Live updates: Penn State DC Manny Diaz takes questions

Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is kicking off a day of coordinator media availabilities as the Nittany Lions work through the bye. And, Blue White Illustrated is following it all.

Set to begin at noon, Diaz will take questions from the media for the first time since Penn State media day in August.

What has he thought of the Nittany Lions’ performance thus far? With five games in the books, what does he make of Penn State’s nation-leading defensive statistical efforts?

He’ll take on those questions and more. We’re updating here and in The Lions Den.

Penn State DC Manny Diaz updates

(Press conference ended at 12:20 p.m.)

Questions via zoom

On players who could assert themselves: Trying to get guys to play at a high level as possible. Adisa Isaac and his play the past few weeks is the highest he’s been in college. Dani behind him is doing the same thing. Need to talk about Johnny Dixon. NFL can decide how to rank them, but responsibility is to develop them as much as possible. Just likes the idea of having a lot of guys playing best football of their careers. Need to keep that up because challenges remain.

On guys trying to do too much: There was a little bit of that. But it was more just playing up tight. Sometimes you want to be perfect and there is a fine line where you put too much pressure on yourself. It’s trying for a grand slam with no one on base. Do your job and the plays will come. When you put up big numbers, you can forget how the process plays out. For individual performance over a season, it’s the same thing there.

On versatility of the safeties: Jaylen has played both spots, which is valuable for them. With safeties, it’s about matchups. In man to man where field might have to defend the slot. Who is a better tackler? Better closer to the box. Those are all things they think about. They have four they feel very confident in. But biggest thing in that room is not giving up long touchdowns. Only long touchdown surrendered this year was Delaware, and that wasn’t safety deep. Anthony Poindexter has helped that room develop. Then figure out what to do with the chess pieces any given week.

On early thoughts of Ohio State this season: Always work ahead. Have a great group of analysts here working ahead. What everyone does in bye week is watching next two or three opponents, get a feel for what’s going on down the league. Definitely paying attention to games coming up. You want to be sure that it’s not the first time you see or get a feel for who they are. His opinions are very strong but will absolutely stay to himself.

On how to handle the bye: The biggest thing is finding a way to get better. Normally, you do by playing. Opportunity to self scout. What do future opponents see when they watch Penn State D? Presenting best version of self. At the same time, can take some load off players. Once they come back, it’s going to be a race. October and November will come through and will tell the story of the season. Need to be as fresh and ready to go for this as they can.

On Kobe King: The only thing holding him back was his confidence and understanding schematically what to do and where to line up. Got better at that as the year went on last year. When Elsdon was out, playing with the ones did wonders for Kobe’s confidence. It made a big difference for him. Felt Elsdon had a good training camp too. Kobe just edged him a bit. Big development is Abdul can play Mike too. Kobe played best game on Saturday. Playing fast. Fun to see him playing fun and free out there.

On breadth of contributions: The luxury is having a lot of really good players and guys that can make plays. If you look at sacks, TFLs, turnovers, they’re spread out among a lot of guys. If everyone does their job, the ball tends to find them. Just get it on the ground and do your job. If you scale it out over a whole season, there are enough sacks and stats to go around for everyone. Lesson is to not force it. Don’t worry if you’re not getting your numbers because the marathon of the season will bring it. Proud of the depth they have and that everyone contributes. No one can prepare for just one guy.

Approach by opponents: Defensive ends are getting chipped by backs and tight ends. But there is a downside to that for offenses. As they continue to evolve, how people attack them will continue to evolve.

First questions to Manny Diaz

On the soul of this defense: It’s a collection of individuals. You lose Brown, Mustipher, and Tarburton. Those were big personalities. Against West Virginia and Delaware, trying to be perfect and maybe tight. A lot of talk in the offseason about how good they’d be as a unit and individuals. But in second quarter of Illinois when all those plays started coming, they relaxed and started having fun.

One of favorite plays was being down 10-3 in the second quarter, and punted the ball. But defense was in a great headspace. They were ready to play. First play of that drive, Durant and seven other players hit RB in the backfield. They were having fun. Eleven guys becoming one as a unit. They’ve really grown as a unit these last three weeks.

On Zane Durant: He is wired in a way that this defense needs. Some of the big personalities lost from last year’s defense, he’s like-minded. His leadership has increased. He’s got that dog in him to make other guys want to take their game to another level.

On what he’s most proud of: Pleased to be 5-0. Have done what it takes to win these games in September. As a unit, you can feel the soul of the defense. Guys enjoy playing with and for each other. Playmaking has been well distributed.

On what is gained by light workload: Offense has had a big role in it with how it possesses the football. Ideally, that will keep them fresh in the second half of the season. There is a real benefit to that.