Duke Preview w/ Manny Diaz

[Music] [Music] happy football season everybody and welcome in to the GRL and mlan podcast presented by Les the official Supermarket of GRL and mlan and we are talking about the Duke Blue Ma you and I were perhaps the first to really sound the horn on Duke last year we did a big interview with Riley Leonard going into the Duke Clemson game I believe we both picked Clemson but we we thought it would be close we thought Duke was for real and they proved to be for real when eight and four last year four and four in the ACC of course RI Leonard gets hurt and things get derailed but it's a very new and different year for Duke this year Matt yeah it really is um so many people right that that you know moved on whether to the NFL transfer whatever it is uh College Station College Station specifically Notre Dame specifically not to bring anything up that people don't want to talk about uh but it's gonna be some new faces now Duke also did a great job you know Manny Diaz is hired uh they come in their staff they do their thing um which I I think was really impressive they kept coach fely the strength coach which I don't think people understand how massive that was kg um he because here's the deal like obviously your coaches position coaches very important but strength coaches are a huge piece of that culture setting like they are around the players the most you know with with workouts summer training things of that nature and so to keep that piece and they work together at Miami so it's they know each other um and I'm sure he was very excited about that once he heard that news coach Diaz uh that piece is massive I can't understate that enough love coach fely and think that he's going to be really an part of this first season but with all that said there's a lot of new plac new faces you go out and get Malik Murphy who was awesome you know we we met him at media day gotta talked to him he's massive by the way like 65 230 64 230 really big dude just kind of a quiet confidence demeanor um and you know everything they said they told us they're still in a quarterback battle we'll see I don't know about that I don't know if you bring that guy in and you're battling uh but who knows but yeah it's going to be a lot of different things you know for Duke this year very different onto a new era but I I I hope for Duke that they set kind of a baseline with the Mike Elco era of almost you know we're gonna make a bowl game and and that's kind of like our bare minimum we'll see with what they can do this year and we'll talk about that win total Max six and a half on the other side the schedule's very interesting but first let's get to our interview with Manny Diaz at Engles we know your closest companions are the ones who are always there for you the ones you trust to have your back no matter what who make the hard times a little softer and the good ones somehow a little better that's what family is all about whether they walk on two legs or four Les all the ingredients for [Music] family coach Manny Diaz great to see you brother ecstatic that you're back in the ACC love the blue you look fantastic and excited that you're a Duke my man how's everything going how's summer great uh busy uh but recruiting is going outstanding um really excited about the class that we're that we're putting putting together um so things are good you like I said we're really u a lot of the new Inc coming onto the team and it's other thing that happens in June now you got a lot of with the transfer portal a lot of new faces showing up if you saw us at the spring game where we look a lot more like a football team now than we did in April I'm sure I I think that's true for most people but you know coach you have that head coaching experience but taking over any program is different right and so coming to Duke taking over this December what have been some of the challenges that maybe you didn't expect but also what are some things that you feel like okay I've done this before I know how to handle that job has changed I mean it you know taking 24 months between being a head coach it's remarkable how different uh it is now um because of the the I mean there was a portal back when I was in Miami but not like now and and certainly everything with nil and and whatnot it is it's a really really different deal so I actually I'm very thankful for having already had experience on how to deal with the other things right right because if you were learning it all in real time it be it would be quite an adjustment there's nothing like it it's not like being a coordinator at all um so there's a familiarity and then the really the best lesson is hire a great staff um and so some of the lessons did learn in the three years at Miami and how to put a staff together uh the type of people that we've got here because you are pulled in so many directions as a head coach you better have some really great people um to help you out with h the day-to-day tasks yeah yeah no question about it's interesting I think coach that the people who are you know a little bit removed or or don't really quite know I mean X's and O's is probably the last thing on your mind I mean there's so many other things that as the head man you know you're in charge of and and making decisions and all these different things so I love that point of man you got to hire people you can trust and you got to hire smart people to get the job done and take care of your team another guy you got to hire as a strength coach and uh I just want to talk about David fely for a second here coach fely because he made a a what a lot of people would say a crazy choice but he decided to stay at Duke and then the fact that you got hired and you guys have unbelievable history and that all worked out can you just walk through that perspective or that situation from your perspective yeah I um I'm not sure I would