Greg McElroy explains optimism behind Manny Diaz hire at Duke

There were plenty of big-time college football jobs open during this coaching carousel cycle, such that the Duke hire of Manny Diaz went a little bit under the radar.

It might not move the needle quite as much as Kalen DeBoer replacing Nick Saban at Alabama, but it’s a move that the Blue Devils hope leads to sustained success.

It’s not too dissimilar from Duke’s hire of Mike Elko two years ago.

“I’m very, very optimistic. It’s kind of cut from the same cloth,” ESPN’s Greg McElroy said on Always College Football. “It really worked the last time we went and got a Power Five coordinator, let’s try it again. They go and get Manny Diaz, who does have head coaching experience. That’s one thing Elko did not have. Manny Diaz does have that and does have head coaching experience in the footprint.

“Of all the Power Five coordinators that were being evaluated for the possibility of getting this job, it felt like Manny Diaz was probably the best guy, given his experience level and his major conference head coaching job that he’s had in the past. I think he was probably best positioned.”

Diaz did indeed get the job, and now he’ll transition back to being the man in charge after spending two years serving as the defensive coordinator at Penn State.

It was that stint as the Nittany Lions’ coordinator that put Diaz back on the map when it came to head coaching positions.

“He did an amazing job, too. In the last two years he was incredible for Penn State,” McElroy said. “Really well-connected in the ACC. He went to Florida State. Had his first on-field assistant job at NC State, and then returned to Miami as the defensive coordinator before he would replace Mark Richt as the head coach. So he has been around the ACC. He knows it. I think he does a pretty danged good job.”

Diaz’ first stint as a head coach came at Miami, where he went 21-15 and was ultimately ousted after a 7-5 season in Year 3.

McElroy touched on Diaz’ Miami stint and why he’s not overly concerned by that failure.

“You look at his time at Miami. Now the team was bowl-eligible in each of the first three years, went 16-9 in ACC play from 2019-2021,” McElroy said. “Plus if you look at Miami’s challenges, the uneven results that we’ve seen for the last two decades are really not emblematic of what Manny Diaz could or couldn’t do. I think it’s really impressive what he’s been able to do in his time.”

That said, Diaz will have his work cut out for him taking over the Duke program. It’s not quite as easy a place to recruit as Miami.

So the evaluations will have to be on point. Still, McElroy thinks Diaz is well-equipped to handle it.

“Now Duke is always going to be a program that is likely going to have to find the diamonds in the rough,” he said. “They’re not going to be a place that is going to be really attractive to the five-star guys that are choosing Duke over Georgia, Alabama, Florida State, Florida, what have you. They’re going to have to go out and they’re going to find the developmental pieces that are probably a little under the radar.

“And that’s what I think Elko did a really good job of in two years. There are a lot of challenges coming up, no denying that.”