Duke announced Manny Diaz would become its next head football coach on Thursday.
The Penn State defensive coordinator spent the last two seasons with the Nittany Lions. His 2023 defense was the third-best scoring unit in the country at 11.4 points allowed per game and led the nation with 223.3 yards allowed per game.
“This is a great moment for Duke football, Duke athletics, and Duke University,” athletic director Nina King said in a short video shared on social media. “The future of Duke football is in great hands.”
Diaz, a Florida State alum, has spent most of his career in the ACC despite his recent stretch with Penn State. He was a graduate assistant at his alma mater in 1998-99 before he spent the next six seasons on N.C. State’s coaching staff. He served as the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State, Texas, and Louisiana Tech before he was hired at Miami in 2016. He spent three seasons as the Hurricanes’ defensive coordinator before he was promoted to head coach for the 2019 season.
Diaz won at least six games in all three seasons as Miami’s head coach, finishing with a 21-15 overall record and climbing into the top 10 of the College Football Playoff in the 2020 season, but he was fired before the conclusion of his third year.
Diaz will replace Mike Elko, who compiled a 16-9 record before he left to take the head coach job at Texas A&M.