have taken the job if David Philly didn't stay wow that's how strongly I feel about him um and I think our players feel the same way I think I think that's the whole you know I can tell you my thoughts I'd rather tell you our players thoughts and when I came in they arranged the first day on the job you know I had a team meeting I probably sat met with about 15 to 20 of the top guys on the team and it was everyone on on song I mean it was like we win because of David fely wow um they really believe that and um and I get it trust me I understand I saw it from afar I mean when I was at Penn State the last couple years when I was watching Duke I said that looks like a David fely trained football team and um and so I think that was important not just for me to have the confidence and knowing that you normally when a head coach comes in you hear these comments like we have to create our culture establish this establish that you know I felt like that was already in place which which is why I wanted him to stay so badly but it also gave our players uh a lot of comfort that they weren't going to have the carpet pulled out from underneath them that they understand what the demands are of the off season they already know what the summer was going to be like um and so even though it's hard uh they know what to expect and they love it yeah he he's uh as you know in everything you just laid out he is amazing I mean the way that he can relate to these young men the way that he can just get every single thing you know out of a guy and even more so right like take him to the limits that they didn't even think I was ecstatic when I heard that he was going to be staying and then when you got the job it's it's a matchmate in heaven let's jump into your team a little bit here coach and and let's talk some QBs because you've got a known commodity in Grayson less that a lot of fans remember and and we remember that he came in and won some football games and played very valiantly you've got you know another young man uh in Henry Bean who came in and flashed when he got his opportunities and then you just get this little former festar that walks into town uh and Malik Murphy from Texas who is a massive dude has an absolute rocket launcher how's that room shaking out what did you see from them I guess so far this offseason and what do you continue to see going into the fall which is the very first thing I wanted to establish you know um you know I've been around defenses my my whole career um and I've always been a lot more fun coaching defense when you got a great quarterback um I hired Johnny Brewer because I wanted to have a quarterback friendly offense uh I saw firstand at Miami if you look what we did with Derk King and and Tyler van dijk uh quarterbacks Thrive uh in this offense and that's going to attract quarterbacks I think Duke is a school that should attract great quarterbacks there's a history of that in the past um and so being able to bring in Malik um and what's been phenomenal about is that you know as you mentioned Grace and Henry they're pushing Malik to bring out the best of Malik and Malik in turn is doing the same thing to them so um that ultimately as you know if that position plays well you got a chance to win every game in this league uh so I feel really good you know we felt during spring um you know Henry was still rehabing so with Grayson and Malik uh we felt like we had two guys coming out of spring that we can win with um and now in the summer you know player Le workouts the leadership aspect comes into play um we're gonna have we're have a really fun August uh with these two guys battling it out coach I want to get to your wide receiver room in a second but with a guy like Malik Murphy and you know whenever you started talking to him and looking in the portal and seeing if he was interested in Duke do you and maybe this is part of why he took the job as well do you feel like Duke's reputation is even you can go back to cut cliff and what he's done there over the last let's say decade it's changed a bit and you've seen some guys like a Daniel Jones for example who's you know the big time QB in the NFL do you feel like that reputation is at a point now where obviously go snag Malik Murphy out of the portal like it's just a little different at this point yeah no doubt I mean people are seeing that you can win a Duke um and everybody paid attention to what happened um in the great job that was done here the last couple years and I always think that you know what that shows it shows what a what a what a school is capable of um and Duke is capable of great things like I I one I think what I mentioned at the top was you know this June uh our recruiting right now people want to come here it it is it is a great thing to sell um to the recruits it's a great thing to sell to the families and the parents we have a great product um and so it's way more fun um you know when you're when you are in sales when you got something great to sell and we really do here too no that there's no question about that just just to follow back real quick before we move on about this what do you want to see from each of these guys I mean what will help you make a decision decision easier quicker whatever it is on on who is your qb1 Who's Your Leader going into the season well the funny thing is this it's always like right the the first year winning the game is don't lose the game right don't burn down the house you know um and we believe in this offense again if you just if you just you know follow your progressions um and you know take what's there um you know we can reserve the right to punt the football and play a great defense uh do that you know as as you mentioned you know Malik's got such great arm Talent we do want to be able to stretch the ball down the field uh and so that will be important part but um what I think as we get into