Duke’s strong run under Manny Diaz may have put the Blue Devils in a familiar spot: trying to hold on to a coach who has suddenly become attractive to a bigger job.
Diaz has guided Duke to back-to-back nine-win seasons, including the program’s first outright ACC Championship in football since 1962, and the Blue Devils are 6-2 in 2026 despite a chaotic offseason. He has kept producing at a high level while working with one of the smallest football budgets in the Power Four, and that kind of success has started to resonate far beyond Durham.
Now the timing could get tricky. Florida State fired Mike Norvell on Sunday after the Seminoles fell to Clemson and dropped to 3-5. Norvell went 10-22 over his final 32 games after a 13-1 season in 2023, and the opening immediately sent the coaching carousel spinning.
ESPN named Diaz among the leading candidates for the Florida State job, alongside Wake Forest’s Jake Dickert, SMU’s Rhett Lashlee, Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, and former FSU coach Jimbo Fisher, among others.
The connection is obvious. Diaz is a Florida State alumnus, and his coaching career began in Tallahassee as a graduate assistant on Bobby Bowden’s staff in 1998. He was born in Miami and knows the state well, which only adds to the fit if Florida State decides to make him a serious target.
There’s also the question of what Diaz wants next. He already had a major job once at Miami, where he was eventually fired with a 21-15 overall record.
At Duke, he has stability and a setup that has allowed him to build something real. At a place like Florida State, the resources are bigger, but so are the expectations and the pressure.
Diaz is 52, and this may be one of the last chances he gets to chase a premier job in college football. Duke rewarded him with a contract extension over the offseason after the ACC title and another nine-win season, but the terms of that deal and any buyout are not public because Duke is a private school.
The Blue Devils have now seen this movie before. Mike Elko used Duke as a launchpad to Texas A&M, and Diaz has kept the momentum going since taking over. That success is exactly what makes the job appealing to rising coaches - and exactly what makes it hard to keep them once the bigger openings start appearing.
With Florida State now open, Duke may have a fight on its hands if Diaz becomes the focus of the search.
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Duke Is Forcing The Ranking Debate Fans Have Been Waiting For
Dukes 47-2 rout of Boston College did more than keep the momentum rolling, it pushed the Blue Devils into bowl eligibility for a program-record fifth straight season. The win also came with a little history attached, as running back Nate Sheppard set a Duke single-game mark with five rushing touchdowns while the defense completely shut down the Eagles.
At 6-2, Duke is still sitting just outside the latest US LBM Coaches Poll, and thats where the conversation gets more interesting. A team stacking results like this, especially with a defense that can blank an opponent and an offense that can put the game away so decisively, is starting to make the ranking debate feel less like a hypothetical and more like something the committee of voters will have to sort out soon. [Read more 🡒]
Manny Diaz Sent A Clear Message After Duke's Statement Win
Dukes defense set the tone in a statement win over Boston College, smothering a rushing attack that had been one of the more reliable parts of the Eagles offense and keeping it under 60 yards while the starters were on the field. On the other side, Nate Shepherd kept adding to a breakout season, scoring five touchdowns and setting a new school mark for touchdowns in a season with four games still left to play.
Afterward, Manny Diaz made it clear the performance was about more than one big afternoon. He praised the way Duke prepared for the game, but he also stressed the need to stay humble and keep the focus where it belongs with more important challenges still ahead. For a team that just turned in one of its most complete showings of the year, the message was simple: enjoy it, then move on quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Bill O'Brien Sends Clear Message After Boston College's Duke Collapse
A rough afternoon against Duke left Boston College with plenty to clean up, and the penalty count told much of the story. Bill OBrien didnt try to soften it afterward, calling it a rough day for everyone and taking responsibility for not getting his team prepared well enough for the moment.
The bigger message inside the locker room, though, was about how the Eagles respond from here. OBrien stressed unity over blame, making it clear there would be no finger-pointing as Boston College turns the page and starts getting ready for Florida State. [Read more 🡒]