It's official: Penn State football loses Manny Diaz to Duke ... needs new defensive leader

The architect of Penn State football's top-rated defense is leaving to become a head coach again.

Manny Diaz, who just completed a second ultra-successful season as the Nittany Lions' defensive coordinator, was named Duke University's next head coach, the university announced Thursday evening.

This means Penn State head coach James Franklin must replace both of his coordinators in the past month.

Franklin fired OC Mike Yurcich in mid-November, a day after the disheartening defeat to Michigan. He filled the void expeditiously: He hired OC Andy Kotelnicki away from Kansas last week, just six days after the regular-season ended.

Could his next big hire come even more quickly?

There's a chance Franklin's next defensive leader may already be on staff — just like he was the last time the Lions had to replace both coordinators in the same season. Co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter appears to be a strong candidate, if interested.

Franklin fired OC John Donovan a day after the 2015 regular season ended. He hired replacement Joe Moorhead a couple of weeks later. He would later promote Brent Pry to defensive coordinator after Bob Shoop left for Tennessee in early January.

Penn State football: Who will replace Manny Diaz?

At least Penn State is in about the best position possible, defensively, for its new hire: It will return much of Diaz's unit that led the nation in total defense, sacks, and fewest first downs allowed; it ranked second in pass defense, rush defense and turnovers produced.

The Lions' No. 1 total yards stat (yielding just 232.2 per game) is the best in college football since Alabama in 2011.

The Lions are best at this, nationally, too: They've held 17 consecutive opponents to 24 points or fewer.

"We've been fortunate to play good defense here for a while, but I do believe that Manny has done a phenomenal job of not only taking what we've been able to do here over ten years, but taking it to another level," Franklin said before the Michigan State game.

"Manny has done a really good job of ... teaching football, of setting standards of how we practice, whether it's a full-speed drill, jog-through period, and has just really, really taken the defense to a different level from a consistency standpoint."

This will be Diaz's second head coaching stint.

He led the Miami Hurricanes to a 21-15 record in three seasons before being fired. He had previously served as Miami's defensive coordinator.

Diaz, 49, is now replacing Mike Elko, who left Duke to take the head job at Texas A&M. Elko impressed by raising up the Blue Devils to nine wins in his 2022 debut and starting 5-1 this season with a near-victory over Notre Dame. Injuries, however, precipitated a late-season slide to 7-5.

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As for Diaz's replacement at Penn State, Poindexter figures to get a long look. The former All-American defensive back at Virginia has developed into a stellar recruiter and position coach (He's tutored safeties for the past three seasons at Penn State).

He also has head coaching aspirations and appeared to be a leading candidate to land at his alma mater two years ago before Tony Elliott got the job.

Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at  fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: Penn State football: Defensive coordinator Manny Diaz leaves for Duke