Manny Diaz addresses Florida State rumors, says he’s ‘really, really happy’ at Duke

DURHAM, N.C. — Duke football's Manny Diaz addressed speculation linking him to the Florida State coaching vacancy on Monday, Nov. 2.

The Blue Devils third-year head coach has emerged as an early name connected to the opening after Florida State fired Mike Norvell on Nov. 1 midway through his seventh season.

"I addressed the team last night, I made it pretty clear, really, really happy here," Diaz said on Nov. 2. "Love being here, love going to work here every day. Anything we focus on other than finding a way to beat NC State is a distraction. Internet rumors are going to be Internet rumors. I told coaches and players we're the same, right? Everybody thinks our players are going to go somewhere else, right? So that's just the cost of success, which I'd rather have than the alternative.”

Diaz said he brought the rumors up with his team at the end of practice Sunday.

“We're a big believer, we talk about the elephant in the room in our program, things maybe people don't want to talk about,” Diaz said. “So if they're thinking about it, might as well talk about it.”

It's not the first time Diaz has dealt with speculation during his time in Durham. His name was linked to the Penn State opening last year.

"It's the same thing we talked about last year, right?" Diaz said. "Last year my bag was packed going to Penn State."

A native of Miami, Diaz graduated from Florida State with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1995. He began his coaching career at his alma mater as a graduate assistant (1998-99) working under head coach Bobby Bowden. Diaz was on Florida State's staff for its 1999 national championship.

Diaz has been at Duke since 2024 and has a 24-11 record with the Blue Devils, including the 2025 ACC championship and consecutive nine-win seasons in 2024 and 2025. Duke is 6-2 overall and bowl eligible entering November after a 47-2 win over Boston College.

Duke plays NC State on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@usatodayco.com or follow her @annaesnydr on X.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Manny Diaz addresses Florida State rumors, says he’s ‘really, really happy’ at Duke