Penn State created some headlines on a busy day around college football. On the same day as the Army-Navy Game, the awarding of the Heisman Trophy, and a handful of coaching hires around the country being named, Penn State hiring Manny Diaz to be its defensive coordinator still managed to turn some heads.
The reaction to the news out of Happy Valley with the addition of the former Miami head coach to fill the vacancy on the staff created when Brent Pry left for Virginia Tech to be the head coach has been overwhelmingly positive from all fronts.
From media reactions to former Miami football players wishing their former head coach well, and fans of the Nittany Lions and more, the hiring of Diaz has been seen as a positive one all around.
“That’s a great landing spot there with Brent Pry off to Virginia Tech. Going to do a great job,” Kirk Herbstreit said on ESPN’s College GameDay as the news was breaking around the college football world. “Made his name, obviously as a defensive coordinator. Has a lot of guys coming back. Saw Sean Clifford announced he’s coming back, so Penn State’s in a good spot there.”
Nothin' but praise on @CollegeGameDay đź‘Ś#WeAre | @Coach_MannyDiaz pic.twitter.com/rObqwhasJi
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) December 11, 2021
.@Coach_MannyDiaz made his new job Twitter official. pic.twitter.com/GtZVkdD2QH
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) December 11, 2021
One difference between. @Coach_MannyDiaz and @coach_cristobal is Manny cares about twitter so much he changed his profile before the ink even dried.. Mario still hasn’t updated his twitter.. he’s to busy working and recruiting. Like Mario said you don’t win recruits with a tweet
— Mario Cristobal to The U (@CanesfanDuke) December 11, 2021
Manny Diaz was very attractive to Penn State with his style as a DC of a very aggressive 4-3 approach that is similar to the styles of Bob Shoop and Brent Pry, and he has a big track record of TFLs and forcing turnovers.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) December 11, 2021
Smart hire here for both parties. https://t.co/rMjhpQ7Hds
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 11, 2021
All of the bowl games you love, Manny Diaz has probably coached in: pic.twitter.com/6xdZIrt0sz
— Audrey Snyder (@audsnyder4) December 11, 2021
As for the program Diaz leaves behind, it seems as though he is leaving his players on good terms, while still being upset with how the administration ousted him in favor of former Oregon head coach Mario Cristiobal.
Congrats @Coach_MannyDiaz ! Thank you for everything 🙌🏽 https://t.co/bCyU3mriMv
— Lou Hedley (@LouHedleyy) December 11, 2021
Congrats boss man @Coach_MannyDiaz https://t.co/UJNmP8moMv
— Ryan Ragone (@TheRyanRagone) December 11, 2021
Manny Diaz has a new job, and it's a fairly good one, actually https://t.co/CoYVY0GVY7
— StateOfTheU.com (@TheStateOfTheU) December 11, 2021