Miami football fans have mixed emotions about the team’s decision to part ways with former head coach Manny Diaz. Hiring Mario Crostobal can only help matters.
It is a change of guard in Coral Gables, as the Miami football program has parted ways with former head coach Manny Diaz.
The Miami Hurricanes are expected to hire Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal to the same post. Cristobal played his college ball at The U for Jimmy Johnson and Dennis Erickson. The Miami native had been the head coach at Florida International prior to reinventing himself as an offensive line coach for Nick Saban at Alabama. Getting Cristobal to leave Eugene for Miami is massive news.
Here is how the Miami fanbase reacted to Diaz getting fired with Cristobal expected to take over the reins of the program.
Miami football fans react to Mario Cristobal replacing Manny Diaz as head coach
There are three consistencies with the change at the helm in Miami.
Nov 23, 2019 should of been the change. 30-24 Loss of FIU
— JohnnyFreedom13 (@JohnnyTunes) December 6, 2021
https://twitter.com/NkosiAR/status/1467884910912413702
MANNY DIAZ FUTURE PUBLIX CASHIER
— RYAN (@ryancashh) December 6, 2021
— Florida Boy Corey 🌴🍊🌊☀️ (@floridaboycorey) December 6, 2021
One, Miami fans have great respect for Diaz as a person, even if he was not as good of a head coach as many of them were hoping he would be. Of course, some hate the fact he is a Florida State graduate and believe he is best served to be a cashier at Publix for his next job.
Thanks Manny Diaz for all he did do with Us. No bad mouth from me, Diaz did the best he could do. Salute to Coach Diaz
— Anthony🇹🇹 (@theStoryofArose) December 6, 2021
This was handled very poorly, no matter the program's ultimate direction
— behrnsie. (@behrnsie) December 6, 2021
You did the right thing ... you just did it 36 hours after you should have ...
— Martin Baccardax (@mdbaccardax) December 6, 2021
Love the U, but this isn't a good look.
All the best to Coach Diaz. He loved the Canes program and made some good changes but the results just weren’t there — especially on D.
— Tim White (@timwhiteCCR) December 6, 2021
Two, the excitement surrounding Cristobal’s return to South Florida is immense. This long downtrodden fanbase has hope with the proven head coach taking over the program. Of course, every fanbase feels this way when a new hire is announced, but this one hits differently.
— 🏆 (@PrimetimeTua) December 6, 2021
Don't ever hire an FSU grad again, capeesh?
— Brian Bona (@Brian_Bona) December 6, 2021
Big Move! I'm glad to see an official announcement.
— Kembala Evans (@Kembala) December 6, 2021
Wishing Manny Diaz all the best in his future endeavors!
Classless handling of this situation.
— Marcus Lawrence 🇺🇦 (@everydaymar) December 6, 2021
And three, the entire process Miami went about switching head coaches was a complete and total botch job. While the outcome is hopefully one that pans out for the fanbase, it just shows how poorly the administration is run in Coral Gables these days. Even if Cristobal and new athletic director frontrunner Dan Radakovich are proven commodities, Miami has been a mess for a while.
Thankfully, the incredibly awkward coaching search for the Miami Hurricanes is finally over with.
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