Temple has named Miami defensive coordinator Manny Diaz head coach of its football program to replace Geoff Collins. The deal is reportedly for five years, and according to Stadium's Brett McMurphy.
"I am so excited to be in Philly and honored to be the head coach at Temple University," Diaz said in a statement. "I can't wait to get in front of our Temple TUFF guys and then to get on the road recruiting. I am looking forward to bringing in a great class of guys that want to take Temple to the next level."
Collins left to take the head coaching job at Georgia Tech last week after leading the Owls to 15 wins in two years, including an 11-5 mark in conference play. The Owls moved quickly with their search find to Collins' replacement, reportedly targeting many of the top defensive assistants from the Power Five level -- a profile that worked out well with Collins, the defensive coordinator at Florida at the time he was brought to Philadelphia in December 2016 to replace Matt Rhule.
"We are thrilled to have Manny lead our football program," athletic director Dr. Patrick Kraft said. "After spending time with him, I understand why he has had tremendous success as a football coach and why his players are so devoted to him. We are in complete alignment about the values on which we run our athletics programs, the high expectations we have for our teams, and how we will conduct ourselves as representatives of Temple University. I am supremely confident that Manny will build on our past success and take us to even greater heights. The entire university community welcomes Manny, Stephanie and their sons to the Owl family."
For Diaz, the Temple job offers an opportunity to prove himself as a head coach after 12 seasons as a defensive coordinator. His units at Miami across the last three years have performed at an elite level, finishing in the top 12 nationally in yards per play allowed. In 2018, the Hurricanes ranked No. 3 among FBS teams in yards per play allowed (4.16), No. 1 in tackles for loss (126) and No. 11 in sacks (36).
Diaz's style bonafides are unmatched. After all, he participated in the creation of the Turnover Chain.
"In his three years in Coral Gables, Manny proved to be one of the top assistant coaches in the country and did an unbelievable job leading our defense," Miami coach Mark Richt said. "I have no doubt that he will experience great success as a head coach and we wish him, Steph, Colin, Gavin and Manny all of the best."
Prior to Miami, Diaz had two different stints with Mississippi State under Dan Mullen (2010 and 2015) with an unsuccessful stop at Texas under Mack Brown and then a bounce back showing at Louisiana Tech with Skip Holtz in between. Diaz career took off after working as a graduate assistant for Mickey Andrews at Florida State and as a position coach for some of Chuck Amato's best defenses as NC State.
