Diaz official per SI

[cubswillwinitonedaydawg]

Source: La Tech DC Manny Diaz will be the next DC at Mississippi State.

ETA: that was a Pete Thamel tweet.

[CadaverDawg]

Woot

[Really Clark?]

What?!? How could Diaz consider coming back to work for Mullen? That makes no sense. He could go to WSU or is at least 5th on LSU board. I would wait for that before considering coming back to work for a meanie like Mullen.*****

[ShotgunDawg]

Good, there's always risk, but I think this is the least risky pick and the right fit.

I will be curious to see Diaz's contract, as that could tell us who had the leverage in this negotiation.

Will it be:

1. Manny: Dan you are lucky to get a guy like me
or
2. Dan: Manny, I turning an old restroom into your office, it will have no windows, and you will do whatever TF I tell you to and be happy about it. I am bailing you out.

Either way, I think MSU fans should be excited about this because Dan knows exactly what he is getting and what he is hiring. With Dan's hiring history, I think we should feel good about that.

I also think there's a really good chance that Manny stays for a while, as he knows the grass isn't greener. I always felt that Manny was a good fit with Dan, and feel like Manny will have matured and be an even better fit now.

[Sacrifice]

Alright Diaz, honeymoons over...Get off your ass and start crootin!!

[SouthMsDawg]

Diaz inability to recruit concerns me the most.

[coastdoglover]

Diaz inability to recruit concerns me the most.

Hell, he aint that bad and if he can coach, we will be better off. I am happy with the hire.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Diaz inability to recruit concerns me the most.

Diaz isn't a great recruiter but he's not a terrible recruiter by any means. I think Manny can be a solid recruiter I just think he doesn't like it. He's young so I'm sure he can relate to it. I think he'll be adequate.

Looking back at his time at Texas. The 2011 class where he left MSU & went to Texas it doesn't list him as a primary for anybody. The 2012 class his 1st year he was the primary for 1 recruit a 3* DE Bryce Cottrell. In the 2013 class he was the primary for 3 guys. 5* Darius James, 4* LB Deoundrei Davis, & 3* ATH Naashon Hughes. I didn't bother to check on the guys he was the secondary recruiter for.

[DownwardDawg]

Diaz was a solid recruiter for us. We lost CJ Johnson when Diaz left. Besides, he's the best D coordinator we've had in a long time.

[Sacrifice]

I know one thing, if anybody mentions 1A and 1AAA defense to him. I hope hope he B slaps them silly and tells them to get the F out of his office...

[Op4isabitch]

Blah.

[Irondawg]

I don't mind the DC not being a primary recruiter as i don't want him spending his time texting, tweeting and kissing butt to 17 and 18 year old kids.

I want him figuring out how to have an elite defense and how to teach the guys he's got. Let him be the secondary on most of the guys he personally really likes and feels could be impact guys for him so he can try to sell himself and the system.

[Covercorner2]

I've always wondered what makes someone a great "recruiter."

[codeDawg]

All I can say is, meh. I don't think we screwed the pooch, but we didn't make any great leaps forward either. We will be slightly better defensively and about the same on the recruitment front. So.... meh.

[blacklistedbully]

Good, there's always risk, but I think this is the least risky pick and the right fit.

I will be curious to see Diaz's contract, as that could tell us who had the leverage in this negotiation.

Will it be:

1. Manny: Dan you are lucky to get a guy like me
or
2. Dan: Manny, I turning an old restroom into your office, it will have no windows, and you will do whatever TF I tell you to and be happy about it. I am bailing you out.

Either way, I think MSU fans should be excited about this because Dan knows exactly what he is getting and what he is hiring. With Dan's hiring history, I think we should feel good about that.

I also think there's a really good chance that Manny stays for a while, as he knows the grass isn't greener. I always felt that Manny was a good fit with Dan, and feel like Manny will have matured and be an even better fit now.

I don't think there's any question Dan was in the driver's seat on this one. NO WAY Diaz had leverage.

[ShotgunDawg]

I've always wondered what makes someone a great "recruiter."

I think it pretty much comes down to effort and being relatable. By effort, I don't just mean doing what you have to do, I actually mean being passionate about recruiting and willing to go the extra mile to get to know a prospect

[ShotgunDawg]

I don't think there's any question Dan was in the driver's seat on this one. NO WAY Diaz had leverage.

I agree that Dan had the leverage, but the contract will be interesting.

Huge buyout?

Is the pay fair for the position or did Dan b**& slap him?

It will just be interesting. My guess is that it falls in the middle where we don't have any clue.

[sandwolf]

I agree that Dan had the leverage, but the contract will be interesting.

Huge buyout?

Is the pay fair for the position or did Dan b**& slap him?

It will just be interesting. My guess is that it falls in the middle where we don't have any clue.

