Manny Diaz feels the heat in latest CBS hot seat rankings

CBS Sports analyst Dennis Dodd has updated his hot seat rankings, assessing which coaches are working to save their job and which are stumbling toward the end. In his latest update, Dodd provides a new look at Miami head coach Manny Diaz and the smoke building in the hot seat rankings.

The hot seat rankings use a 0-5 scale to gage the severity of each coach’s situation. A zero on the scale indicates a coach is untouchable, while a five means the coach must win now or be fired in December. The numbers 3-5 are where the seat beings to warm, with a three signally pressure to win and four announce an immediate need to improve.

Manny Diaz on the hot seat

Titling into dangerous territory, Manny Diaz receives a three in the updated hot seat rankings. Now midway through year three at Miami, there is mounting pressure to build a winner at the historic football school.

“There is negative buzz about Diaz’s job security in his third season,” writes Dodd. “That buzz is aided by Mario Cristobal — a native son and former player with title rings — having Oregon in the top 10.”

Coaching comparisons are always the enemy of job security, especially across the country. But there is good news for Diaz this season. According to the Miami Herald, he only needed eight wins to keep his job another year.

What went wrong at Miami

ESPN analyst and College GameDay host David Pollack joined College Football Live after Miami’s third loss of the season to explain what has gone wrong for the Hurricanes. After entering the season as a Top 25 team, Miami has fallen to 2-3 with losses against Alabama, Michigan State and Virginia.

“It’s interesting, we had this conversation last week on GameDay,” said Pollack. “Kirk talked about the AD, the president, everybody buying in and making football a priority and that they haven’t really done that. So that’s part of the equation. Obviously, Manny Diaz is gonna garner some of the attention. It’s just so different to watch Miami over the years and we’ve wanted them to be back so many different times, but the talent level isn’t what we’ve seen in the past.”

Pollack spreads plenty of blame across the top of the Miami program with criticism for everyone involved, except the players on the field. Despite his frustration with the lack of talent, he views that as a staff issue, whether it involves better recruiting or better development within the program.