James Franklin goes in depth on the value of Manny Diaz for Penn State's defense

Penn State needed a new defensive coordinator and Manny Diaz needed a new job after he got canned at Miami. Current PSU head coach James Franklin saw Diaz as the perfect fit to head up the Nittany Lion defense, so he called him up. A year later and all involved parties are thrilled with how it’s going. Franklin more than any.

He actually reserved some time during his press conference this week to credit Diaz for adjusting to stepping back down the coaching ladder and putting everything he had into this Penn State job.

“I wanted to take the conversation football wise to Manny Diaz,” said Franklin this week. “He’s one of the finalists for the top assistant college football coach. Considering where he’s coming from, a lot of guys have options after what he went through. He decided to invest himself as a defensive coordinator.”

Then, Franklin went into the backstory behind how Diaz took the defensive coordinator job so quickly after leaving the Hurricanes.

“It was kind of unique in how it happened, because you almost feel uncomfortable reaching out. You were just delivered really bad news professionally and you’re calling the guy the day of or the next day. You know, you’re trying to be as respectful as you possibly can. But also say hey this may make sense for both of us. And it went fast you know. It went fast from saying yeah he’s interested and then kind of working through all the details to come in here.”

James Franklin then finished his comments on Manny Diaz by discussing how he thinks the head coaching experience has helped him become an even better coordinator.

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“He’s starting to put his stamp on the on the defense. As you see, as the season’s going on we’ve gotten better and better and more confident. His perspective in the staff meetings has been really good. Him reinforcing some things. I think, sometimes, as assistant coaches, everybody has all the answers for how you should handle things. But Manny, being a head coach before, those experiences are are valuable. And I think sometimes, being a head coach and then going back to being assistant, you can be an even better assistant because you view the profession, the game and the world differently.

“But he’s been great. I think he’s really enjoying it. I think he’s done a really good job of not just teaching the x’s and the o’s, but also building a culture on the defensive side of the ball. Which is really what I want the position coaches to do. But he’s been great and I think he’s having fun doing it.”

A perfect marriage so far between James Franklin and his new DC, Manny Diaz.