Penn State hires Manny Diaz as its new defensive coordinator
Penn State coach James Franklin has found his next defensive coordinator.
Former Miami head coach Manny Diaz is the pick to replace Brent Pry.
Pry, of course, left State College for Blacksburg and the top job at Virginia Tech last week.
Diaz, meanwhile, was left hung out to dry at Miami while the Hurricanes pursued and ultimately landed Oregon’s Mario Cristobal to be their new head coach.
Diaz will also fill the linebacker coach role that Pry vacated.
Anthony Poindexter, the co-defensive coordinator in 2020, is expected to be the interim play-caller for the Outback Bowl matchup with Arkansas on New Year’s Day. Diaz would then take over from there.
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How did Penn State end up with Manny Diaz?
Franklin said almost a week ago that he wanted someone who could come in and be the head coach of his defense.
Mission accomplished.
Diaz is a decorated play caller at the college level. His 4-3 hybrid scheme that’s based on pressure and forcing negative plays and turnovers has been respected for years. He has 10-plus years of defensive coordinator experience. His 2018 Hurricanes defense was No. 4 in the country. It was never outside the top-40 during his three-year run there before becoming Miami’s head coach. The unit took a step back in 2021, however, when the Miami native handled both head coach and coordinator responsibilities. Expect the Penn State defense to look as it has in the past. More 4-2-5 could be mixed in, and blitzes will look different, but the foundation should be similar.
There are no crystal clear connections between Diaz, Franklin, and the current Penn State staff. However, surely ace Sunshine State recruiting Ja’Juan Seider knows plenty about Diaz. Franklin does, too, considering how long both have been in this game. Don’t dismiss the Bobby Bowden connection, either. Both coaches have discussed his influence on them, even if only Diaz coached for the longtime Florida State coach.
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Diaz surely had other options. We’ll learn soon why this one was right for him.
Related: What is new Penn State coordinator Manny Diaz like as a recruiter? Two On3 experts weigh in
The Diaz file
A Miami legend, Diaz played for Florida State and started his coaching career there. He rose the coaching ladder rather quickly. North Carolina State made him its special teams coordinator in 2004. Diaz’s first chance to call plays on defense came at Middle Tennessee State, then, in 2006.
Between then and this new stop at Penn State, Diaz would make ones at Mississippi State, Texas, Louisiana Tech, and Mississippi State again, all in a coordinator capacity, before joining Miami as its defensive coordinator in 2016. From there, he’d lead the Hurricanes’ defense until mid-December, 2018, when he took the Temple head coaching job. Diaz would last only about 15 days with the Owls, however. That’s because Mark Richt retired at Miami and the Hurricanes brought Diaz back to replace him.
Diaz was 21-15 over three seasons in Coral Gables before being let go for Cristobal. That’s how Diaz ended up back on the coaching market to land at Penn State.
