After leaving Temple after just a few weeks on the job to return to Miami as the program's head coach following the sudden retirement of Mark Richt, Manny Diaz had the unique task of starting to fill a coaching staff for a second time in an off season.
One of those hires, the addition of Alabama quarterbacks coach and former Arkansas offensive coordinator Dan Enos drew a lot of praise at the time. However, after finishing 129th out of 130 FBS teams in third down conversions and 89th or worse nationally in scoring, total offense, rushing offense and red zone offense, and strugglingly mightily a the quarterback position all season, Enos was let go after just one season.
The offensive staff heading into year two under Diaz will look much different than year one, as wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield left for the same job at Penn State, and new offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee (who was at SMU previously) brought with him Jonathan Brewer and Kyle Cooper as offensive assistants. Diaz also brought in former UNLV offensive coordinator / offensive line coach Garin Justice to work with the 'Canes offensive line.
Entering year two, Diaz was asked what kind of attributes he was looking for as he filled those offensive positions on his staff, and he replied with an answer about what he has learned, and what has changed about his hiring process as a new head coach.
"I think that when you go through the hiring process, and when you start vetting candidates, for the job that you have, perhaps you start asking some different questions in talking with people that have worked with Rhett, or people that have worked with Garin or with Rob or anyone else that you bring into the program."
"It's no different than when I stood here on December 18th and talked about that recruiting class that we brought in and I mentioned like-minded people coming together."
"It's not just about a series of plays, or the spread, or tempo that make - for example, Rhett Lashee - who he is, it really is about who he is as a man," Diaz went on to share. "That fit, and the fit with our staff and the culture of our staff, and the type of people that we want to be."
Hear more from Diaz in the clip.