Hurricanes reach out to UVA’s Anae, but go in different direction

Posted on Friday, Jan. 3, 2020, 10:07 pm

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By Jerry Ratcliffe

If you were among the Virginia fans sweating over whether or not the Cavaliers were going to lose their offensive coordinator, rest easy.

Miami head coach Manny Diaz reportedly reached out to UVA’s Robert Anae on Thursday to gauge his interest in interviewing for the same job with the Hurricanes. While it seemed unlikely that Anae would leave Bronco Mendenhall’s program, the Virginia OC may not have even had time to reply to Diaz’s request.

It was reported late Friday that Miami was planning on hiring SMU offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Rhett Lashlee to handle the Hurricanes’ transition from their pro-style offensive system to an up-tempo spread attack.

Lashlee, much younger than the 61-year-old Anae, at 36, was a semifinalist for the Frank Broyles Award, symbolic of the nation’s top assistant coach. His Mustangs put up an average of 489.8 total yards and 41.8 points per game this past season.

Meanwhile, Anae’s offense, patterned after the Mike Leach “Air Raid,” averaged 388.9 yards (No. 81 in the FBS) and 32.1 points per game (No. 40) over 14 games.