Camp it's going to come down to decision-making and who we think can move the offense because we we love what we have you know I think we're about to talk about the wide receivers we love our skill um and we just need a guy to be sort of the point guard back there and just distribute it to our to our Playmakers well speaking of that coach um this wide receiver room you return a lot of really good talent obviously Jordan Moore is the guy that catch from the spring game from Malik Murphy by the way the touchdown in the corner uh was really impressive so when you took this job and you saw this wide receiver room you must have liked what you saw I do what what is maybe most impressive and this sounds funny you don't normally hear this is is our age we're old um in the receiver I think Eli is coming back for his 10th year coach is that right yeah Eli yep just turned just turned 30 celebrated that um so but what does that mean you know um you know you have an earth urgency you know uh you have an understanding of what it takes to to prepare um and you also have the idea that listen this is all I have I've got I've got these 12 games plus whatever happens in the postseason left um when you're when you're a freshman you think you're gonna play forever right you know like oh look this and there's a great saying too I know you all heard like you know young guys want to play old guys want to win yeah you know young guys were just so happy they got in M did you see me they actually put me in the game you know um old guys they've already been through that you know whether it's you know Jordan Samir Eli Davis Robinson um you know we've got people who have been in games Javon Harvey came in from Old Dominion they they've already had their picture taken their Instagram profiles are filled with them on Game Day right they want they want they want to perform and they want to win and that really helped set the tone for our for even the younger guys on offense um as great leadership to follow yeah what what have you seen from Jordan Moore because I think he is a guy that just has gotten better every day every year um you know obviously not being there in Camp like you guys are but you know I I think he can be an all ACC First Team Caliber guy just with what we've seen uh and what I expect him to be this coming season well I I I now I get it why he's gotten better year in and year out because you just can't outwork him wow I mean his his work ethic is phenomenal comes from a great family uh so I can see why the way he was raised and and we have his younger brother Jaden here as well um the guy is just willing himself into a big- time player and I'm with you I mean 120 catches of the last two years you know that that's a real deal and and we believe we're in an offense now that's going to push the ball his way even a lot more so right I think he's got a chance to really put up big numbers this year and uh and and and help us with you know obviously trying to put up points which is what we're all here to play for yeah well I'm excited to see that he he's a special talent and I think can make any room you know better with his Charisma energy and and as you just said work ethic how about this offensive line cuz obviously Duke losing a couple of key dudes right you know your first round draft pick uh you know that that in Graham Barton that was just electric you know model of consistency and same thing quite frankly for Jacob monk as well who has stepped up at that unit and and who is somebody or a group of guys that you can really rely on the ACC if we can wear stickers um on our Jersey to say hi my name is because we have so many newcomers in that room we just want to make sure everybody gets their their names right um uh well let's talk it's combination uh we do have some guys on this campus you know um uh Brian Parker Matt cracraft both did a phenomenal job in the spring Justin picket was rehab an injury we think he's got a great you know he had a great year last year so we feel like we've got great stability on the inside and then being able to add some again age experience um we're we're we're a much different outfit now than what we were in April which also by the way what will that provide again competition that's what we had to provide and that's what you can do now right I mean there was a time when you were old on the lines of scrimmage you know when people graduated it was hard um at some programs to just replace those guys and you got young and you had to take a step back it's just there's a big difference when you're talking about U oine dline between 22 year olds and and 18 and 19 year olds they just is right um how many offseasons in the weight room how many times under a squat rack I mean just those reps add up um so our ability to get old in that room again has transformed us quickly in a way that probably wasn't possible 10 years ago um and that was you know that was a big part of our design you know it was this was not an idea of like what happened last couple years was cute you know what I mean and Duke's gonna go get back in its box like that's not the plan here um and we think the portal editions on the old line are a big um a big reason why yeah and then you know speaking of that and running the ball JZ Moore I know is someone you guys are going to rely on a lot what have you seen from him maybe give us some other names in that running back room as well yeah jaquez it was frustrating for him a little bit in spring because we were so thin on o line we we was really a p we had to probably throw the ball more than we want to in the spring but it was fine we we were able to to kind of get that installed and um but what you notice with him is just Breakaway ability right you know home run hitting you watched him a year ago against Clemson Florida State you know taking to the house he you know he can he can score anywhere