Will any Penn State staffers go with Manny Diaz to Duke? Here's what history tells us

Penn State will have a new defensive coordinator in 2024. Manny Diaz is the new Duke head coach. The Blue Devils announced the news on Thursday, roughly a week after the former Miami head coach and second-year Nittany Lion assistant was rumored to be interested in the job. He spent two tremendous seasons in State College and orchestrated high-level defense in 2022 and 2023. Diaz picked up where Brent Pry left off and raised the bar considerably. The Lions led the nation in many defensive statistical categories in consecutive seasons. And, players love playing for Diaz.

All of it leaves many questions for the 10th-year leader of the Lions, James Franklin, to answer now. Who the fourth defensive coordinator will be since 2014 is obviously the top priority. Priority question two focuses on whether this will impact the Lions’ Class of 2024, which is just days away from signing, in any way. Tied with that is whether any current defenders will decide to test out the transfer portal with Diaz moving on. And, then there’s this: Will any staff members follow Diaz to his new job in the ACC? Here’s what history tells us the answer to that last question will likely be.

Have Penn State coordinators taken staffers with them before to new head coaching jobs?

The answer is, obviously, yes. But, each situation is different.

Joe Moorhead was the first coordinator of the Franklin era to parlay big performances in State College into a head job elsewhere. When the Pa. native took over at Mississippi State in 2018, he tabbed then-Penn State running backs coach Charles Huff to be his assistant head coach in Starkville. He also brought a recruiting staff member, Michael Villagrana, with him to be the Director of Recruiting. The main difference here compared to the other two people on this list is that most of Moorhead’s prior connections were at Fordham, though, and he took many staffers to the Rams and added them to his Bulldogs staff.

Ricky Rahne is next on the list. The former Penn State offensive coordinator took over at Old Dominion before the 2022 season. Lions assistant director of strength and conditioning, Dwight Galt IV, became the Monarchs’ Director of Sports Performance. Graduate assistants Kevin Reihner, Mark Dupuis, and Kevin Smith left to become the ODU offensive line coach, wide receivers, and special teams coaches, respectively. And, former Lions analyst Kevin Smith became the Moncarchs’ offense coordinator. The difference here, of course, is that all of the people listed above were not ready for an on-field or leading role job at Penn State, but got a great first chance at one by moving down a level with Rahne.

Last but not least, and most recently, is Brent Pry. Penn State senior director of football operations Michael Hazel became his chief of staff with an associate athletic director title. Former Lions linebacker Jan Johnson also joined the Hokies as a graduate assistant. He was not a staff member in State College though, of course.

So, will the Lions lose any staffers to Duke?

The answer is yes, in all likelihood. That’s true even if these two other facts also exist: Diaz only spent two years in State College, and he has a big network of possible staff candidates, especially considering his time as the head coach at Miami. But, two years is long enough to develop a strong enough rapport with people who may be ready for promotions that Penn State cannot currently offer. Thus, expect to see at least some attrition from State College to Durham. How impactful it will be, however, remains to be seen. As we outlined above, taking a current position coach is probably unlikely. But, at least some movement from the analyst and/or recruiting department ranks is a strong possibility.