By Mark Bergin, WRAL senior multiplatform producer

Durham, N.C. — Duke has a new head football coach, someone with an extensive background coaching in the ACC.

Manny Diaz, 50, gets his second opportunity to be the head coach of an ACC team. He was the head coach from 2019-2021 at Miami. He was also the Hurricanes defensive coordinator from 2016-2018.

“It’s a league I know well,” Diaz said on July 24 at the ACC Kickoff event. “It’s a league I have a lot of respect for.

“It’s a league that’s a lot better than I think it gets credit for, and what I know about this league is … it’s usually dictated by close games.”

Diaz is a Florida State alumnus. He started his coaching as a graduate assistant there. Diaz also served in various coaching roles from 2000-2005 at NC State.

Diaz spent the past two seasons as Penn State’s defensive coordinator.

Can Manny Diaz build on what Mike Elko built the past two seasons?

Mike Elko went 16-9 in two seasons at Duke before leaving to take the Texas A&M head coaching job.

“When the job came open, I was very, very interested because the one thing everybody said in unison was, ‘the kids in the locker room are just extraordinary, and their work ethic and the way they love ball and they way they love each other.’ As a coach, a lot of things that you would want to have [and] want to coach, it seemed like they were all present at Duke,” Diaz said. “And since I’ve been there, that’s been exactly the case.”

In 2022, Elko inherited a program that had lost 13 consecutive ACC games.

Not only did Duke make back-to-back bowl games during Elko’s tenure, Durham hosted ESPN’s “College GameDay” football pregame show last fall for the first time ever.

Diaz said retaining David Feeley, Duke’s director of football sports performance, was “crucial.”

In February, Feeley was honored as the Inside the League’s Strength Coach of the Year Award. The award recognizes the most professional and helpful strength coach to NFL scouts and personnel nationally.

“A big reason I wanted to come to Duke was his presence, and I think the fact that he chose to stay with opportunities to leave showed how much he loved coaching the guys at Duke,” Diaz said of Feeley.

QB battle between Grayson Loftis and Texas transfer Maalik Murphy

Duke will have a new starting quarterback after Riley Leonard transferred to Notre Dame.

Diaz is expected to decide between Grayson Loftis and Texas transfer Maalik Murphy.

“Like a competition at any position, they’re making each other better, which is the whole key,” Diaz said. “And that was the thing that just jumped off the screen in spring ball.

“Grayson and Maalik push each other every day.”

In 2023, Grayson Loftis played in eight games (five starts) for the Blue Devils due to injuries to Leonard and backup Henry Belin IV, who remains on the roster.

Loftis went 3-2 in the games he started, completing 91 of 163 pass attempts, throwing from 1,006 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions

Last season, Murphy served as Quinn Ewers’ backup. Murphy completed 40 of 71 passes for 477 yards. He threw three downs and three interceptions. With Ewers and Arch Manning (nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning) returning to Texas for the 2024 season, Murphy transferred.

“It was a learning experience, honestly,” Murphy said of his experience at Texas.

Murphy said he was in sixth grade when he first met Diaz.

“I didn’t even really realize who I was talking to at the time,” Murphy said.

“He came to a camp at Miami before I was even the head coach,” Diaz said. “That’s really, when he went in the portal, that’s kind of how I made that connection and contact with him.”

In July, Diaz didn’t shut down the possibility that both Loftis and Murphy could see snaps.

Whether it’s Murphy or Loftis, establishing a connection with wide receiver Jordan Moore will be key. Moore led the Blue Devils in receptions (62), receiving yards (835) and receiving touchdowns (eight) in 2023.

How Duke will try to replace key offensive and defensive linemen, some of them now in the NFL?

A key component to Duke’s success in the past two years has been establishing the line of scrimmage.

Duke will need to replace four-year letterman and starting left tackle Graham Barton, who got selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Barton is expected to play center in the NFL.

The Blue Devils also lost offensive lineman Jacob Monk, a five-year letterman and two-time captain. Monk typically played right guard, but took snaps all over the line in 59 career starts for Duke. The Green Bay Packers selected Monk in the fifth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Offensive lineman Justin Pickett is due to return for his redshirt junior season after playing in 24 games, including 10 starts.

In 2022, Duke ranked eighth in the country in time possession, with its offense holding the ball for an average of 33:31. The Blue Devils’ time of possession regressed last season at 28:41 (98th out of 133 teams in the country).

Defensively, Duke also loses interior lineman DeWayne Carter, a three-time captain for the team. The Buffalo Bills selected Carter in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft.

Other defensive linemen Ja’Mion Franklin signed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent and Aeneas Peebles transferred to Virginia Tech.

Defensive tackle Aaron Hall returns for his redshirt junior season. He’s played in 26 career games registering 36 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, two sacks, two pass breakups, three quarterback pressures and one forced fumble.

2024 Duke football schedule

• 7:30 p.m. ET Aug. 30: Elon @ Duke
• 9 p.m. ET Sept.. 6: Duke @ Northwestern
• 6 p.m. ET Sept. 14: UConn @ Duke
• Sept. 21: Duke @ Middle Tennessee
• Sept. 28: UNC @ Duke
• Oct. 5: Duke @ Georgia Tech
• Oct. 18: Florida State @ Duke
• Oct. 26: SMU @ Duke
• Nov. 2: Duke @ Miami
• Nov. 9: Duke @ NC State
• Nov. 23: Virginia Tech @ Duke
• Nov. 30: Duke @ Wake Forest

Source: wralsportsfan.com