Replacing defensive coordinator Brent Pry was never going to be an easy task for James Franklin.
Pry, long considered one of the best defensive coordinators in the nation, took a wealth of knowledge of experience when leaving to take the head coaching job at Virginia Tech.
But in hiring former Miami head coach Manny Diaz, Franklin not only added a strong fit schematically and a great football mind, but he may have also an element that can help take Penn State's program to the next level.
When Diaz met with media for the first time Friday, he did so with all the confidence, charisma and poise of someone who had been the head coach of major college football program.
Diaz answered questions on a wide range of topics, from his exit at Miami, to his (very) brief stint at Temple, to what he brings to Penn State and beyond. In doing so, he displayed a level of leadership that could greatly benefit Franklin and the Nittany Lions' program.
It's not that Pry didn't provide leadership for his unit. On the contrary, he was considered an elite leader from the coordinator position. But he lacked the head coaching experience of someone like Diaz, an element that can allow him to shoulder some of the load for Franklin going forward.
"It hasn't been so far," Diaz said with a chuckle when asked if it would be tough to make the transition back to not being "the guy" at a program.
"What you want is, you realize that there's many things on a head coach's plate. There are so many things that come at you in a 24-hour day. What you ultimately want out of your staff is (as) low-maintenance as possible. Whether that's (Franklin) knowing that we've got everything handled in terms of that we're organized on our side of the football, in terms of how our guys are behaving off the field, recruiting, whatever it is. Because there are only so many decisions one man can make in any day."
Diaz went on to further discuss some of the specifics of his relationship with Franklin and some of the schematic preferences that they share, including their proclivity for creating explosive plays and turnovers, but it was his understanding of what goes into being a head coach that really shone through.
Asked earlier about handling everything that the month of December throws at head coaches with recruiting, assistant coach changes, and now the transfer portal, Diaz spoke to the face that all coaches know there's a better way to do things, they just can't always agree on how.
"I think everyone agrees that there's a better way. I just don't think anyone can agree on what they way is," he said. "And you mentioned getting rid of the early signing day, but the early signing day has a lot of great advantages. And then what would you do with mid-years? Just about everybody's class now about half the guys are mid-years. And look, the biggest thing that changed everything is the transfer portal, which I think everybody gets. Because you've got players leaving college football teams mid-way through the season. They all want to find new landing ground before the spring semester."
He then went on to talk about some of the difficulties that coaches face by being beholden to academic calendar and how that makes any significant changes at the college level more difficult.
It's insights like those, whether they be on running a program, handling recruiting and transfer, or dealing with player and coach departures, that make Diaz as an asset far beyond what he can bring to the table as a coordinator. And that's before even mentioning that he's graded out as a pretty darn successful coordinator in his time.
At a time when James Franklin is at a crossroads and Penn State has made a significant financial investment in hopes of the program taking the next step forward, having a voice like Diaz's in the room could prove invaluable.
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
• Talk about it inside The Wrestling Room Board
