Manny Diaz reveals how he addressed coaching carousel rumors with Duke players

As the coaching carousel starts to spin, Manny Diaz’s name has come up. The Duke head coach was previously the defensive coordinator at Penn State – which has a high-profile opening – and addressed the rumors with his Blue Devils players.

Diaz, formerly the head coach at Miami, said he discussed things with his players when coaching changes started across the country. Penn State was one of the first big ones after the school parted ways with James Franklin last month, and Virginia Tech also moved on from Brent Pry in September.

With chatter swirling on the outside, Diaz acknowledged he knows what it’s like on the other side of the rumor mill. That’s why his goal was to make sure his players keep their focus where it needs to be.

“When silly season kind of first started – it starts earlier and earlier now – I briefly mentioned it to the team. … As a coach, there’s really no in-between,” Diaz said on SiriusXM College Sports Radio. “You’re in the honeymoon phase or you’re in the, ‘Get this guy out of town,’ phase, or you’re in the, ‘Oh, no, please don’t leave’ phase. Sometimes, that can change quarter by quarter.

“So I’ve been through all that. They know where I was before. They know what I’ve dealt with and what I’ve been through. It’s fun to try to insulate the program from all that and just work on what we’re building here, which I think is pretty extraordinary.”

Manny Diaz: ‘Everyone’s story continues to be written’

Through his second season at Duke, Manny Diaz has the Blue Devils at a 5-3 overall record heading into this week’s matchup against UConn, and the program went 9-4 in Diaz’s first year at the helm. They are also coming off their first win at Clemson in 45 years last week.

But Diaz said the goal needs to be improving. Even based on his previous coaching stops, there’s still plenty of story left to tell.

“Coaches tell players all the time, be devoted to continuous improvement,” Diaz said. “We talk about teams having the right to improve. Listen, everyone’s story continues to be written. It’s so easy to stop because people try to write your story for you. That’s no different than us when we were 1-2 or the things we talk about with us this season. I do think that there’s a chance to learn through all this that, in this sport, nothing is final.

“There are some great examples of it in the profession of some of the guys that are doing a heck of a job at the top of the rankings right now and maybe where their story was a few years ago. I just think it’s fun to see that when people are certain about most things, usually, you’re certainly wrong.”