Penn State coordinator Manny Diaz talks defense so far, Abdul Carter's role, Michigan prep, more

Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz was on a call with reporters for the first time this season on Thursday to discuss his unit, numerous young players, Michigan, and more.

Diaz joked with reporters that he wouldn’t have known what ZOOM was a handful of years ago just like he wouldn’t have envisioned himself being with the Lions’ when asked if his future might one day hold a return to the coaching ranks. He prefers sticking in the present. It’s what he preaches to his players, as well.

“Generally speaking, when you start to look in the future, bad things happen for you in the present,” Diaz said. “I’m fortunate to be the defensive coordinator at Penn State. That’s pretty cool to say out loud, and just trying to handle that to the best ability that I can. And, that’s how every great job that I’ve been able to be blessed with, and I’ve worked at some fantastic places, none of those things have I ever spent a lot of time sitting around wishing for them to happen.

“They’ve all just sort of presented. Right now, the focus is just trying to get find a way to hold the score down at Michigan.”

Diaz covered plenty of ground otherwise. Here are the highlights.

‘What you saw is what you expected’

The first question saw Diaz explaining how he felt about things coming out of his first bye week in State College. His Penn State unit has mostly fired on all cylinders throughout the perfect start.

“We always have a process of self-scout and checking all the various metrics,” Diaz said. Is the defense behaving the way it’s meant to? Are the coverages and the run fits behaving the way they’re meant to? What you saw is what you expected. I think we’re getting better week by week.

“We’re certainly better than we were on September 1. And, we’re going to have to be, because obviously, we know that the level of competition is increasing as well. So I’m just happy with the way that the guys are responding to everything that we’re trying to do. And I think our players know that there’s still a lot we can get better at.”

More coming from Penn State linebacker Abdul Carter?

Penn State holds a weekly assistant coaches call with the media during each game week. It is a guarantee that young players will come up in each of them. We’ll get to some other ones later on, but freshman linebacker Abdul Carter leads things off.

As is the case with most first-year players, it seems that Carter can do it, but understanding why he’s doing something and when is always the next step. And, the former four-star is starting to check those boxes more and more.

“I think with all of [the linebackers], the real key now is, we always say greatness is being consistently good,” Diaz said. “Can you do it down after down? Can you do it every game? When you play a team like Michigan, they’re going to ask you that question down after down. Playing well on defense for three-quarters of the snaps is going to be a bad day on defense, and obviously, our linebackers will be tested on Saturday. Abdul really falls in that same boat. He certainly has made plays that have flashed and as a result, his role is increased. We’re trying to get him in more disruptive positions on the football field.

“But, when you got to be in the A-Gap, you got to be in the A-Gap. When you have to have your eyes on the tight end, you to have your eyes on the tight end. That’s not just Abdul. That’s as a room, and just understanding it’s not just how good of a play you can make. It’s can you be counted on to handle your responsibility snap after snap. I think all those guys are getting a better understanding of the scheme. I can tell by the way they ask questions and meeting room, and I think we’re getting better.”

Diaz also said that Penn State wants to get Carter “around the quarterback a little bit more.”

What about Dani Dennis-Sutton and Zane Durant

It’s not just Carter who has burned his redshirt on defense, of course. End Dani Dennis-Sutton and defensive tackle Zane Durant have, as well. How have the Penn State newcomers been evaluated to date?

“Both are very talented,” Diaz said. “Dani and I were just watching film, maybe yesterday, and talking about how he’s really improving. That’s what’s funny sometimes. Defensive players, they are sometimes rightly or wrongly judged by numbers. Dani has popped out he’s got a couple of sacks. But, they still are getting better. Even if he didn’t have sacks, or like whatever Zane’s numbers are, what we see as a coaching staff is, are these guys improving, and are they becoming the players we think they can?

“And, with both of those, you have to take a step back and realize these are two young guys playing as true freshmen in the Big Ten. Right now, they don’t look at a place. So that’s been really encouraging. We’re excited that they’re part of us. We think their potential going forward is really unlimited.”

Getting ready to stop Michigan

The conversation eventually turned to this weekend’s opponent. The No. 5 Wolverines want to mostly run the ball. But, the man charged with putting his players in the right position to stop the ground game was quick to make sure anyone listening doesn’t forget about the quarterback, too.

“It’s always about stopping the quarterbacks best friend which is the run,” Diaz said. “Because if they can run efficiently; they could just drop back and throw the ball and be fine at that. But now all their play-action pass game is available, really everything’s available. They’re hard enough to stop if you only fight the war on one front. But if you got to fight it on multiple fronts, it just gets very, very difficult.

“Now, every team that’s played them this year has said the same thing, and no one’s been able to stop it. So saying it is one thing, and putting it into practice is something entirely different. We’ve had a good week and I think our guys are up to the challenge.”

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