Manny Diaz breaks down why Duke is ‘uniquely poised’ in new era of college football

New Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz inherits a new Duke program that’s expected to see a drop-off this upcoming season following the departure of former head coach Mike Elko, his coaching staff, and a large portion of last year’s roster.

But Diaz still believes that Duke football is built for the long run.

At ACC Media Days in Charlotte on Wednesday, Diaz took to the podium and was asked why he chose Duke and believes the program his built for success in years to come.

“I think everything starts with alignment, and so I mentioned knowing [David] Feeley was here, hearing some of the commentary from some of the coaches on the staff the last couple of years that I had worked with previously. I had some Inside baseball on what was going on and contributing to their success the last couple years,” Diaz revealed. “But that wouldn’t be enough without the dedicated support starting from the president Vincent Price, through our AD Nina King.”

Diaz returns to the ACC as a head coach after leading Miami to a 21–15 record during his three-year tenure with the Hurricanes between 2019 and 2021. Previously serving as the team’s defensive coordinator and a former assistant at NC State early on in his career.

It’s safe to call him an ACC veteran, but specifically at his latest new program, he feels that Duke has some characteristics that set themselves apart from other schools. Particularly in the modern iteration of college football.

“Duke wants to be excellent at football,” Diaz added. “They want to sustain excellence at football. And I do believe — look everyone’s aware of the turbulence in college football right now. And I do believe that Duke is uniquely poised in a way that other schools aren’t.”

Duke is one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the nation. And with player movement and the transfer portal being extremely popular in college football, Diaz believes that the school’s academic prowess can help keep players in-house for the entreaty of their careers where they can develop and get a distinguished degree in the process.

“Generally speaking, the parents who dropped their young men off at our doorstep as freshmen, it’s very important to those families that those young men graduate from Duke University. So we still have a chance to develop a roster,” Diaz explained.

“Now we got to take care of our guys, we got to be smart and make the student-athlete experience worthwhile to stay. But if we do our end of the bargain, our players want to be at Duke. And what that allows us to do is that allows us to build a roster the way that it’s been done for a long time that right now the forces of college football are always trying to tear apart.”

It will be fascinating to see if Diaz and Duke can carve out a unique niche in the college football landscape and reap the benefits as he looks to establish a new culture in his first year at the helm.