Manny Diaz Duke, Spectacular Magazine
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Duke Hires Manny Diaz as New Football Head Coach

Lawrence Davis III @LawDavis13 @SpecMagSports

DURHAM, NC – Duke University has agreed to hire current Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz as the next head coach of the Duke football program.

This comes after head coach Mike Elko agreed to take over the Texas A&M program in November.

Manny Diaz, who owns 25 years of collegiate coaching experience and 14 as a defensive coordinator, enters his second season with the Nittany Lions as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.

Defenses under Diaz have been a force behind the line of scrimmage, as his units since 2016 have ranked in the top 10 nationally in tackles for loss each year: No. 5 in 2022 (8.0 per game), No. 9 in 2021 (7.75), No. 4 in 2020 (8.6), No. 4 in 2019 (8.3), No. 1 in 2018 (10.5), No. 4 in 2017 (8.5) and No. 5 in 2016 (8.3).

Diaz, a 2022 Broyles Award semifinalist who has coached in 20 bowl games (14-6 record), helped propel Penn State’s defense into one of the top units in the nation during his first year with the Nittany Lions.

Penn State finished first nationally with 85 pass breakups and had four games with double-digit pass breakups in 2022 while ranking tied for seventh in takeaways and tied for ninth in scoring defense.

During Diaz’s tenure as head coach at Miami (2019-21), the Hurricanes tied for the second most ACC wins in the league, only trailing Clemson.

Diaz coached the Hurricanes to three bowl appearances in his three seasons at the helm, which included an 8-3 (7-2 ACC) record in 2020. It was the second time with Diaz on staff as well as the second time in program history Miami won seven ACC games.

Miami’s 2021 squad finished the regular season winning five of its last six games, including wins over Top 20 opponents NC State and Pitt and finished second in the ACC Coastal division with a 5-3 conference record.

Prior to taking over as head coach, Diaz ran a Hurricane defensive unit that ranked fourth nationally in total defense (278.9) in 2018, while also finishing first in tackles for loss (10.5 per game), third-down conversion percentage (.253) and passing defense (135.6).