Q&A – Manny Diaz

Manny Diaz is a player’s coach. He’s a guy who laces up his cleats, gets in the trenches with his players, and illustrates what he wants his guys to do and where he wants them to go. Diaz’s hands-on approach gives him a boots-on-the-ground perspective, allowing him to look through the eyes of his defensive players. He can see the hole where a running back may burst through, or where a pass receiver could easily sweep across the field.

Diaz — who’s beginning his second year as the Longhorns’ defensive coordinator — is also a tinkerer. He likes to fine-tune his attack to his players’ strengths, and tweak his schemes to maximize field coverage.

During his first season at Texas, Diaz led the top defense in the Big 12, as the Longhorns ranked first in the conference in total, rushing and pass defense. Overall, the unit ranked 11th nationally in total defense

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and was sixth against the run despite facing six top-15 offenses. The defense shut out Kansas last year, holding the Jayhawks to 46 yards — the second fewest allowed in school history. Diaz’s defense also held all 13 of their opponents below their average total yards.

At this time last season, Diaz was evaluating his defense — a group lured to the 40 Acres by the previous coaching regime. He’s learned a lot about the players since then, and the ones that remain continue to revel in Diaz’s surprising coaching techniques.

Some believe that the Texas defense carried the team through most of the 2011 campaign. With just two seniors among the expected top 22 players, the defense will be on the clock for the same down-and-dirty duty this season.

Horns Illustrated sat down with Diaz after the team wrapped up spring drills and asked the 38-year-old coach about the Longhorns’ growth in the offseason and what fans should expect this fall.

How far has the team come, when compared to this time last year?

We’re more comfortable working together because we know each other as people. We’ve seen each other in game time situations, where everything is on the line. You have to go through those times to understand who you are coaching, and how they’ll respond to different situations.

We’re also further along with the scheme. The players have a better understanding of who they are, who we are and how we want to do things. We teach less of “what to do” than “how to do it,” and that has allowed us to improve. This season will be our second time through the league, and we’ll have a better feel for the teams we play and how we’ll match up.

Was the cupboard bare when you first arrived?

Absolutely not. We leaned on our experienced players, but even those guys went through a re-learning process. They became freshmen all over again. But from the middle of the season and onward, their confidence grew and that showed in the way they played on the field.

Four senior leaders are gone. How did the team adapt to the loss?

Leadership is a process. We have a team with only two seniors on defense and that’s a low number. We have a good class of juniors and sophomores, but their work over the summer will determine who’s worthy of a leadership role. Leadership isn’t about giving speeches — it’s a far cry from getting up and giving that Hollywood rah-rah talk. It’s about the work they do with [strength] coach [Bennie] Wylie, and working outside in the 100-degree heat. The leaders aren’t the ones out there doing the work. They’ll be the ones taking charge and pushing the others to get past the norm.

We have older guys who played well in the past — there’s no doubt about that. But we’re looking for guys whose work ethic and demeanor set an example for the rest of the team.

Who has stood out in the interior positions this year?

We have four guys who we feel good about, but those interior positions are all in flux. [Departed senior] Kheeston Randall was so far ahead of the other guys playing in the tackle position; no one could show their dominance. We’re still dealing with potential rather than reality at this point. Someone has to fill those shoes, not necessarily with the tackles Kheeston gave us, but at least with the push he provided and the force he became in the middle.

Ashton Dorsey and Desmond Jackson saw some playing time at that spot, and they improved during the spring. We’ll ask them to keep coming along and play hard. Chris Whaley keeps getting better with the additional time he’s investing into the position. He did a lot of good things for us last year, especially on third downs, and we want him to be an every-down player. JUCO transfer Brandon Moore gives us another big body in the middle and between those four guys they’ll line up and play. I’m waiting to see which ones will step up and be “the guy;” none of them have solidified themselves as a guy our opponents will have to account for in their game plans.

Tell me your thoughts on Reggie Wilson’s and Cedric Reed’s performance this spring.

The spring was beneficial for both guys. With Jackson [Jeffcoat] out [due to a left pectoral injury], Reggie and Cedric got a lot of reps.

You need eight defensive linemen to make an impact in this conference because the tempo of the game saps the pass rushers’ strength and stamina. You have to come at these offenses in waves, and the trick is having four guys on the same page and working together. That’s the important part of those guys getting the reps this spring — it prepares them to not get beat in their assignments.

Who will fill the linebacker position?

Every one of our returning starters — Jordan Hicks, Steve Edmond and Demarco Cobbs — is doing something different than they did last year. We’re still figuring out how to fulfill this role. This isn’t fantasy football where you put a guy into a spot because he’s a certain size or has a certain amount of speed.

We did well filling the run gaps last year, but you only have to be wrong a few times to lose a game. Getting the same level of efficiency as last year from this group will be a challenge. The new guys need to get over the learning curve.

Hicks will move from the SAM to the WILL linebacker spot and whoever takes over that position will need to be one of our top defensive players. Jordan has a knack for making plays, but this year he has to make those plays, not just have the knack to do so. He’s suddenly our most experienced linebacker.

Edmond will be in the middle, and we want our strength to be up the middle. In every sport, the shortest line between two points goes right up the middle, and we feel good about what Steve brings to that role. Cobbs did well in spring practice, but now he needs to show what he can do in the games.

Do you have concerns about the defensive backfield?

The guys were relatively untested going into last season, and I thought we were pretty good in the backfield. But if we’re pretty good this year, I’ll be disappointed. We’re not about being “pretty good”— the guys need to step up and take their play to the next level.

Mistakes made in the secondary usually turn into touchdowns for the opponent.

We have some experience back there now with Carrington [Byndom] and Quandre [Diggs] as starters at the corners, and with Kenny [Vaccaro] moving into a free safety role or a nickelback when we’re in the five DB set. We’ll ask the young guys to step up and improve, but everything needs to go according to plan or we’ll become ordinary in a big time hurry.

How did you sell the 22-player defensive philosophy to the team?

The great teams I’ve been a part of have players who understand when they need to sub themselves out of the game. Those athletes know that when they’re tired, the players on the sideline will play better than them at that moment in time. And that’s what we want — two players at each spot who can rotate to where they can give 100 percent when they’re in the game.

This isn’t Little League where everyone gets to play and eat orange slices at the end of the game. Our players need to earn their participation in the games.

Trust is also important — it’s the No. 1 word when it comes to defense. Every great defense has trust. Every player on this team had to earn the trust of the coaching staff and the trust of his teammates, and that rarely has anything to do with the player’s size, speed or highlight reel. Trust is about being in the right spot at the right time.

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