The Miami Hurricanes are now searching for a new defensive coordinator.

Miami coach Mark Richt made an excellent hire in 2016 when he brought Manny Diaz over from Mississippi State and now he will look to make a similar type of successful hire.

Diaz has brought an aggressive and attacking style of play back to Miami—a different philosophy from the read and react system that Al Golden and his staff implemented. Diaz’s coaching style and scheme have been a perfect fit for the Hurricanes. South Florida produces an abundance of speedy players on defense that can execute Diaz’s system at a high level.

The 2018 season was a culmination of Miami's overall talent on defense improving and those players fully understanding Diaz's system. Simply put, UM's 2018 defense was elite. The Hurricanes finished No. 2 nationally in total defense, No. 3 in yards per play allowed, No. 3 in pass efficiency defense, No. 11 in sacks, and No. 15 in scoring defense.

When Richt was hired at Miami in December of 2015, here is what he had to say as to the type of defensive coordinator he was looking for at that time. The following quote can provide valuable context as to what to expect for this defensive coordinator search.

“A lot’s going to depend on the man, the coordinator, and what he believes in because there’s more than one way to skin it,” Richt said. “People talk about 4-3, 3-4 and all of that, but most 4-3 teams have a lot of 3-4 build into their scheme and most 3-4 teams have a lot of 4-3 to what they do. What are we going to base out of? I’ve been on 3-4 teams where the only difference between a 4-3 and a 3-4 is the end man on the line was standing up instead of putting his hand on the ground, that was the only difference. Everything else was exactly the same so they’re more alike than people want to admit or maybe that they do.

“But I do have some great visions of some of the greatest defenses that have ever been here, but part of the reason why they were great were because of the guys, the dudes. We’ve got to get the dudes. I know we have some, but we’ve got to get some more.”

So all of that is to say that Richt is not going to be tied down to a certain defensive scheme and he believes the most important aspect of playing good defense is having talented, athletic players.

So who will Miami look at to try and continue the fantastic job that Diaz did as UM's defensive coordinator? Read on as we list some names that figure to get a strong look.