3 takeaways from Penn State Football hiring Manny Diaz as defensive coordinator

2. Head coach of the Defense 

James Franklin said last week when asked about looking for a defensive coordinator he wanted to bring in someone who could be the “head coach of the defense.”

Franklin has an offensive background and allowed Pry to fully run the defense and has done the best he can to equip him with the best assistant coaches as possible.

One would imagine that type of opportunity is attractive to a coach like Diaz and who better to come and have full control of that side of the ball than a guy who was just the actual head coach at a program like Miami.

Diaz served as the defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee, Mississippi State, Texas, Louisiana Tech, and Miami and has consistently put forward very good defenses.

This past season Miami ranked 77th in total defense in the country but 20th the year before that in 2020.