Miami made so many strides on defense last season that it's easy to imagine the possibilities headed into 2017.

The Hurricanes have a legitimate shot to be an elite, top-10 defense, a quick turnaround for a unit maligned over most of former coach Al Golden’s tenure.

While the offense must replace quarterback Brad Kaaya and several other major contributors, the defense is set up to carry the Hurricanes. Nine starters return, including everybody on a vastly improved defensive line. For the first time in quite a while, Miami will field a defense that could harken back to the dominance that helped define “The U.”

So what has changed? Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz delivered on his promise to transform Miami into a more aggressive unit. Gone are the days when players seemed a step too slow because they played from a reactionary position or were misaligned. Freshman defensive end Joe Jackson said the Diaz defense, “is designed for everyone to make plays and have fun.”

Miami returns everyone on their two-deep roster at both defensive line and linebacker. Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire

That certainly seemed to be the case in 2016. It is impossible to ignore the rapid turnaround Miami had in both sacks and tackles for loss. Miami racked up 108 tackles for loss, ranking No. 5 in the nation. In the previous four seasons, Miami ranked in the bottom 20 nationally.

A more in-depth look at the numbers shows Miami ranked No. 2 nationally in the percent of opponent runs that went for zero or negative yards (33.1 percent). Compare that to 17.9 percent the previous season.

In the sacks department, Miami had 37, giving the Canes 11 more than a season ago. They never hit the 30-sack mark under Golden. In fact, both the tackles for loss and sack totals are the highest Miami has posted since 2010, Randy Shannon’s final season as head coach.

Jackson is a key reason why. The ESPN 300 standout in the Class of 2016 committed to play for Golden. After the coaching change, he was unsure what direction the program would take but decided to sign with Miami anyway. “I figured why abandon the ship now I’ve been committed so long,” Jackson said recently. “It would be a shame to just throw it all away, so I stuck with UM.”

He got his opportunity to play right away and finished with a team-high 8.5 sacks, second among all freshmen nationally. Several teammates also had banner years: Chad Thomas had a career-high in TFLs (11) and sacks (4.5). So did Kendrick Norton (10 TFL), Trent Harris (9.5 TFL), R.J. McIntosh (8.5 TFL) and Demetrius Jackson (6.0 TFL). Despite all these improvements, nobody from the Miami defense earned first-team All-ACC honors, and that caught Diaz's attention.

13th in nation in Yards/Play, 14th in scoring D, & only 1 guy on 1st/2nd/3rd team All-ACC? Only 2 Hnr Ment? Come on people, pay attention🙄 — Manny Diaz (@Coach_MannyDiaz) November 28, 2016

The story should be different in 2017. Everybody on the two deep returns at both defensive line and linebacker. That leads us to the second major change for the Miami defense. The Hurricanes relied on a bevy of freshmen and each one delivered, giving Miami as strong a foundation as it has had over the last 10 years. Linebackers Shaq Quarterman, Michael Pinckney and Zach McCloud all stuck with previous commitments to play for Miami. All three started.

Miami ended up allowing just 18.9 points per game, its best mark since 2006. Its rush defense was its best since 2009. Given all the youth on the defense in 2016 and all the returning players, those numbers are expected to be even better in 2017.

“I think we’re going to be really good,” Jackson said. “We don’t have many people leaving, we all know the scheme. We all know the plays. All we have to really do is put in the work to get better.”

That is exactly what everybody on the defense plans to do to help Miami improve across the board.

“It’s going to be a whole bunch of hard work,” Quarterman said. “I worked extremely hard this past summer before the season but this one now that I have that experience of this year, it’s going to be a whole upgrade as opposed to the things I did last offseason.”