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Introduction
Now that Penn State’s first spring practice is officially in the books, the bitter, lingering aftertaste of the way up then way down 2021 season has been chased by our first shot of hope. This year, a key ingredient mixed in the collective Kool-Aid we all seem to guzzle around mid-March is the hire of new defensive coordinator Manny Diaz – The Father of the Turnover Chain and the former DC and Head Coach of Miami. Manny Diaz comes to Penn State with an impressive pedigree as a defensive coordinator that includes various stops at places like Middle Tennessee (2006-2009), Mississippi State – twice (2010 and 2015), Texas (2011-2013), Louisiana Tech (2014), and Miami (2016-2018 as DC; 2019-2021 as Head Coach).
Diaz’s lengthy resume got us wondering, “How have Diaz’s Year 1 defenses compared to what the departed DC did the previous season?” Well, we found out.
Because our tracking only dates back to 2009, we’re gonna start our analysis during Diaz’s first of two pit stops at Mississippi State (to FTB’s loyal Blue Raider readership, sorry). As always, we’re going to look at everything – from basic stats to more advanced stats — to determine Diaz’s immediate impact on a defense.
