Mark Richt stunned the Miami football program on Sunday when he announced his sudden retirement after his third season with the Hurricanes.
The announcement came as a shock to the athletic director and everyone around the program, not only because Richt seemed to be rejuvenated back at his alma mater, but because just days before the announcement defensive coordinator Manny Diaz accepted the job at Temple. Diaz would’ve been the clear successor to Richt in Coral Gables, and likely would have stayed around if he’d just let him know he was planning on leaving the program.
Instead, Miami had to pay a $4 million buyout to Temple to bring Diaz back and name him the new head coach, as was made official late on Sunday night.
The 25th Head Coach of the Miami Hurricanes: @Coach_MannyDiaz https://t.co/wuJfpy9TGg
— Miami Hurricanes (@MiamiHurricanes) December 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/Brett_McMurphy/status/1079592248055017473
While Temple obviously has to redo its coaching search, the program does hit a financial windfall in the form of the double buyouts they received from Miami and Georgia Tech. As for Miami, they can’t be thrilled Richt’s suddenness in retiring without warning cost them $4 million for what has historically been a rather cash-strapped program — at least in terms of legal money flowing through the program.
Temple’s search becomes fascinating because we’ll find out who was next on their list of candidates after seemingly landing a great hire in Diaz.
