Duke football made a bold move bringing Mike Elko in to help build their program after the departure of David Cutcliffe. Now we know that move on the part of Duke wasn’t a fluke as they’ve brought Penn St Defensive Coordinator Manny Diaz in as their new head coach. Diaz has been lauded for his defensive efforts with the Nittany Lions in his two years with that program.
Diaz began his coaching career at Florida State in 1998, moved on to NC State in 2000, was at Miami first as DC in 2016, then HC in 2019. In between his stint with the Wolfpack Diaz coached at schools in the SEC and Big 12. His most recent stint was in the Big 10 at Penn State.
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Duke VP and Director of Athletics Nina King made the hiring of Diaz official late Thursday and a press conference will be held on Saturday. King said, “As our process unfolded, it became abundantly clear that Manny Diaz is the right fit for Duke University and we couldn’t be more excited…”.
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“I am thrilled to welcome Manny Diaz as the new head coach of Duke Football”, said Duke President Vincent Price. “He is an experienced coach with a strong track record of success, deep knowledge of the ACC, and an exciting vision for the future of our program.”
Diaz has had significant success on the defensive side of the ball as an assistant, coordinator and head coach over his 23 years in college football. What impact will Diaz have upon Duke football? It remains to be seen. The first tell? Who and how quickly his staff is named.
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