Of course the pay will be fair. If he is hired then he will be treated about like any other DC would be. You don't want your employees to be unhappy. No way that Mullen is stupid enough to bring in Diaz and then treat him unfairly, pretty much guaranteeing that he would jump ship as soon as possible.

[RougeDawg]

Diaz was a solid recruiter for us. We lost CJ Johnson when Diaz left. Besides, he's the best D coordinator we've had in a long time.

We didn't lose CJ because manny left. That just gave CJ an out excuse to cover up the Bear Signing Bonus.

[War Machine Dawg]

We didn't lose CJ because manny left. That just gave CJ an out excuse to cover up the Bear Signing Bonus.

^^^^This^^^^

[engie]

Why and when has our fanbase become so disillusioned with recruiting starz?

Someone give me a playcalling, decision-making DC in an offensive-minded program that is among nationally elite recruiters? Not as easy to come by as you probably think.

[yjnkdawg]

We didn't lose CJ because manny left. That just gave CJ an out excuse to cover up the Bear Signing Bonus.


This and that's was CJ's story and he is sticking to it.

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

Why and when has our fanbase become so disillusioned with recruiting starz?
Probably when we lost to the 2 good teams on our schedule...some additional O-Linemen and safeties with recruiting stars probably wouldn't have hurt to have.

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

We lost CJ Johnson when Diaz left.

White girlz mayne, white girlz...

[engie]

Probably when we lost to the 2 good teams on our schedule...some additional O-Linemen and safeties with recruiting stars probably wouldn't have hurt to have.

What about the 3 teams that run circles around us in recruiting and "talent level" that we bent over?

[Coach34]

What about the 3 teams that run circles around us in recruiting and "talent level" that we bent over?


yeah- funny that people seem to forget about Auburn, LSU, and A&M's starzzzz

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

What about the 3 teams that run circles around us in recruiting and "talent level" that we bent over?

IT was a perfect storm of catching teams when they were struggling or some big plays in games that went our way. Granted you could say that about any team in any season, but it was extremely true for us this season. LSU and Fournette hadn't gelled together yet and they had no QB to keep their defense off the field, aTm had some major drops early in our game and 3 INT's from a first year QB, and Aubarn could've been a completely different game if not for some fortunate interference calls. No one can say that we didn't catch the majority of the breaks early in the season that lead to some of the "blowouts".

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

yeah- funny that people seem to forget about Auburn, LSU, and A&M's starzzzz

what's funny is that it's easier to forget about the few "starzzz" we have on the team...who in the **** puts a 5*, once in a program player DT at backup?

[Really Clark?]

IT was a perfect storm of catching teams when they were struggling or some big plays in games that went our way. Granted you could say that about any team in any season, but it was extremely true for us this season. LSU and Fournette hadn't gelled together yet and they had no QB to keep their defense off the field, aTm had some major drops early in our game and 3 INT's from a first year QB, and Aubarn could've been a completely different game if not for some fortunate interference calls. No one can say that we didn't catch the majority of the breaks early in the season that lead to some of the "blowouts".

To play Devils advocate though, if you are using that logic then Alabama was very fortunate to beat us with the way the first half played out and getting fortunate turnovers. Using the logic you just used we should have won that game. And don't forget that the time it had been how long since a team won three straight games against top 10 teams. Yeah I know how they ended the year but we were a big reason that each one of them started to slip.

[SallyStansbury]

Coach Mullen deserves credit for some excellent coaching early in the season. And if it was Collins or Mullen or whomever the hell's sphincter that tightened up later in the year against better teams, that person deserves some blame. If we play like that, hyper-conservative, we damn well better have some better offensive linemen and safeties because with that game plan and talent level we didn't get it done.

I am overall pleased with the Diaz hire, in particular from the stats posted on this site, well done.

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

To play Devils advocate though, if you are using that logic then Alabama was very fortunate to beat us with the way the first half played out and getting fortunate turnovers. Using the logic you just used we should have won that game. And don't forget that the time it had been how long since a team won three straight games against top 10 teams. Yeah I know how they ended the year but we were a big reason that each one of them started to slip.

Good point, but didn't our Bama game play out a lot like the lsu game, just roles reversed? Bama was up on us by 19 before we even showed up and you can't tell me they weren't thinking they had it in the bag in the second half. Our late TD was nothing more than window dressing that kept us in the playoff discussion.

[Really Clark?]

Good point, but didn't our Bama game play out a lot like the lsu game, just roles reversed? Bama was up on us by 19 before we even showed up and you can't tell me they weren't thinking they had it in the bag in the second half. Our late TD was nothing more than window dressing that kept us in the playoff discussion.

