Miami's Diaz optimistic despite 2nd loss: 'This is a temporary situation'

Manny Diaz delivered an optimistic message to potentially wavering recruits Saturday after Miami lost for the second time in three weeks to begin the season.

"This is a temporary situation we're in right now," the third-year head coach said. "These guys can be the answer. We had some great recruits in there today, saw a great atmosphere inside our stadium. These guys can come be the solution, these guys can come help this football program take the next step."

The Hurricanes fell 38-17 at home to Michigan State on Saturday, a week after struggling to put away Appalachian State. Alabama bludgeoned Miami in the season opener, and the school has now dropped four of its last five decisions dating back to last year.

Miami looked particularly sloppy against Michigan State, finishing the contest with four turnovers, 10 penalties, and a slew of missed tackles and drops. Still, the 47-year-old Diaz believes the Hurricanes can turn around their season.

"We've still got the ACC to play for, we've still got the Coastal to play for," Diaz said. "We've got to take a look at our personnel, we got to make decisions on who's getting what opportunities out there.

"There's been some surprises, there's been some guys that we had counted on that maybe aren't performing enough. We have to analyze why that is and find the best team we can put on the field for the last three-quarters of our season. Everyone has a right to be disappointed the way the first three games started, there's no defending that."

The Hurricanes are 15-12 since Diaz took over the program in 2019, though he assembled his first top-10 recruiting class in 2021.