Pair of Penn State assistants listed as names Florida Atlantic could target in head coaching search by The Athletic
A pair of Penn State football assistants could be targeted by Florida Atlantic for its open head coaching job, according to The Athletic.
Longtime reporter Bruce Feldman, who is the national college football insider for the outlet, has a new list of potential candidates out after the Owls fired Willie Taggart on Saturday following a 5-7 2021 season and 15-18 run over three seasons at the helm of the Group of Five program. Two current members of James Franklin’s Lions staff made the list: First-year defensive coordinator Manny Diaz and longtime Lions assistant and current co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider. Unsurprisingly, both have past ties to the Sunshine State.
“Diaz went 21-15 in three seasons as Miami’s head coach, leading the Hurricanes to a No. 22 finish in 2020,” Feldman writes. “The 48-year-old Miami native has done a very good job as Penn State’s DC and is one of the brighter people in football. He got shoved out the door at Miami for Mario Cristobal, but FAU might be a better fit.”
Diaz last coached at a G5 school in 2014. Then, he was the defensive coordination and linebackers coach at Louisiana Tech.
While Diaz has solo coordinator and head coach experience, Seider does not. But, the fifth-year member of the Penn State staff is one of the sport’s top position coaches and recruiters.
“The 45-year-old Belle Glade, Fla., product was a star quarterback at Florida A&M and has deep recruiting ties around South Florida,” Feldman writes on Seider.
“Players really respond to him. He has also been a key assistant in Happy Valley, at Marshall and at West Virginia.”
Seider was last at the G5 level from 2010-2012 when he was the Thundering Herds’ running backs coach and recruiting coordinator.
A transformative month is here for Penn State
Change is coming to the Penn State football program between now and the end of the year. Staff changes are possible. Incoming transfer portal additions could happen. Departures can, too. The portal opens for action on Dec. 5.
Beyond that, the Lions will hit the road recruiting later this week with hopes of securing their current Class of 2023 verbal commitments. And, they’ll be in touch with other seniors, either recruits they could flip from other schools or uncommitted prospects.
Bowl practices are on the horizon, too.
“[The players will] get a little bit of time off here over the next couple days,” Penn State coach James Franklin said Saturday. “[Today] is the first Sunday they’ll have off. There’s a new kind of transfer portal period where things shut down, where we normally would go right on the road recruiting. We’ll be in the office for three or four days meeting with all the players and making sure we’re all on the same page, finding out what bowl we’re going to.
“And, then, we’ll get started practices before we know necessarily who we’re playing ball with. We’ll have practices and then get into the bowl prep.”
Penn State will learn its bowl game destination next Sunday.
