Duke football fans know first-year head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] has a revenge game on the schedule at Miami in November, but Saturday’s road game against Middle Tennessee is another homecoming for the Blue Devils leader.
Diaz, whose coaching career began as a graduate assistant for the Florida State Seminoles in 1998, took his first defensive coordinator job with the Blue Raiders in 2006. He spent four seasons in charge of the MTSU defense, coaching the safeties for the first two years before coaching the linebackers in 2008-09.
Middle Tennessee, a member of the Sun Belt at the time, won a combined 17 games across Diaz’s first three seasons with the program, only reaching a bowl game once. However, the Blue Raiders went 7-1 in conference play en route to a 10-win season, including a New Orleans Bowl victory, in Diaz’s last season with the program in 2009.
The job followed a six-year stint on the NC State coaching staff, and Diaz eventually moved on to the defensive coordinator role at Mississippi State in 2010.
The Blue Devils and Blue Raiders play at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, and Duke fans can watch the game on ESPNU.