In a process that’s dragged on, one of the few remaining pillars has toppled: Miami has fired head coach Manny Diaz, according to Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports. This essentially clears the path for Miami to hire Mario Cristobal away from Oregon.
Sources: Miami has fired Manny Diaz.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 6, 2021
After spending three seasons as Miami’s defensive coordinator (2016-18), Diaz replaced Mark Richt as the program’s head coach ahead of the 2019 season. In the three years with Diaz, Miami has gone 21-15; the Hurricanes are 0-2 in bowl games.
This will obviously cost Miami a lot of money. The buyout for Diaz alone should cost between $7-8 million. However, the ways in which the Hurricanes are unlocking the money to accomplish all of this is rather gross.
Amid the disastrous and deadly COVID-19 pandemic, Miami’s UHealth System pulled in $400 million in profit in 2020. (If that seems like an insane profit number, given everything, well, it is!) Regardless, Miami plans to use of its COVID-19 money to spend a fortune and completely turnover its football program.
According to The Athletic, Cristobal will get around $8 million per year. Miami must also spend $9 million to buy him out from his Oregon contact. All of this will come on top of the buyout for Diaz, too.
Per @Manny_Navarro, Miami is preparing to throw $8M/yr. at Cristobal, $9M to buy him out of Oregon and $7-$8M to buy out Diaz.
Where is the $$$ coming from, you ask?https://t.co/lBlUiSp5XF pic.twitter.com/200VqnucKE
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 6, 2021
(Guys, I think we may need to change our healthcare system in America. Call it a hunch.)
Following the Diaz/Cristobal transition, Miami will continue to pursue and eventually sign Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich.