On January 2, 1984, 9-year-old Manny Diaz would never have believed his 44-year-old self would be in the position he is in now.
“Thirty-five years to the day,’’ the new University of Miami coach said Wednesday in his introductory news conference, “that the University of Miami won its first national championship against Nebraska. And for the 9-year-old kid up past his bedtime, watching Kenny Calhoun bat that ball down and watch the Canes storm the field, the fact that I’m here standing in front of you now as the head coach at [UM], if you need any more evidence that is a God story, that’s it.