Penn State coach James Franklin talks Manny Diaz's start in State College, challenges of hiring the right coordinator

Penn State has nearly completed its eighth spring practice of James Franklin’s tenure.

It’s the first, of course, for new Lions defensive coordinator Manny Diaz.

Players and the assistant coach himself have talked throughout April about how well the former Miami head coach is fitting in with his latest college football family.

“Obviously, the other big story line is losing Brent Pry, who had been with me for 12 years, to go be the head coach at Virginia Tech,” Franklin told BTN’s Mike Hall earlier this week. “Which, is awesome. I’m really happy for Brent and his family and really for Virginia Tech. I think he’s going to do a phenomenal job there.

“But on top of that, obviously us having to replace them, and Manny Diaz coming in with tremendous experience not only as a head coach, but as a defensive coordinator, that’s been a big storyline for us this spring obviously.”

How is the storyline playing out so far for Penn State?

Penn State fans are excused if they don’t want to hear about how well another new coordinator is doing during his first spring. After all, good vibes in March and April did not exactly lead to loads of success for either Kirk Ciarrocca or Mike Yurcich in year one.

Perhaps things will be different with Diaz, however. A former head coach and coordinator, he has troves of experience. That fact is already shining through in State College.

“Not only has he been a successful long term, highly respected defensive coordinator, but, there’s tremendous lessons and value that he has learned as as being a head coach and being a head coach of a big time program,” Franklin said. “He’s got tremendous presence in front of the room with our players [and] he’s got tremendous presence in front of our staff. He’s got a lot of conviction in what he wants to do and how he wants to do it, which I think is critical.

“And, he’s been a lot of different experiences that we’re going to gain value from. I’ve been really pleased with him. Really excited with him. I think he’s fit in really well. He’s hit the ground running, and I think he’s got a chance to help our defense take the next step. Which, we’ve been pretty good on defense.”

Diaz’s Penn State players have already started talking about being able to play faster as they continue learning the new scheme. That will only increase moving forward into the summer and then fall camp.

How hard is it to hire a coordinator?

Hall pulled on an interesting thread during his chat with Franklin. It focused on the process of hiring a coordinator an what the hardest part is.

“What happens is, there’s a handful of coordinators that are no brainers out there,” Franklin said. “Then, you get into a situation where you’re competing for them. Say there’s three proven defensive coordinators out there. And then there’s probably 10 programs that are trying to get them. Maybe six that have openings and maybe four that don’t have openings, but if they could get a guy like Manny Diaz, they will have an opening. I hate to say that, but that’s probably the truth of it. So then that that becomes the challenge. We’ve identified who we want. How do we get him? Then, hopefully you’re in a position as an organization that you have the support from the athletic director, from a budget standpoint, to go get them.

“We got on Manny really early on. Had some really good conversations. I think there was mutual interest right from the beginning. Then it was, how quickly can we get this done? And, how quickly can we get you here, if this is what you want to do? Really, kind of the stars aligned, and it made a lot of sense.”

It all equals the start of something new at Penn State. And, it’s been so far, so good, for the Lions as spring winds to a close.