For the first time since being hired as head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, Manny Diaz uttered the dreaded phrase nobody wanted to hear in 2019.

“This is a rebuild.”

For full context of that quote, Diaz was asked following Miami’s 28-21 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday what his message to recruits would be.

Here is what Diaz said:

“They are part of the solution. There is no doubt about that. We have a small senior class and a very young football team. You can see the promise of the future while seeing some of the ugliness of the present. To me, for lack of a better word, this is a rebuild. We are not picking up where we left off with great success. To me, the [commits] have been excited in my conversations with them to be a part of the solution.”

This is a change in message from Diaz compared to when he was first hired to be head coach of the Miami Hurricanes football program.

Here is a quote from Diaz on January 6th during an appearance on 560 WQAM: “Mark Richt established a lot of great things. It doesn’t need to be torn down, it just needs to be rebooted—and Mark Richt was capable of rebooting it. I am confident that he was going to get it fixed.”

With the quote above, Diaz is exactly right in terms of understanding the reason why he was hired to lead the football team.

By hiring Diaz within 12 hours of Mark Richt stepping down, the UM decision makers were sending the message that they believed the football program didn’t need to undergo a total tear down and rebuild.

Diaz was seemingly hired to ensure that the defensive side of the football continued to play at a high level while finding a way to improve Miami’s offense, quarterback play, and the special teams.

After the first seven games of the 2019 season, you could argue that Diaz has only accomplished one of those goals—the overall play of the quarterback position has improved and has been more dependable.

The defense, however, has dropped off and become an inconsistent group that can’t make big plays or key stops when needed.

Even though the quarterback play has been more consistent, the overall offense has not taken much of a step forward compared to the 2018 season.

On special teams, Diaz addressed the punting woes of 2018, but this year’s group is even worse considering the new problem is with field goal kicking and those woes are keeping points off the scoreboard. Miami has also been surprised by some back breaking fake punts that have changed the momentum of games against Florida and Georgia Tech.

With Diaz now pushing the message of this 2019 season being a rebuild, three things can be explained as to why we have now arrived at this point 1.) Diaz miscalculated the talent of the team he took over, which would be concerning because he was on the staff the previous three years 2.) he has assembled a coaching staff that isn’t getting the most out of the players 3.) Diaz is doing too much learning on the job as a first year head coach, which is why he is losing to other rebuilding teams that are going through significant scheme transitions.

At the college level—fair or not—everything ultimately comes back to the coaches. They are the ones getting paid to win games and put the players in the best positions to succeed and win games.

Are the kicking woes significant and a reason why Miami has lost some games this year? No doubt, but in each loss there has also been noticeable coaching miscues that are undeniable as well.

During Diaz’s introductory press conference, Diaz hinted that a program can change quickly in college football. It is interesting to look back at some of the words from Diaz’s opening statement as UM’s head coach.

Here are some of the interesting excerpts from that press conference:

“Now, 52 weeks ago, we were in a ‘New Year’s Six’ game. 52 weeks ago. Obviously, this year at the University of Miami, we had a setback. Things can change quickly in football, in both directions, as we’ve seen. As all successful people know, success is not always linear. The way to grow is not always linear. I could call up different examples. Obviously we just had the playoff. We saw Notre Dame walk out of Hard Rock [Stadium] 13 months ago with their tail between their legs. This year, they’re one of the top four teams in college football, according to the playoff committee.

“Clemson University, under Dabo Swinney – in Dabo’s third year, they won six games. It took a reboot at Clemson. They haven’t won fewer than 10 since, and they’ve certainly been competing for championships.

“There is precedent for things changing quickly in the world of college football. For that to happen, though, there has to be accountability. If we’re going to be who we say we are, and we’re going to hold our players accountable for their actions, then we know as coaches, that we have to be held by the same account. What happened this year was obviously not good enough at the University of Miami. One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was I had to announce to the offensive staff they would not be retained for 2019, and I had to do the same thing with Coach [Gus] Felder in the weight room. Immediately, the vision goes to the future. My first task is to hire an outstanding staff that is ready to take Miami to another level, to the point where we’re competing and in the mix for the College Football Playoff every year. That will start with the offensive coordinator. That’s certainly the most important hire.”

At Diaz’s introductory press conference, he made it clear that the culture that he wanted to establish at Miami was centered around accountability. As head coach, Diaz cleaned house on the offensive side of the ball. The reason for those wholesale changes boiled down to accountability.

“There has to be accountability,” Diaz said on January 3rd when meeting with the local media. “The University of Miami cannot rank second to last [among power five schools] in anything. You can’t turn around and say we demand this of you as a player and then if you don’t do it, there will be consequences. As coaches, we know this is the case.”

So with all of this being said, it seems fair to hold Diaz and his coaching staff accountable and it is fair to ask some questions.

- Why is Miami losing to lesser talented teams? (North Carolina, Virginia Tech, and Georgia Tech)

- Why is Miami losing to other rebuilding teams like North Carolina and Georgia Tech? Louisville is the next rebuilding team on Miami’s schedule.

- If this is a rebuild why was landing so many older players through the transfer portal a point of emphasis in the offseason? Why not play more freshmen?

- Why has the defense taken a step back in year four?

- Has the culture changed at all? Why is Miami still a team that shows up in spurts from game to game? Why is there a complete lack of consistency?

- What is the timetable for this rebuild?

Saturday’s loss to a bad Georgia Tech team was a tough pill to swallow. Hopefully Manny Diaz can be accountable in assessing the changes that need to be made in order to get the most out of this Miami football program.

Through the first seven games of 2019, it is clear that Diaz is not getting the most out of this team and that’s a problem whether you are rebuilding or not.