Desmond Howard defends Miami, Manny Diaz on College GameDay

It has been a rollercoaster of a season so far for the Miami Hurricanes and head coach Manny Diaz. Miami began the season with a 44-13 loss to Alabama before barely holding onto a 25-23 win over Appalachian State in Week 2. Michigan State beat Miami in Week 3 before the Hurricanes got back to .500 with a win over Central Connecticut.

Miami then lost two consecutive games to Virginia and North Carolina by a combined five points. Virginia beat Miami 30-28 and UNC beat the Hurricanes 45-42. Two weeks ago, Miami has since pulled off consecutive upsets with a 31-30 win over NC State and a 38-34 win over Pittsburgh.

The previous four games have inspired confidence for Miami. College GameDay analyst Desmond Howard defended Miami and Diaz on Saturday’s show, pointing out the serious turnaround he has seen this season.

Howard on Diaz, Miami: ‘They bounced back’

Miami’s turnaround has come at a perfect time, as the Hurricanes have four winnable games in the final four weeks of the season. The season looked to be lost a few weeks ago, but expectations are now different.

“I tell you what how about Miami,” Howard said on GameDay. “We looked at Miami at one point about four weeks ago when they lost against Virginia, they lost against North Carolina losing both games by only three points.”

GameDay analyst Kirk Herbstreit then interjected, saying that Miami has “played hard” over the recent stretch of games.

“That’s the key,” Howard said. “Don’t look at the final score. Look at the actual game. People wanted to get Manny out of there and what did they do? They bounced back. They beat N.C. State. They beat Pitt. Because if you watch the tape, this is a team that’s always competed. They play four quarters of football and they play hard, give tremendous effort. People wanted ‘Hey get Manny out of there, He can’t handle the job.’ Now look at Miami.”

Questions surrounding Diaz and his future as Miami’s head coach were serious earlier in the season. But the recent stretch of games has not only given Miami hope, but it has likely saved Diaz’s job.

Reports emerged earlier in the week that Miami is “highly unlikely” to move on from Diaz after the season. Diaz has an 18-14 record in his three seasons as Miami’s head coach. While the Hurricanes were ranked No. 14 entering the season and have underwhelmed from that standpoint, Diaz has been able to salvage at least somewhat of a solid season assuming Miami keeps winning.

Miami faces Georgia Tech, Florida State, Virginia Tech, and Duke over the final four weeks in four very winnable contests.