What bowl? Miami’s Diaz closing in on targets as NCAA’s early signing period approaches.

Miami Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz knows what’s most important now.

And thankfully, for his sake and that of a program teetering between insignificance and hopeful resurgence, what’s most important comes a week from this Wednesday and before Miami’s Dec. 26 Walk-On’s Independence Bowl against Louisiana Tech (9-3, 6-2 Conference USA) in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Diaz, who spoke to beat reporters on a teleconference Monday for the first time since the Canes (6-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell 27-17 to Duke in the regular-season finale, made it clear that recruiting is his current priority — particularly the addition of “low-maintenance, high-output” players.

The NCAA’s three-day early signing period for football runs Dec. 18 through the 20th, and Diaz expects a majority of his 21 players in the 2020 recruiting class to sign their Letters of Intent those days, which would lock them into the program and get them a huge head start during the offseason conditioning program that continues into spring football.

National Signing Day is Wednesday, Feb. 5.

UM’s 2020 class — highlighted offensively by four-star quarterback Tyler Van Dyke of Suffield, Connecticut, and four-star running backs Don Cheney of Miami Belen Jesuit and Jaylan Knighton of Deerfield Beach; and defensively by four-star defensive end Chantz Williams of Orange Park Oakleaf High — is ranked 10th in the nation by Rivals.com and 14th by 247Sports.

“We are nine days out from signing day,’’ Diaz said. “Very excited about the way this class is shaping up. We’ve got our entire staff right now on the road trying to finish what is already a very strong recruiting class with a couple remaining pieces that we think can make it even stronger.

“After we get through another official visit weekend this weekend coming up, we will focus our full attention on finishing the season the way it needs to be finished and putting together an outstanding effort to defeat Louisiana Tech.”

High on Diaz’s wish list now is five-star linebacker Justin Flowe of Upland, California; five-star tight end Darnell Washington of Las Vegas Desert Pines; and four-star linebacker Keyshawn Greene of Crawfordville Wakulla High in the Florida Panhandle.

Diaz said he has had home visits with “over half” of the committed 2020 class, and he believes they could be the answer for an eventual turnaround.

“They are not just solid, they are committed,’’ Diaz said, “and that word gets thrown around in recruiting. They want to be part of the solution and they want that to happen right away. Their energy, their excitement, the way they look you in the eye, the way they talk about what’s going to happen, and that’s what they do amongst themselves in that group chat.

“But whether it’s through phone conversations, text messaging with our coaches or when we get a chance to meet them in the home, they see it. They see a bond, and sometimes that’s just what it takes.... We’ve got some great leaders in that class that guys want to rally around and that guys want to play together. And I think that actually helped attract a few more guys into that class because there’s something about what makes these guys special.”

When asked what he would define as “a win” during the early signing period, the coach mentioned keeping and appreciating the the prospects “in the boat that are solid and have stuck together for a long time,” and being thankful because he believes those type of stable commits “tend to be low-drama, low-maintenance, high-output guys when they come to college, which is really what we’re looking for.”

“...When you’ve got high-maintenance, low-output guys, then you generally tend to have a problem. And that’s something we’ve been fighting and we’ve been dealing with here for a little while.

“To call it a win, or however you want to define it, if we can just finish on these last few targets, and whether that comes in on the 18th or whether that comes in February, I think just the last couple steps [are] to try to make our 2020 team as good as it can be — not just in terms of our talent collection but in terms of the mindset and the mentality that these guys have to be Hurricanes.”

Other Diaz notables from the teleconference:

▪ Offensive lineman Navaughn Donaldson, injured at Duke, will be out for the bowl. But lineman John Campbell and running back Cam’Ron Harris, also injured that game, are expected back for the Independence Bowl.

▪ The starting quarterback for the bowl game, either Jarren Williams or N’Kosi Perry, will be determined this month and will be dependent on factors like “academic performance’’ and “dependability of doing the right things off the field.’’

▪ Diaz said “no one” other than senior defensive end Trevon Hill and junior defensive end Jon Garvin have told him they will skip the bowl game. Garvin has retained an agent and will enter the NFL Draft. But the coach added that he doesn’t want to “get into who’s in and who’s out until we get back to bowl practice. We’ll talk about that in about a week from now.’’