December 4, 2025 • 8 mins
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Five o'clockers, welcome in. Good to have you Sports Radio
ninety two to seven WFNZ emanating live from the Chandler
Volta Studios to Carolina's personal injury lawyers. One call, that's
all go to CV Injury law dot com. Still plenty
to get to here in the five o'clock hour, But
as you know, as we've discussed already, the ACC Football
title game in Bank of America Stadium is coming up
(00:21):
in just over forty eight hours. Virginia and Duke we've
talked all about it and has advertised. It's time to
welcome in and welcome back the head football coach of
the Duke Blue Devils, Manny Diaz, back for a return
visit here on the show. Coach, It's good to have
you back. Congrats on making it to the title game.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thank you. Excited to get down to Charlotte and should
be a great weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
All right. Yesterday National Signing Day, you signed fourteen players
on the early signing day, including three from right here
in North Carolina. What did you prioritize in this class
and how does this group help to elevate the roster
moving forward?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
It was a really small class for us. We went
big last year. We didn't have very many scholarships to
give the high school guys, so that allowsus be very
selective and they continue to look for the type of
guys that really you know, feed into our culture here
and and you know, like every coach to the coritter,
you're going to say, we really like what we signed.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
There was a quote from you yesterday where I believe
you said that the Duke football brand is now attached
to winning again. How maybe have you seen that reflected
in the locker room and around campus and especially on
the recruiting trail.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, you got to think about it now. I mean,
like I said, these kids that were have been in
high school for the last four years. All they know
is is Duke is winning, and so now they want
to really be a part of that. So it just changes.
You know, We've always been to school where you know
that the kids know they can get a lead academics
in life after football. But now the idea that you
can compete for championships and and and get prepared for
(01:44):
the National Football League, that's you know, that's the total package.
All right.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
So yesterday on the show, I talked to Michael Strickland
the senior Associate commissioner for ACC Football, and I brought
up the uh somewhat convoluted tiebreaker rule that got you
into the title game this Saturday. You know, he said
the conference would likely address that, take an additional look
at that this upcoming off season. Clearly there's been criticism
of how you got into the game. What are your
thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Well, it's it's funny to me. It's the most objective way, right, right,
once there's no head to head, right, I mean, the
most objective way is who played the hardest schedule? Right,
all the teams that have six wins, our six were
against the tougher teams than anybody else is six. So
it's so bizarre to me. We live in a world
where everybody complains about the subjective rankings, right, We're all
(02:28):
gonna yelling scream about the CFP rankings, and here in
a league we have as much as possible, we try
to make it as objective as possible. And that objective
measure pointed towards Duke, which means that our guys aren't it.
We won our six games against the tougher teams, then
anybody else won our six games. So any way you
change a tie break or someone's gonna fuss. But to me,
(02:48):
the more we make it about you know, who did
what on the field, I think the better off we
all are.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Okay, I'm an ACC guy, I'm an ACC alumnus root
for the conference by and large, so I can be
a little defensive of this conference too, But what do
you think of the way that the ACC is being
discussed week by week, you know, by the committee, by
the media, and the folks in the immediate orbit of
this college football playoff decision making.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, for sure doesn't get the respected deserves. I've said it.
Miami should be in the playoffs. I don't know why
Miami's you know, again, we talk about their losses to
Louisville and SMU as if those are two terrible teams,
two outstanding teams. And you know, it's just simple to me,
the body of work across this league. It's a very
(03:32):
strong league. And as I mentioned, the as champion champion
will be in the collegeable playoffs.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Well, you've said publicly that if Duke wins the ACC championship,
your team belongs in the college football playoff. If you
could make that pitch personally, to the committee, like, what
do you want them what do you want people to
know about or understand about who you played, how you
played in the strength of your schedule.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Saturday will be our tenth eligible opponent that we've played against, right,
I mean even our losses are a team with ten wins,
ten wins, nine wins, nine wins and eight wins. We've
played a very very difficult schedule. No one else who's
played as many Bowl teams as we have is even
Bowl eligible. There's only five teams that played nine Bow
eligible teams or more. The rest of them are not
even Bowl eligible. And so to have a quality win,
(04:17):
which we would be of course by what you're suggesting
on Saturday, would be the quality win those are. Those
are just wins better than anybody in the other group
of five conferences would be able to match. And I've
got a lot of respect for those teams and their
coaches and how they do it. But you know, you
go six to two in this league, you've done something.
