Penn State hires former Miami head coach Manny Diaz as new defensive coordinator
Penn State football has hired its new defensive coordinator. The Nittany Lion defense will be led by former Miami head coach Manny Diaz starting in the 2022 season.
Diaz was named the team’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Saturday morning. He was fired as Miami’s head coach Monday after leading the program to a 21-15 record from 2019-2021.
The former Miami head coach has plenty of experience leading defenses and calling plays, something Penn State head coach James Franklin previously said would be a factor in this search.
“Previous play calling experience is obviously helpful,” Franklin said. “You really want to be able to study a track record of success. Guys that have done it before, it makes it easy to go back and study all the metrics. ... That helps, it’s not the final deciding point, but obviously it helps.”
Prior to his three-year stint as Miami’s head coach, he was the program’s defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2016-18. There his units were among the top-20 in the country in all three years in SP+. a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency, ranking 11th in 2016, 16th in 2017 and 14th in 2018.
He also took over play-calling duties as the team’s head coach this season, but the unit finished 53rd in SP+.
His aggression as a coordinator was cited by Franklin when Penn State announced the hire.
“Manny is a veteran defensive play caller whose head coaching experience will bring tremendous value to our organization,” Franklin said in a statement. “He has an innovative approach to complement his extensive Xs & Os knowledge which he developed through his stops at multiple Power Five conferences. Manny’s defensive philosophy is in line with our scheme and will help in the transition with our current team. His defenses have been aggressive and led the country in several categories throughout his career.”
The former Miami head coach had a very brief stint at Temple before becoming Miami’s head coach in December 2018.
He was hired as Temple’s head coach on Dec. 13, 2018, but left just 17 days later after then-Miami head coach Mark Richt abruptly retired on Dec. 30. Diaz was quickly named Richt’s replacement as the head coach.
Prior to his three years on Richt’s staff at Miami, Diaz held the defensive coordinator role at multiple other stops, including for two years at Mississippi State (2010 and 2015), one year at Louisiana Tech (2015), three years at Texas (2011-13) and four years at Middle Tennessee State (2006-09).
He was in two defensive coaching roles before that at North Carolina State, coaching the safeties and special teams from 2004-2005 and the linebackers from 2002-03.
The Miami native will be replacing longtime Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry, who found plenty of success with Franklin and the Nittany Lions in his six seasons leading the unit and was hired by Virginia Tech as its new head coach this offseason.
Pry’s first year as defensive coordinator coincided with Penn State’s lone Big Ten title under Penn State head coach James Franklin. He followed that up by leading a unit that finished in the top 10 in sacks and scoring defense, finishing seventh in both categories.
The Nittany Lions maintained that side of the ball as a relative strength since then, frequently boasting a stout run defense with a strong pass rush that routinely finished in the top five in sacks and tied for fourth in overall sacks in the nation from 2016-20 with 195.
His most recent groups ranked sixth (2021), 14th (2020), 10th (2019) and 11th (2018) in SP+.
Diaz said he wants to continue the success the defense has had in recent years.
“The opportunity to lead Linebacker U is an honor and I will work every day to uphold that tradition,” Diaz said in a statement released by the program. “Penn State’s defense has been among the nation’s best, both historically and under Coach Franklin. I will continue to pursue excellence with our defensive unit on a daily basis. I can’t wait to get on the field with this talented group, to get to know them, and to ultimately develop them as football players, students and young men.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 10:24 AM.
