Ad Disclosure
Jim Knowles, Manny Diaz ‘in the mix’ for ACC head coaching job, per report
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Duke is reportedly targeting Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and his counterpart at Penn State, Manny Diaz, for its head coaching vacancy following Mike Elko’s departure for the same role at Texas A&M, according to The Athletic.
Diaz already has experience in the ACC: he was the defensive coordinator at Miami for 3 seasons before being named the head coach at Temple in Dec. 2018, but was hired as head coach of the Hurricanes just weeks later following the retirement of Mark Richt. He was fired in 2021 with a 21-15 record before joining James Franklin’s staff in State College.
As for Knowles, he is already quite familiar with the Blue Devils program: he was hired by David Cutcliffe as the team’s defensive coordinator after the 2009 season after serving as the head coach at his alma mater, Cornell, since 2004. He then took the same position at Oklahoma State in 2018 before heading to Ohio State ahead of the 2022 season.
Two other names have been mentioned by The Athletic: longtime Toledo head coach Jason Candle, who is 65-34 in 9 seasons with the Rockets, and Troy head coach Jon Sumrall, who has won 23 games in just 2 seasons in charge.