Duke's Manny Diaz Immediately Linked to Florida State After Sunday's Firing

Duke Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz was an early name in college football circles to be a popular candidate for more prestigious Power 4 programs looking for new leadership before 2027. 

On Sunday, the Florida State Seminoles made a move that caught nobody by surprise, firing head coach Mike Norvell after the program lost to Clemson on Saturday night to fall to 3–5 overall. 

Pete Nakos of On3 put Diaz on a shortlist of likely candidates for the Noles. Diaz is 45–26 as a head coach at Miami and Duke. The Blue Devils are 6–2, which is impressive after losing quarterback Darian Mensah and receiver Cooper Barkate in the transfer portal just weeks after winning the ACC championship.

Sources told Nakos that the Florida State job is one that Diaz wants. He's an FSU alum and got his coaching start with the Noles as a graduate assistant in 1998 under legendary head coach Bobby Bowden.

One thing to note about Diaz and Florida State here: the Noles are expected to be on the hook for approximately $50 million for Norvell's buyout. That means resources for the next head coach might be constrained for a few years. 

Diaz has been able to manage Duke well with one of the lower roster budgets in the ACC. He could be the type of candidate that the Seminoles go after, knowing he can do more with less. 

Diaz didn't get the most out of Miami. However, he appears to have learned from his shortcomings with the Hurricanes. He could wind up getting the last laugh on the matter if he were to take over at FSU and build a program that could beat Miami, the kings of the ACC right now.

Given the budget constraints that Duke has, it's hard for the program to retain talented players and coaches. Head coach Mike Elko used his success with the Blue Devils to get the Texas A&M job in the SEC. 

Mensah took his talents to South Beach.

With that being said, Duke should wind up being an attractive option to a coach looking to prove himself if Diaz makes the jump to a school like Florida State. It's not realistic to believe Diaz plans to retire with the Blue Devils.

If Duke wants to keep Diaz, the program would likely have to give him elite resources to compete with the top teams in the ACC.