on the football field and we know explosive plays after turnovers are the two big stats that that correlate most closely to winning um so we think with Jack quiz you have that you got a younger guy like pton Jones who um again we think's got a great future and then again we felt like we had to add some age you know star Thomas and Al wooden both out of the portal both guys high volume of carries been in games understand pass protection so again you just you know we we we love the young ones that are in our program like another young guy like mares Collins but we just didn't feel like we had to have you know jacquez and then guys who really had very very limited on carries um and I just you know experience you you guys have talked to so many coaches right who doesn't talk about the importance of experience and now again you just don't have to wait for it like you like you used to it's a fascinating thing because you're right it's it's just go get what you need right it's there you know and and you have that ability and you know it's interesting to see just how differently you know people use it let's talk a little defense coach because you left Penn State as a very successful coordinator always have been and the way that you approach the game you really that way how involved do you plan to be defensively here at Duke well as as you mentioned earlier as much as the head coaching position allows you but I that's why I hard Jonathan py I mean Jonathan knows me how I think this scheme as well as anybody in the country um and it was funny last year coming down the stretch when Penn State and Texas state were were we were we were both one and two passing each other onra for losses every week I I would send them a screenshot of the tagra for loss list and sayy you guys are one ahead of us you big jerk you know what I mean and um so again philosophically there's alignment which is what I'm such a big big believer in um and then same thing everyone on the defensive staff um has either worked together before a couple guys from Penn State guys that have been with me in the and so everybody really understands it you saw in the spring we're instantly able to create a great chemistry I think so much of defense is the alignment of the staff and the players seeing that um and being bought in that we all believe in the same things on how to stop people and in our methodology of how to do it um so again I I I get to sit in the room and and just be a part of the game compling but I have utmost confidence in those guys running it and calling it and and um and cutting those guys loose that's awesome that's fantastic yeah and it must be nice to have a guy like Trey Freeman back who can be the bridge if you will to your to the new scheme but also a guy who was so effective last year how how has it been working with him and getting to know him yeah we we're um you know we missed Trey for most of the spring as he was rehabbing injury but he's he's now back and healthy and you know in our the things we're allowed to do with the players now uh just getting him out there you know I it seemed like the recurring theme in this in this conversation is experience right guys that have been in the games they they they've known it they've understand it understood it um and obviously the high volume of tackles that he's made same thing in our secondary you know Chandler river is a corner Joshua picket you know again two older guys and then our safeties you know stins it in more you know if you can't be good in college on defense if you're not good in the secondary you just it just just all bad things again what I talk about turnovers and exposive plays right and exposive plays usually come through some sort of breakdown in the secondary so having guys where it's not their first rodeo they've been in games they' understand how to communicate the urgency that's required um leverage and tackling uh big key for us yeah yeah you got me fired up over here coach I'm excited to see it uh when when people play Duke this year just you know teams that you've previously been in charge of defenses you pre previously been in charge of what do you want teams to Come Away with after they play Duke from from the other team standpoint yeah yep yeah just completely out of their comfort zone you know just just just from start to finish um you know always struggling with with the aggression in which we play with in all three phases I mean certainly as you mentioned defensively that's always speaks for itself in terms of the disruptive numbers t for loss of sacks you know leading the nation turnovers and you know things have just occurred year and a year no matter what school we've been we've been at uh and then same thing on offense you know um getting people uncomfortable you know people struggling to get aligned communicating as hard on defense um and being able to push the ball down the field and attack people down the field creating explosive plays you know so um we we talk about it all the time with us it's about Mastery you know what can we Master what can we do against anybody we play against and that's what uh you know that's what's been our battlecry during spring it will be during training camp and and like all good teams should get better and better as the year goes on we want to be playing our best in November because usually that's when um that's when the shiny things are decided you know who gets to play for what yeah for sure well and Coach the ACC has changed a lot since uh you were at Miami there's no division trophies right there's no divisions um you know one could say geography's been completely thrown out the window if you will like what what was your reaction um maybe you could tell us as candidly as possible when you see the AC a conference that you've been a part of being at NC State and at Miami for a while and at Florida State adding Stanford