Even if a Duke football fan didn’t know [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] was a defensive-minded head coach, his 2025 recruiting class to this point would be a dead giveaway.
As of June 2, the Blue Devils have 11 commitments from the Class of 2025. Three of them are linebackers, three of them are defensive backs, three of them play along the defensive line, and two play offense. In fact, the nine defensive prospects make up the nine highest-rated commits in 247Sports’ rankings.
Linebacker Cameron Smith from Philadelphia, the only four-star prospect in the class, leads the way. Homegrown quarterback Dan Mahan, a three-star prospect, offers plenty of excitement because quarterbacks always do, but the 2026-27 Duke teams will win games with their defense.
Diaz, a defensive coach by trade, spent the last two seasons as Penn State‘s defensive coordinator, leading the Nittany Lions to a top-three scoring defense in each of his seasons. He also coached Miami’s defense from 2016-18 before he took over as the Hurricanes head coach and he spent the 2015 season as Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator.
With everything in consideration, it should be no surprise that Duke’s defense impressed in the spring game, and defensive-minded Duke fans should get excited about the future.