The Miami Hurricanes will part ways with quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Dan Enos, after one season at the helm of the UM offense. The news was first reported by the Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds hours before the Canes played in the Walk On’s Independence Bowl on Dec. 26. Miami waited until Friday to publicly comment.
“The University of Miami football program announced Friday that Dan Enos has been relieved of his duties as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach,” the program said in a statement.
Enos led an offense in 2019 that gained an average of 378.9 yards per game, good for 90th in the FBS and a slight improvement over the 358.8 yards per game output in 2018. But any good news stops there, as the Hurricanes saw declines in points per game (28.8 to 27.8), third down conversion percentage (39.4% to 26.3%), and sacks allowed (27 to 47) from last season to this year.
“Manny Diaz is the right leader for our program but clearly changes are necessary and expected,” said UM Athletic Director Blake James in a tweet after Thursday’s loss, a hint that a coordinator change is looming. “Manny is in the process of making a full assessment of the football program, including coaches and staff. I remain committed to the young men in our locker room and I am excited to welcome our new recruits to the U Family. We will continue to tirelessly provided the resources needed to get this program back to competing for ACC and national championships.”
Individual game performances—such as surrendering 10 sacks in the season opener against Florida, the 12-point outing vs. Central Michigan, the three-turnover performance against FIU and a 17-point, 259-yard output in the regular season finale at Duke put added scrutiny on Enos.
But a zero-point offensive performance against Louisiana Tech was the cherry on top of a tumultuous season, leaving little wiggle room in any plans to let Enos stick around for a second season.
Enos inherited an offense in limbo after Diaz fired all assistant coaches on the offensive side of the ball on Dec. 31 last year, a day after Diaz was brought back to Coral Gables as head coach.
Before the announcement of Enos on UM’s staff a year ago, Diaz asserted his commitment to bring aggression and innovation to the offense, mirroring the changes he brought on the defensive side of the ball when hired as defensive coordinator in 2016 by then-head coach Mark Richt.
Enos was hired by Diaz after spending two seasons at Alabama, serving as the Crimson Tide’s quarterback coach. Prior to his stint in Tuscaloosa, Enos was an offensive coordinator at Arkansas and a head coach at Central Michigan. Diaz insisted that the former QB coach in Tuscaloosa was his top target for offensive play caller.
Fans looking for an offense that brought speed and aggression were instead treated to an offense that was stagnant, erratic, and not unlike the predictable 2018 offense. Many analysts have called for the Canes to switch to a spread offense, used by much of college football’s programs today, to take full advantage of the plethora of speed that Miami has on its roster.
But Enos instead lead an offense that arguably regressed from its 2018 self, leading to perhaps the biggest decision in Manny Diaz’s young tenure as the head coach in Coral Gables.