A week after hiring its new offensive coordinator, Penn State football lost its defensive coordinator as Manny Diaz took the head coaching job at Duke. Now James Franklin and his coaching staff are searching for their next coaching leader on defense, but that won’t happen before Penn State’s bowl game on Dec. 30.
“We’ll handle it internally, very similarly to how we did it on offense the last few games of the season,” Franklin said, via Audrey Snyder.
After Penn State fired offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich following its loss to Michigan, the Nittany Lions did not bring in a new OC for the final two games of the regular season before hiring Andy Kotelnicki on Dec. 1. Penn State averaged 41.9 points per game in its 10 wins compared to 13.5 per game in their losses to Michigan and Ohio State.
With the way Penn State’s defense played this year, the program had to anticipate that Diaz would find a head coaching gig elsewhere. The Nittany Lions enter bowl season with the best total defense in the country, allowing less than four yards per play.
Despite failing to reach the Big Ten championship game since winning the conference in 2016 – not to mention the expected improvements with the addition of four Pac-12 programs to the conference next season – Franklin thinks plenty of coaches will want Penn State’s DC job.
“This is an attractive position, not just based on what Manny has done,” Franklin said.
Franklin did not go into specifics regarding the program’s search but did hint at interviews being conducted before Penn State football’s final game of the 2023 season at the end of the month.
The Nittany Lions will try to secure their second consecutive 11-2 season and fifth 11-win season during James Franklin’s tenure when they face Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl. They’ll do so without a true defensive coordinator.