The state of Florida has seen three new head coaches at its three major football programs -- Miami, Florida and Florida State -- over the past two years. That instability and change has led to all three trying to rebuild and rebrand through recruiting with each team at different stages of its climb back to the top.
At Miami, for example, first-year head coach Manny Diaz is just beginning to make his mark on the recruiting trail.
Diaz has been making noise since he took over in December, and none bigger than when he and his staff showed up unannounced at a high school coaching clinic in Orlando.
The Nike Coach of the Year Clinics are annual gatherings held in 14 different cities across the country, allowing high school coaches the opportunity to hear presentations from top college football coaches in the area. As the title sponsor, the coaches presenting are leaders of programs represented by Nike.
But that didn't stop Diaz and his staff at Miami, an Adidas school, from showing up to the Wyndham Resort Hotel in Orlando to spend time with the in-state high school coaches despite not receiving an invitation.
Nike couldn't bar Miami from staying at the hotel, but as an Adidas school, the Hurricanes staff wasn't allowed to present the same way that Florida State's Willie Taggart, Arkansas' Chad Morris and Tennessee's Jeremy Pruitt.
So Diaz and his staff crashed the party and even made a graphic for social media with a giant Miami football player crouched over the phrase "Canes invade Orlando" and rented a room at the hotel.
What actually happened at the event is up for debate, as some reports state Diaz and his staff were holding court in their hotel room and even had high school coaches in their room while Taggart was scheduled to speak at the event.
"It wasn't really crashing," Diaz said. "The story kind of took off and had a life of its own, it became more internet legend than truth. We just felt like it was a great opportunity for us to be around a lot of the top high school football coaches in the state of Florida.
"We had not been there for three years and we wanted to show that we had a presence and they were important to us."
The Hurricanes' presence was felt at the clinic and making his presence known is exactly what Diaz has done since taking over as head coach at Miami.
Whether it's on the recruiting trail or with the team, the former defensive coordinator wants everyone to know this is his program and it's going to be run with a different standard.
Bringing an abundance of energy and excitement that began with a WWE-style first team meeting, complete with tackling dummies labeled "7-6" to represent the team's record from the 2018 season. His personality is shining through with how he runs his program and how he's recruiting now that he is the leader of the program.
"Early on, we wanted to create a program that our players were excited to walk in the building and go to work because if they're excited to be here, in turn, the recruits will be excited to come here," Diaz said. "But it can't just be fluff and it can't just be all flash, there has to be substance to it, which I think we're creating. But there's no doubt that we want to have high energy and play the game with a lot of passion."
Diaz took over the 7-6 program and finished the 2019 recruiting class ranked No. 30 overall after finishing at No. 8 in 2018. The on-field production, Diaz leaving briefly to take the head coaching position at Temple before returning once Mark Richt retired and the lack of progress on the field all were represented in the decline in the recruiting ranking.
Diaz and his staff have made a concerted effort to turn the team around and show the in-state prospects that winning will take place in Coral Gables again.
The prospects have been receptive to that early excitement as Miami already has 11 commitments in the 2020 class, seven of whom are ranked in the ESPN Junior 300, but Diaz knows those rankings and numbers won't mean anything if he and his coaches can't put it together on the field.
"We've seen some other schools that tried to stir things up in the, quote-unquote, honeymoon period, and then didn't have the wherewithal to follow through once the games came along," Diaz said. "We know, ultimately the best recruiting is when we play on Saturday afternoons in the fall. Getting the team in our locker room on board to play as well as we can play will have a lot to do with how those potential recruits see us, and ultimately want to join Miami."
That's one area where Florida is a bit ahead of Miami. Dan Mullen and his staff are entering their second season with the Gators and have showed recruits that progress is being made on the field.
They compiled a 10-3 record in 2018, including wins over Michigan in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Florida State and LSU. Those wins were some of the biggest recruiting tools Florida had this past season, according to director of recruiting operations Lee Davis Begley.
"I think the really big turning point for us during the season was the LSU game at home," Davis Begley said. "We had a lot of top kids in the country there and The Swamp was just electric. From what people told me, they said, 'Lee, this is what The Swamp was like last time Coach [Mullen] was here.' This is what The Swamp is supposed to be like."
That game was held on Oct. 6 when Florida had the No. 20 recruiting class and not a lot of positive momentum on its side. Beating LSU, then beating Michigan in the bowl game, all snowballed to help push Florida all the way up to No. 9 in the class rankings after the February signing day.
According to Davis Begley, the coaches and recruiters at Florida saw and heard the difference in how recruits perceived Florida from before the season started to February when the prospects were signing their national letters of intent.
The coaches finished that 2019 class with 13 ESPN 300 commitments signed and a bunch of new recruiters in those signees who are helping to push momentum forward.
Winning was a catapult for Florida this past season to see that success, but now moving forward, the staff has time in its favor. That Mullen's team has been at Florida for more than a year and been able to fully grasp what it takes to recruit at Florida, the coaches believe they could eclipse their top-10 finish from 2019.
"The biggest thing in recruiting is relationships and we didn't have relationships with the Florida kids at Mississippi State," Davis Begley said. "So that was a big thing coming in, and now having a year under your belt in building those relationships with the Florida kids and building those ties back up with high schools."
Those relationships are still being built at Florida State, as well, the third spoke to this big wheel that usually dominates Florida recruiting.
Taggart and his staff do not have the luxury of showing progress on the field after finishing 5-7 with losses to both Miami and Florida. Before the season started, Florida State held the seventh-ranked recruiting class for the 2019 class.
When it finished the season at the end of November, the Seminoles had fallen to No. 17 and eventually finished the class in February ranked No. 22 overall. Taggart went two recruiting classes without signing a quarterback and had back-to-back classes outside the top-10 after Florida State finished No. 4 in 2017 and No. 1 in 2016.
There are more questions than answers for Florida State, but that hasn't stopped the staff from landing five ESPN Jr. 300 recruits in 2020 and continuing to push forward on the recruiting trail.
Whether that continues on the right track or sees a dip after the season is yet to be seen as Taggart is still trying to right the ship with his current team.
Being behind in developing his team could put Florida State even further behind as Florida is capitalizing off its recruiting efforts in 2019 and pushing ahead in the 2020 and 2021 classes.
"I definitely think momentum is a real thing and I think closing strong in 2019 had a lot to do with how we performed on the season," Davis Begley said. "So we are using that momentum from the season into recruiting and are trying to keep it going with the next few classes."