Al Quadin Muhammad: “Some of the best guys I’ve coached, they’re not they’re yet. But they also have the potential to be really, really special players.”

• Kuligowski, on his defense tackles: "We’re in day two, so nobody looks great. We have some talent. I’ve been in places where you start out and it’s really rough. Here, I don’t think it’s that rough. I think we have some talent here. Now it’s a matter of time for guys to pick up the technique, work ethic and the attitude we’re trying to establish on our defense.”

Kuligowski did say that defensive tackle Gerald Willis, the 2015 transfer from Florida who’s eligible this season, “is doing a great job, has been very impressive. The report on him that we got – he’s been a breath of fresh air, very coachable.”

• Diaz, on the linebackers, where projected starter Darrion Owens remains sidelined (riding a stationary bicycle) because of a knee injury: “There is a big question mark in that group. You can tell with Jermaine Grace, he appears to have that sense of urgency you would expect a senior to have. Beyond that, without really understanding what D.O. can do, we’re green there, we’re young. We’re going to mix and match and try to find the best three. It’s going to be fun to see what those guys are like the first time the ball gets run down on Saturday."

• Diaz, on UM’s situation at cornerback, where Corn Elder is the only players with substantial experience: “For sure, we’ll be green on the back end, but some of the younger guys have made some steps. We have some guys who might be able to help us in the fall. I am really curious how they respond.

“[Sheldrick] Redwine and [Michael] Jackson and [Terrance] Henley are guys who played very little or none last year. Watching them and their ability to run around, I think they can do it. The question is whether they can do it consistently within the framework of the defense.”

• Diaz said the staff "tried to get them to play with a little more passion" today. "They're learning what that means."

Incidentally, the media was permitted to watch just 15 minutes today, mostly individual instruction and ball-pouncing drills.

Twitter: @flasportsbuzz