Manny Diaz calls player retention 'superpower' in rev-share era, cites Illinois as example

Saturday’s game between Illinois and Duke saw two teams that took different roster-building approaches this offseason. The Fighting Illini have most of their talent back from last year, while the Blue Devils have a slew of new faces, headlined by quarterback Darian Mensah.

Illinois’ ability to retain its players has the program in the conversation for the College Football Playoff this year, given the schedule. The Fighting Illini return 76% of their production from last year, which ranks third in the nation, according to ESPN. Duke, meanwhile, sits at No. 59 in the nation in returning production at 58%.

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To Blue Devils coach Manny Diaz, player retention is the next “superpower” in the NIL and revenue-sharing era. He said Illinois is an example of a program that focused on retaining not only its top talent, but also its coordinators after a 10-win season in 2024. It’s a level of continuity Duke is trying to achieve, as well.

“I think retention is a superpower now,” Diaz said on ESPN’s College GameDay. “And really, their program is a model for ours. They’ve been able to retain their best players. I’m sure they had chances to go somewhere else. They’re very experienced – experienced at coordinator, as well. Very rare to bring your coordinators back for three straight years and your quarterback.

“So they know who they are. They have a very established identity, and that makes them tougher to beat.”

Manny Diaz: ‘Duke is serious about football’

The Blue Devils made quite a splash in the transfer portal by landing Darian Mensah – the No. 6-ranked quarterback to hit the open market this cycle, according to the On3 Industry Transfer Rankings. On3’s Pete Nakos reported Mensah is set to earn $4 million this year as part of a two-year deal.

That level of investment, according to Manny Diaz, shows what the university thinks of the football program. Duke is going all-in, and that’s why Diaz said the Blue Devils are built to compete in 2025.

“Duke is serious about football,” Diaz said. “Even when I interviewed for the job, the way it was told to me is that the standard Duke now is excellence and it’s excellence for everything. I mean, Duke wins at every sport.

“And the support now that they’re giving us in football gives us a chance week-in, week-out to compete with anybody and every year to attract some of the best players in the country, which we feel like we’re able to do this year in the portal.”