The Rundown Take
Dan Radakovich Is In: Why Clemson's Old AD Hire Means Manny Diaz's Clock Just Started
The night before Georgia and Alabama play for the SEC title, U Talk got its own championship-week news: Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich is reportedly headed to Coral Gables. Larry Frank Jr. broke down the résumé, insider George Diaz — who says he called the Blake James firing a month before it happened — reported a plane was already on its way to Vegas to meet Mario Cristobal after the Pac-12 title game, and James Freeman phoned in too giddy to finish sentences.
Key Takeaways
- Radakovich's Clemson numbers, per Larry Frank: two national titles, six ACC championships, six College Football Playoff appearances since 2012, and athletic department revenue nearly doubled from $69 million to a budgeted $131 million.
- George Diaz reports a plane is en route to Las Vegas to meet Mario Cristobal after the Pac-12 championship game, with an official Miami hire expected as soon as Sunday or Monday.
- George explains the delay on firing Manny Diaz: waiting one more day saves the university $2 million on his buyout, which is why the move wasn't made immediately.
- Locker room temperature, per George's sourcing: roughly 75 percent of players are not personally attached to Manny Diaz, largely over a seniority-based playing-time policy that frustrated younger talent.
- Rumored offensive coordinator target: Ken Dorsey, currently Buffalo's quarterbacks coach, with the panel debating whether he has the play-calling experience to pair with Tyler Van Dyke.
The Case for Radakovich — and Against Waiting
Larry Frank framed the timeline as the whole story: Radakovich took over at Clemson in 2012, right as the Tigers broke out of the Dabo Swinney rebuilding years into the championship era. His argument was simple — an AD with that track record isn't going to tie his name to mediocrity, which made Manny Diaz's firing close to inevitable the moment Radakovich's hire leaked. George Diaz added that running the search through a tight, need-to-know circle — frustrating board members left out of the loop — was the right call after years of leaks blowing up candidate interest.
Sizing Up the Coaching Carousel
The panel ran the rest of the country's hires for comparison: they liked USC's Lincoln Riley and Florida's Billy Napier, panned Virginia Tech's and Washington's rushed hires, and were skeptical of LSU going with Brian Kelly and Notre Dame simply elevating Marcus Freeman without a real search. George Diaz's read: every Miami search since Larry Coker was a rush job that got the wrong guy, and taking the time to land the AD first is the first sign the program is finally doing it right. James Freeman, once on the "Lane Kiffin train," conceded he's fully bought into Mario now, citing Oregon's $200 million-plus facilities buildout as proof Cristobal doesn't do things half-measure.
What the Locker Room Wants
Asked directly whether players were quietly loyal to Manny Diaz, George Diaz pushed back hard, saying the majority of the roster — especially freshmen and sophomores stuck behind a seniority-based depth chart — will welcome the change. He pointed to quarterback D'Eriq King playing through injury as the clearest example of the old regime prioritizing eligibility politics over player health, costing Tyler Van Dyke valuable experience against Alabama earlier in the year.
"He's not coming here to fool around or half-ass nothing. He's going to want to build this program back — and who else better than somebody from Miami to do it."