If there’s any coach in college football who can relate to what Manny Diaz went through at Miami late last year, it might be the guy whose offense the first-year Penn State defensive coordinator will be tasked with slowing this weekend at Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Diaz spent three years as head coach at Miami before joining James Franklin’s staff at Penn State this offseason. His tenure with the Hurricanes ended unceremoniously in December, when the program poached Mario Cristobal from Oregon after weeks of flirtation that left Diaz handing in the wind. Diaz was Miami’s coach until he wasn’t, with the program announcing Diaz’s ouster on the same day it named Cristobal as head coach.
“I felt for him and how Miami handled the whole situation, and I didn’t like that,” Auburn coach Bryan Harsin said. “I mean, he’s a guy I worked with and had respect for. But I know he’s a good coach.”
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Harsin, whose relationship with Diaz dates to 2011 when the two were hired as coordinators at Texas by Mack Brown, experienced a similarly unorthodox situation at Auburn in February. The university launched an internal inquiry into his handling of the program after a 6-7 campaign in his first season. For a while, it seemed as though Harsin’s time on the Plains was going to be short-lived. Ultimately, though, Harsin emerged from the investigation unscathed and lived to see a second season as head coach, even if his job security and long-term status with the program remain in question.
Both Diaz’s situation at Miami, where he went 21-15 in three seasons, and Harsin’s situation at Auburn this offseason played out very publicly. After Diaz was fired, he released a statement lamenting the way Miami handled the entire ordeal. Harsin, upon the university’s launching of the inquiry, dug in his feet and defended himself. At SEC Media Days in July, he called the whole internal investigation uncomfortable, unfounded and ultimately unsuccessful.
Now Harsin and Diaz will square off Saturday, when Auburn (2-0) hosts No. 22 Penn State (2-0) at Jordan-Hare Stadium. It will mark the first time their paths have crossed since their final season together at Texas in 2012.
“He’s definitely evolved,” Harsin said. “I enjoyed my time with Manny; I think he’s really smart. I felt like he and I, when we came in together, I mean, we were both coordinators at Texas and we had to work together to try to help that football team improve. You know, that was the reason why we came in there. We had our challenges, but I said I loved working with Mack, and then to watch Manny—when I left, to watch him get back into being a D-coordinator and eventually to a head coach, I was very proud of him.”
Harsin used his two seasons on staff at Texas to springboard him into his first head coaching gig at Arkansas State in 2013 before taking over at Boise State the following year. He remained there until he accepted the job at Auburn in December 2020. Diaz, on the other hand, was fired at Texas early in the 2013 season after the Longhorns gave up 550 rushing yards against BYU. He wound up at Louisiana Tech as defensive coordinator for a season in 2014 and then moved on to the same role at Mississippi State in 2015 before taking on the DC job at Miami in 2016.
He held that position for three years before a brief, 18-day stint as head coach at Temple that ended when he accepted the same job back at Miami after Mark Richt’s retirement.
Now Diaz is back as a defensive coordinator at Penn State, where his defense has allowed 20.5 points per game through the first two weeks, ranks top-25 nationally against the run (80 yards per game) and 22nd among FBS teams in pass efficiency defense (95.69).
“I know he prepares his guys well and he cares from just working with him,” Harsin said. “I think he’s a very well-respected coach in this profession, and the reason why he was a head coach is because he’s very good at what he does. He’s evolved; I think we all have. It’s been a while, but at the same time, I see what he’s been able to do in those first two games, and that’s going to be a challenge for us.
“We got to evolve, too. We got to show we’re better than we were the first two games. I think that’s a challenge for both teams heading into this contest.”
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
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