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Lessons in Manny Diaz, James Franklin and Making The Most of Now

Note: This is the third in a weekly series previewing different aspects of Penn State’s 2023 season. You can read the defense preview here.

The smartest decision James Franklin has ever made at Penn State has nothing to do with which play to call next, when to take a timeout or which player should cover the opponent’s gamebreaker. 

It has nothing to do with how he answers questions at press conferences. It has little to do with his relationship with the presidents or athletic directors he’s worked with. 

It has everything to do with Manny Diaz. 

And letting the opportunity Franklin has in front of him slip would be the biggest mistake of his Penn State career. 

For as much as Franklin – rightly or wrongly – has taken flack about his ability to recruit but not “coach” or be a “car salesman dressed as a football coach,” hiring a defensive mastermind like Diaz could finally push Franklin over the hump that has pestered him since the post-sanction era began. 

When his career is over, how will we look at Franklin as a head football coach, especially as the head football coach at Penn State? 

I think about this question a ton. 

This question has constantly plagued me as a Penn State football fan for the last 10 or so years. This question has likely crossed your brain as a Penn State football fan as well. And I have to wonder if it has bounced around in Franklin’s head as well.

What will be his legacy at the flagship university of the very state he is from? 

For a while there, it looked like that legacy was headed to a hallowed place. 

2016 happened and things were rolling. 2017, a weird weather day in East Lansing stalled things a bit before 2018’s 4th and 5 and relative deja vu in 2019 caused even more friction amongst the fan base. 2020 sent everything back to square one, most of which wasn’t Franklin’s doing, with everything happening since then a building block to where we are now. 

And then his right hand man, Brent Pry rightfully decided it was time to grow, taking the head coaching job at Virginia Tech.

But it would mean Franklin would be without Pry for the first time since 2011. This was Franklin’s guy by all accounts. It was his confidante. It was (and assumingly) still is one of his closest friends.

At that point, I have to wonder what type of come to Jesus conversation Franklin had with himself. 

How was Franklin going to grow once again from this situation?

We’ve seen him grow as a head coach at Penn State. He was so wrapped up in the image of the team at the beginning that it brought on those car salesman comparisons. But he moved on from that, seemingly more business-like. He struggled to initially understand the power that comes with  the head coaching position at Penn State – and how to leverage that power – before harnessing it so that he could keep up in the college football arms race. 

Franklin once again needed an answer and all signs were pointing toward the direction of Penn State alum Elijah Robinson. 

Well, OK the message boards were pointed in that direction.

But Franklin found that answer when let down his guard, got serious and went big. He went big at the right time he needed to go big. He went big that the move surprised some. Notably, he went big and went with his gut, learning from the rocky Kirk Ciarrocca era. Most of all, he learned that can’t do it all alone and he convinced Diaz to join him. 

To be clear, Franklin wasn’t just letting someone on to his staff, he was letting a former head coach onto his staff. And this wasn’t just any head coach. This was a head coach at a Power 5 school, one with deep history (and a short fuse apparently.) This was one whose track record was actually proven, trustworthy and most of all, aggressive. This was and is a defensive mastermind. 

This was a change for Franklin, who had largely only ever elevated coordinators up and down the ranks or grabbed them from other programs prior to this.

It was also someone who could provide more support for him on the sideline filling that void left by Pry’s departure. 

Here was Franklin shifting his focus and energy away from tweets, “elite” speeches and how he presents himself to rather once again growing and bolstering the brain trust to elevate the program. 

Here he was realizing that in order to be a successful college head football coach you can’t do it alone in this current era of college football. 

That’s what Nick Saban with his cast of characters has done. That’s what Dabo Swinney did with Brent Venables. That’s what Kirby Smart has done in his last two seasons at Georgia. 

You surround yourself with the right people so that you can focus on what you want to accomplish, not what you need to accomplish. 

In someways too, Diaz needed the change of scenery from South Beach to Mount Nittany to get his energy for coaching refreshed and focus on what he does best which is call defenses, understanding that head coaches have to deal with a lot more than X’s and O’s like Franklin has.

So far, Diaz has taken Penn State’s already strong defense in the Franklin era to new levels. Penn State finished top 10 nationally in fewest points allowed per game in both 2021 and 2022. The Nittany Lions were also in the top 10 nationally in sacks and fumbles forced while also top five in tackles for a loss in 2022. 

Last year in the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions were five sacks ahead of the field with 42, 18 tackles for a loss clear of Iowa and Ohio State who were tied for No. 2 and two fumbles recovered ahead of Michigan State for top spot in the conference. 

The defense caused havoc and led Penn State to a dominant performance in the Rose Bowl over a Utah offense that averaged 38.6 points per game in 2022. 

With Diaz, Penn State has also been able to expand its recruiting footprint with several Florida-based commits in the pipeline. And now two years into his time at Happy Valley, we’re starting to see that pay off already, with one of the deepest defenses ever to suit up in the blue and white. 

All of that because Diaz could bring something new, exciting and most of all, different to the Big Ten, ultimately a key reason why Franklin hired him. 

But the clock is ticking for Diaz’s tenure. It may not end this season but it’s certainly hard to imagine him sticking around for anything longer than two more seasons at Penn State. It’s even tough to imagine working at the Lasch Building by the end of January. (Mike Poorman’s piece does a nice job laying out the financials of it all.)

If things go as planned, one would have to imagine that the Power 5 ADs will come clamoring at Diaz’s door sooner rather than later.

While Penn State’s playoff window is open, the Diaz window is closing. Franklin has to take advantage of that before it’s too late. His defenses are too good, and looking at the depth this season, too talented to let go to waste.

There’s no guarantee his next defensive coordinator will be a Manny Diaz. There’s also no guarantee that the road to the playoff is going to be any easier in 2024 with an expanded Big Ten, while the playoff itself will become harder, jumping from four teams to 12 next season. 

The only guarantee is Franklin has finally made the right decisions he’s needed to get what he wants the most. 

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Darian Somers
Darian Somers is a 2016 graduate of Penn State and co-host of Stuff Somers Says with Steve. You can email Darian at darian@stuffsomerssays.com. Follow Darian on Twitter @StuffSomersSays.

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