Cal SMU you know I think you just everyone like everyone else you just kind of shrug your shoulders yeah um you know if I had have stay at Penn State you know we would had a conference game exactly Southern Cal this year you know what I mean and so you know as you mentioned um you know the great winner here is freaking flyer miles you know um but the world is now officially smaller I mean it just look we can we could have a whole another half hour conversation just on on the on the wisdom of all this but U but it is what it is and the tooth pce is not getting put back in into the tube yeah so um so what we do is this they they they put out a schedule and we'll go play everyone was supposed to play um we we we missed out on the West Coast Swing this year um the crazy thing is the familiarity I mean there's so many coaches in this league who I've worked for worked with um been around and so you do see that um and so there's a a lot of respect for this league again I think there's a lot of really good football coaches in this league I think there's a lot of really good football teams in this league having spent the last year in the Big 10 after being in the ACC for the six years prior um again I'm I'm I'm bullish on what this league can do and um and I we we need to put a season out there that shows what we're capable of yeah no question about it I I would appreciate that too coach Willcox over at Cal said we just got to get a bigger plane and bring more Gatorade and we'll be fine that was his uh synopsis so one defensive guy to another uh but you're not making that trip so you don't have to worry about it another thing that's changing coach is uh we're gonna have some new technology next year uh on the sidelines of college football we'll have iPads you can see video all those different things and also we're going to have that you know player to coach uh commun commun ation coach to player excuse me from the sidelines what do you like about it what do you think it's going to change and just really your approach for game day with those new pieces um you know starting off you mentioned the iPads you know you you will be able to um show players I I mean our players are so used to seeing video for Corrections right and you know you so how many times you've seen on the sideline the coach has the board right you're trying to draw up what happened and try to you know well now you're going say here look here's what it is the other funny thing is you're going to eliminate you know you remember these Eric you're eliminate those funny conversations of you know you know did you did were you here on this play yes yes coach I was there and then all of a sudden H not so fast you know so there there's been a little bit of sideline fibbing that's gone on through the history of football Since U since forever we can't do it anymore we can't lie anymore so yeah as we know the eye in the sky can't lie and you you had to wait till the next day to see the eye now now it's shows up right away so um it will make for better adjustments obviously both teams have it though so it just that's all part of it um I think uh the communication I think is a part that's really fascinating especially you know we know it's been in the NFL for a long time but the NFL is a huddle League um which is different you know couchwall being a spread uptempo League um think about it if people don't huddle if only one person has the the microphone speaker in their helmet something still has got to get communicated to the other guys on the field that's different if an offense huddles in the NFL all you got to do is talk to one guy he can talk to the other 10 in a way we go um if the wide receivers are not going to come back to the Huddle that means the defensive backs can can can't come to the defensive huddle so someone still got to talk to these guys someone still got a signal um you know if if the if people want to put people in the stands to to watch them to to steal signals that there may there may still be a place for that right so um so I don't know how much of that will change it I think that would be the most fascinating part though and what happens after the clock shuts off at 15 you know how well your team be prepared for what happens after that moment right are you a proponent for multiple miked up guys helmet helmet I don't know yes or no I don't know that anyone's ever come up with a great answer for more than one yeah right if one if one's too many and because there could be really be some competitive Advantage things that could happen if you started to get to multiple guys so yeah I think one is probably the number for now but like I said it's just it's it's Unique it doesn't quite you know solve everything uh that was an issue in the news a year ago what we're not quite the NFL right yeah it's going to be interesting we'll see uh coach thank you for joining us grateful for your time we're excited for this season and uh good luck brother it's going to be fun yeah great thank you for having me [Music] on what's up guys as you can tell by the hats the shirts the logo we've got a new partner Underdog fantasy plus gramlick and mlan we are super excited they sent us a bunch of Swag they sent us a bunch of tennis balls kg Sam has loved the tennis balls I'm not sure what you've done with them maybe throwing them out Jacob doing his thing getting after it but we are so excited and uh just let me tell you a little bit about these guys the favorite thing that I like is number one You' got fantasy drafts where a ton of people know how to do that check it out they have a really great thing there but then you can pick your favorite player higher lower and kg you've already got into this for kind of a season long deal can you tell the people a little insight on what you got there well I'm going to tell you about my most recent pick them entry but Underdog fantasy