And if we score just once in the red zone instead of turning it over, meaning we actually moved the ball on them, then that last score was not just window dressing. It wins the game. At the end of the day the Bama win was not a fluke just like our wins over LSU, A & M, and Auburn. You just can't cherry pick that kind of logic. It was not like Auburn last year having more than their share of last second victories. The games played are how they are played. Win or lose. We execute better for just 3 plays against UM we might win that game. But we didn't.

[FISHDAWG]

I'll take it ... and like it

[codeDawg]

Why and when has our fanbase become so disillusioned with recruiting starz?

Someone give me a playcalling, decision-making DC in an offensive-minded program that is among nationally elite recruiters? Not as easy to come by as you probably think.

My thinking is that there just aren't that many assistants in the country that you can consider elite recruiters in total, and almost of the guys that come to mind are on the offensive side of the ball. Orgeron was a chance to get a rare commodity in recruiting if we could figure out the playcalling side of things. It didn't work out for whatever reason. Maybe Townsend was going to get a promotion and he shit the bed in the Orange bowl. It doesn't matter now. We'll never know.

ETA: I'm not at all unhappy with Manny, just not really inspired by him. This was a safe hire. Sometimes safe is fine.

[RiverCityDawg]

IT was a perfect storm of catching teams when they were struggling or some big plays in games that went our way. Granted you could say that about any team in any season, but it was extremely true for us this season. LSU and Fournette hadn't gelled together yet and they had no QB to keep their defense off the field, aTm had some major drops early in our game and 3 INT's from a first year QB, and Aubarn could've been a completely different game if not for some fortunate interference calls. No one can say that we didn't catch the majority of the breaks early in the season that lead to some of the "blowouts".

LSU was fortunate Dak fumbled early in the second half and Dan called off the dogs too early, or else we would have won by 30. They hadn't gelled? They were undefeated and beat Wisconsin. TAMU was lucky we went to soft defense late in the game after it was WELL in hand. Auburn was lucky we GAVE them the ball with four turnovers in the 2nd quarter, otherwise we would have embarrassed them. "Fortunate" interference calls? I think you misspelled "accurate".

You can put "blowouts" in quotes to make them seem like they weren't, but the truth is they could have more easily been worse blowouts than actual close games.

[maroonmania]

This and that's was CJ's story and he is sticking to it.

Losing Hud most definitely hurt that particular recruiting class, losing Manny not so much.

[Coach34]

Good point, but didn't our Bama game play out a lot like the lsu game, just roles reversed? Bama was up on us by 19 before we even showed up and you can't tell me they weren't thinking they had it in the bag in the second half. Our late TD was nothing more than window dressing that kept us in the playoff discussion.

We were down 19-13 with 5:00 mins left in the game- that in now way played out like the LSU game

[gravedigger]

Why and when has our fanbase become so disillusioned with recruiting starz?

Someone give me a playcalling, decision-making DC in an offensive-minded program that is among nationally elite recruiters? Not as easy to come by as you probably think.

Its the reault of not understanding inductive logic. More common than most think. They think that stars are valid because top teams often have lot of them. Fact is those top teams have the best coaches. And whats more, those stars are assigned after the website experts like yancy find out who the top teams are targeting.

Florida's number one in the country out of high school qb is transferrimg to la tech after a very below standard 3 years. There ia no way on earth that can happen if evaluators are really qualified to do their job.

Bad data results meaningless output.
5 star players are products of great programs. Not the other way around.

[BiscuitEater]

Either way, I think MSU fans should be excited about this because Dan knows exactly what he is getting and what he is hiring. With Dan's hiring history, I think we should feel good about that.

Held a gun to Diaz's head and forced him to come back to State. He is coming 'cause he actually WANTS to come back to State. He has no allusions ... he has worked for Mullen before and KNOWS what to expect.

I'm EXCITED he had decided to come back!

[engie]

My thinking is that there just aren't that many assistants in the country that you can consider elite recruiters in total, and almost of the guys that come to mind are on the offensive side of the ball. Orgeron was a chance to get a rare commodity in recruiting if we could figure out the playcalling side of things. It didn't work out for whatever reason. Maybe Townsend was going to get a promotion and he shit the bed in the Orange bowl. It doesn't matter now. We'll never know.

ETA: I'm not at all unhappy with Manny, just not really inspired by him. This was a safe hire. Sometimes safe is fine.

Orgeron is an elite recruiter. No one questions that. So was Tim Brewster.

I get people wanting us to hire Ogre. I would have and still would love to have him. I just don't get people wanting him as a defensive coordinator and justifying him as a LB coach. Or wanting to throw that spot against the wall for recruiting purposes. That's the one spot on our whole staff that recruiting is trivial for us. The one spot imperative to have an X's and O's guy given Mullen's offensive specialty. Almost none of the best DCs in the country are elite recruiters. But they are generally on staffs surrounded by elite recruiters.