Purdue has officially named Bob Diaco the next defensive coordinator. Reports surfaced earlier this week, and the university made it official on Thursday by sending out a release.

Diaco will replace Nick Holt, who was not retained following the 2019 season. Holt had been on Jeff Brohm’s staff at Purdue since taking over in 2017. The moves comes after the Boilermakers finished 12th in the B1G in scoring defense, pass defense and run defense and 13th in total defense.

“We’re very excited to bring Bob to Purdue,” Brohm said in a statement. “He is one of the most well-respected defensive coaches in the country and has proven throughout his career to be an innovator on that side of the ball.”

A former head coach at UConn, Diaco comes to West Lafayette after spending one season at Louisiana Tech as the defensive coordinator. The Bulldogs finished the season 10-3 and posted a 14-0 shutout win over Miami (FL) in the Independence Bowl. Diaco’s defense ranked 31st nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 21.8 points per game.

Prior to coaching at Louisiana Tech, Diaco was the defensive coordinator at Nebraska for one season (2017), served as the head coach at UConn (2014-16) and defensive coordinator at Notre Dame (2010-13). Diaco’s defense with the Fighting Irish was consistently in the top 25 statistically and was No. 2 in scoring defense in 2012, the year Notre Dame made a trip to the BCS National Championship Game with a 12-0 record.

Diaco played at Iowa. His first game as Purdue’s defensive coordinator will be against Nebraska in Lincoln.