it's the easiest place to play fantasy sports it's also the fastest growing fantasy app in the industry I have it pulled up right here on my phone it's so easy to download we're going to give you a promo code in a second that you can use to start your journey here but my most recent one I did this before the start of the season and this is called my ACC uh let's go ACC pick right these are positive right here I've got Casey concepion higher than 800 a half receiving yards for the season Ronda gadston higher higher than 550 and a half for the season receiving yards and then Jaden not the Cal running back higher than 975 and a half rushing yards so if all three of those hit boom then I'm going to um be feeling good on Underdog fantasy so I'm so excited about this partnership Mac I think this is a unique way to get involved with the game and to play fantasy sports and like we said download that app check it out it is the easiest place to play fantasy sports it really is very user friendly and again all season long we've been giving you picks for years we've been pretty good well now we finally get to put our money where our mouth is and you can join us okay and we want to give you uh kind of a reward if you sign up and use our code Gmod that's GM p o all caps there you have a special pick that you can claim and then for first-time Deposit they will offer up to $250 in bonus cash so if you put in 250 they're going to put in 250 if you only put in a 100 they'll put in a 100 so we're giving you money guys you got to use our code sign in this is going to be an awesome thing all year long kg and I are going to be bring in you our pics and if you look historically you might want to listen to Kelly she's a little bit better at the pics and I do but we'll see we'll see who makes the most money at the end of this thing kg I'm jacked up for it it's gonna be a lot of fun cannot wait our code GM o Gmod sign up now we'll put some links on social media and below in the description here on YouTube and on Apple podcast join in on the fun today with Underdog fantasy thanks again to Manny Diaz for joining us here on the podcast really appreciate him I know he's had to hit the ground running and he's had to get things going so taking time to talk with us is awesome we appreciate it and let's talk about the win total here with Duke Max six and a half is the total I referenced earlier can they is the Baseline now at Duke bowl game right is that kind of where they are they can make a bowl game and still hit the under the big question like you said with Malik Murphy what happens there at a quarterback position they do return Jordan Moore who's going to be kind of that do it all for them the defense you hope can have some of that continuity bringing another defensive-minded head coach but they did lose a lot of pieces there I I'm gonna go under on the six and a half but I think a bowl game is still very possible for dke sadly I'm right there with you kg I'm looking at this schedule and I feel great right I feel great until we get to the end of September and then it's just like we go on this stretch it's very difficult very difficult um you know it's funny I put out at media day kind of my top six teams uh and Duke just plays one two three four of those almost in a row uh so have fun that that's great it just goes to show you how difficult of an ACC schedule that that they really have here so you know I think six is no doubt like that would be great and not even great that can be very attainable um but seven is going to be hard so I'm going under as well I think they get seven in the bowl game I think they can win that that um and get that going but I do I just think this is a brutal schedule it's really really difficult for them to get going and even their like lower tiered ACC teams Georgia Tech who we both think is g to be good but their schedule's just so hard Wake Forest and SMU like that that's that's the lower end of your schedule that's that's still very tough um this is it's going to be an interesting start you know when it just looks when you look at that plasmac I think at Northwestern and at Middle Tennessee yeah why you know I mean Northwestern I get you play the brain bowl and all that stuff but the at Mill Tennessee like you're just you're just trying to make this hard uh and obviously manaz did not make this schedule because he just got there but right yeah some of those some of those potential pitfalls worry me for the Blue Devils but I am very interested to see what it all looks like year one for many ds me too and you know how much can Malik Murphy you know take this and magnify a times 10 you know if he's as talented as I think he is I just think there's some overall depth questions that is just going to have to be address in the offensive line I mean they they were outstanding but you lost some massive pieces right you know this offseason it's going to look different so we'll see it's gonna be fun to keep up with obviously we love Manny Diaz thinks he is one of the best and it's just going to take time uh but he said at media day we got older in a hurry I think Duke is one of those programs they're always going to be better when they're older and quite frankly they were able to address address some of that and we'll see I would love to to kind of eat my words on all this stuff but we keep going appreciate y'all's help thank you to cat making this happen and thank you to coach Manny Diaz for his time always great to to talk with them and and get them on the podcast here but we need your support go over to the podcast on YouTube subscribe jump in the comments tell us what you think does Duke have a heart of schedule as as we kind of think here and what do you think that win total is and of course the OG's over on Apple podcast great review subscribe we would greatly appreciate that but until next time we'll see y'all [Music]