Manny Diaz reveals what Duke's defensive identity will be this season

Manny Diaz has a prior head coaching stint in his past at Miami, but otherwise, the new Duke leader has largely been a defensive coordinator, with his expertise centering on that side of the football.

So, when Diaz was brought on at Duke, the No. 1 question for fans became: what will this new defense look like? For a guy who spent 13 straight years as a DC before accepting the Miami gig, Diaz certainly has developed a philosophy on defense. At ACC Media Days, he revealed his No. 1 goal on defense.

“Well, the identity of this defense has traveled from Penn State through Miami, Mississippi State, throughout my entire career — we want to create a high volume of negative plays.”

Diaz continued, explaining why havoc plays are so crucial for having a good defense.

“It’s important to us to lead the nation in tackle-for-losses. Those are drive killers,” he said. “There’s a reason behind that. That puts people in third down and long.”

And that sets the stage for a much higher potential of turnover.

“No one turns the ball over more than they do on third down and long. Everybody knows that turnovers win. How do you create turnovers?”

For Diaz’s defenses, it’s all about the havoc play, which he believes is attractive to players, since his system is fun to play in.

“I think we led the nation in sacks last year,” he added. “It’s a scheme that the players love to play in because who doesn’t love sacks, tackles-for-losses, interceptions for a defensive back. It’s a play-making defense. It’s predicated on attacking front play, playing some man coverage on the back end.”

Even with all the fun and splash plays Manny Diaz likes to create on defense, the root of the system is still the same as any other.

“More than anything, it’s 11 guys trusting each other to do their job, playing with great effort, great toughness and great fundamentals.”

Penn State certainly boasted an elite defense over the years Diaz was in charge, and Duke ought to be able to expect much of the same given his resume, especially on that particular side of the football.