If Manny Diaz is to be believed, college football programs struggling to attract elite talent in recruiting have one person to blame. Not themselves or the program’s recruiting methods, which would make sense, no, instead, you can blame it on Kevin Durant.

How is that?

According to the new Miami head coach, who was promoted up from defensive coordinator following the retirement of Mark Richt, Durant’s decision to join the Golden State Warriors seeped into the minds of the youth around the country.

Here is what Diaz recently had to say about Miami needing to attract more talent to the school and how difficult that has become in today’s era without winning big on the field first.

“Look, the world has changed, and I’m going to blame the NBA. Once Kevin Durant went to the Warriors after they were 3-1 up when he was at Oklahoma City — kids want to go where the winning is. So, that’s hard because you have to create the winning to get them to come to where the winning is. So, there’s a natural tendency to be drawn to the places that are currently on top, which, that’s fair,” Diaz said according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

Miami’s 2019 recruiting class currently ranks 33rd in the country, according to 247Sports Composite Team Rankings. While serving as defensive coordinator, Diaz was an instrumental member of the coaching staff that constructed that recruiting class. The news isn’t all bad, though, as Diaz but does have an idea on how to improve the team’s recruiting in the future.

“OK, so the only way you can battle that is you have to put out a product that makes a kid say, ‘I’ve got to go do that,’ and they’ve thought that for a long time,” Diaz continued. “Remember, what’s occurred now the last couple years is really new in their memory at Miami, but we have to continue to pound on it where the ninth-graders and the eighth-graders are like, ‘Look at the Miami Hurricanes. I want to be that guy.’ ”

It will be interesting to see how this message plays on the recruiting trail. While there may be some truth to what Diaz is saying, it also appears he’s suggesting Miami hasn’t been successful enough on the field in recent history to attract the elite talent of the south Florida area to the Coral Gables school.

How well will a message like that play once rival schools use it against Diaz and the Hurricanes?