Penn State hires former Miami head coach Manny Diaz to be defensive cooridnator
Just when it seemed Penn State may have had its defensive coordinator position figured out, the Nittany Lions landed a big-name hire to fill the position. Manny Diaz, the former head coach of the Miami Hurricanes, has officially been named the new defensive coordinator of Penn State. Penn State announced the hire Saturday morning.
“We are thrilled to add Manny Diaz as our defensive coordinator,” head coach James Franklin said in a released statement. “Manny is a veteran defensive play-caller whose head coaching experience will bring tremendous value to our organization. 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.”
This is a massive hire for Franklin, as Diaz is a well-respected defensive coach with years of success as a defensive coordinator. Diaz was hired to be the head coach at Temple prior to the 2019 season but quickly moved to Miami once the Hurricanes made him an offer to be their head coach. Diaz coached Miami for three seasons as the head coach before being ousted by the university in favor of former Oregon head coach Mario Cristobal. Diaz’s exit from Miami was a mess handled by the Miami administration, so Penn State should feel fortunate the Hurricanes decided to part ways with their former head coach.
“My family and I are so excited to come to Happy Valley and join the Penn State family,” Diaz said in a released statement. “The opportunity to lead Linebacker U is an honor and I will work every day to uphold that tradition. 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.”
Diaz will be taking on his first job in the Big Ten but he brings plenty of years of experience coaching some of the nation’s most respected defensive teams. Diaz has been a defensive assistant at NC State, Mississippi State, Texas, and Miami in addition to his few years as head coach at Miami.
Diaz will fill the staff position left open by Brent Pry, he left Penn State for an opportunity to be the head coach at Virginia Tech. Penn State’s co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter was thought by some to be the most likely candidate to take on the role full-time after Virginia moved in a different direction to fill their head coaching vacancy. Poindexter has stated he will remain with Penn State, which will give Diaz a solid coach to be working alongside with.
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