Duke introduced Manny Diaz Saturday morning in Durham. WRAL's Pat Welter explains why the hire shows Duke plans to build off of what Mike Elko accomplished the last two seasons.
Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the 23rd head coach of Duke football. Manny Diaz 23rd and the second in two years. But if things go the way they said today, they won't be looking again for a while. Manny Diaz talks about alignment relationships and a collaborative effort in his intro press conference this morning translation, Duke knows it can't just be a basketball school and they think Diaz is the perfect fit for the future Diaz days have begun. There was something about Duke that was Manny Diaz opening line and a phrase he repeated throughout his introductory press conference. What is it? This thing about Duke for Diaz Duke is an opportunity. You had a chance to do it again. Make sure you do it in the right place. He was fired by Miami despite going 21 and 15. Now after two seasons as Penn State's defensive coordinator, he's ready for a second chance. I feel really good about the support we have. I feel good about the timing. I think people are energized to make Duke Duke uh excellent. Yes, not shy about big goals. We will go as far as we believe we can go. Neither was athletic director, Nina King. We want to compete for AC C championships. We think we can be in a 12 team expanded playoff. Um How do we, what, what do we put into the program to get us there? Mike took Duke to heights that hadn't seen in 30 years. It's one of the biggest wins and Duke all history, but his era only lasted two seasons. We have to flip the narrative. It's not a stepping stone job. Um Mike Elko came in, we had great success. I can't fault him for wanting to go to another place. The hope is that Diaz Days will be that something different at Duke. We've got to get the locker room to, again to re to ignite that belief and what it means to be Duke. And the fact, the idea is that we can see it going much further.