(04:38):
You win a championship game, you've really done something, and
that's just you know, that's that's that's what, that's what
it's all about.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Manny Diaz, Head Football coach Duke Blue Devils in the
ACC title game on Saturday here with us on the
hot line. You know, this playoff is supposed to reward
champions and strong scheduling. How important is it for you know,
college football long term? The teams like yours, who you know,
as I'm sure you argue, didn't duck anybody, aren't punished
for playing strong schedules, for playing real competition.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, it's immensely important that the champions are awarded. The
only thing, again that we have an objective measure of
is conference champions. Everything else is a beauty pageant. So
this ninety three team better than that ten and two
team and whatever. So the fairest competition we still have
right now is conference leagues. Unfortunately, they've gotten so big
you're gonna lead to tiebreakers like what we have. And
(05:24):
that's why we've got to it's got to be more
about conference champions, about more about who comes out of
the conferences, and less about what committees decide.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
You've mentioned already a couple of times the need for
improved execution against Virginia this time right based on the
last meeting they got to win. What are those biggest
adjustments that you that you need to make this time
around to flip that result in the title game.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
On offense, we have to run the ball better. We
got to play better up front. They really did a
good job against our front. And then and then defensively,
it's just third downs. This is an elite third down offense.
We've got them into many, many third downs. But you know, again,
Morris is an outstanding quarterback and they were able to
stay on the field and control the game with their offense.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
As a lot of coaches would like, it seems like
your team is coming together over the last month. What
is it you like the most, not only about the
way you've played overall, but the way your locker room
is operating. Practice is going day by day.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
What I like is we're learning. We're learning how to
win on the stage. We're learning how to win these
type of games. We're learning how to be just be
ourselves and trust ourselves in these environments. I keep saying,
we want do to be a program that when the
other team plays well, we still have a chance to win.
We don't need our party to mess it up. And
that's a learned skill. And I'm really proud of our
(06:36):
leadership of persevering through what we did through this year.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
So you're in the title game. You've been talking about
this since the summer, since training camp. This was the
goal probably on the wall somewhere. Football teams talk about
wanting to go one to zero each week. Everything's the same.
It's got to be the same preparation, the same process,
all those things. But it is a title game. Any
different messaging, any different way you're framing things for your
team this week, how do you mentally get them prepared
for this opportunity.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
They know what's at stake, I mean, no different than
you know, we were playing for the bell two weeks ago.
We were playing for the state championship last week. So
they're aware of that, but they also know that it's
all about winning a football game and what wins the game,
you know, protecting the ball, taking it away, possession. Now
it's I mean running the ball, stopping the run. So
(07:22):
it's pretty simple. You know, you gotta you'll manage, You'll
be aware of the emotions, but then it's just a
football game after that.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
I've watched a lot of your games this year. I've
seen a lot of your players make big plays. But
as the coach seeing them every day. Who's made the
biggest strites? Who are those players you point to us
having the biggest year in terms of development.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Well, we've had some you know baptism by fire. Defensively
this year, we've had a lot of young guys that
have stepped up for us and to play some roles.
So been proud of them in that regard. You know,
Luken or God jumping in a middle linebacker at the
injury of Nick Morris has been one of our stories
of our season.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Head football coach Duke Blue Devils with us. They're in
the title game Saturday night, Bank of America Stadium against
the Wahoos and looking.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Forward to thanks for having me on. Excited to get
down there.
Five o'clockers, welcome in. Good to have you Sports Radio
ninety two to seven WFNZ emanating live from the Chandler
Volta Studios to Carolina's personal injury lawyers. One call, that's
all go to CV Injury law dot com. Still plenty
to get to here in the five o'clock hour, But
as you know, as we've discussed already, the ACC Football
title game in Bank of America Stadium is coming up
(00:21):
in just over forty eight hours. Virginia and Duke we've
talked all about it and has advertised. It's time to
welcome in and welcome back the head football coach of
the Duke Blue Devils, Manny Diaz, back for a return
visit here on the show. Coach, It's good to have
you back. Congrats on making it to the title game.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Thank you. Excited to get down to Charlotte and should
be a great weekend.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
All right. Yesterday National Signing Day, you signed fourteen players
on the early signing day, including three from right here
in North Carolina. What did you prioritize in this class
and how does this group help to elevate the roster
moving forward?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
It was a really small class for us. We went
big last year. We didn't have very many scholarships to
give the high school guys, so that allowsus be very
selective and they continue to look for the type of
guys that really you know, feed into our culture here
and and you know, like every coach to the coritter,
you're going to say, we really like what we signed.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
There was a quote from you yesterday where I believe
you said that the Duke football brand is now attached
to winning again. How maybe have you seen that reflected
in the locker room and around campus and especially on
the recruiting trail.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
Well, you got to think about it now. I mean,
like I said, these kids that were have been in
high school for the last four years. All they know
is is Duke is winning, and so now they want
to really be a part of that. So it just changes.
You know, We've always been to school where you know
that the kids know they can get a lead academics
in life after football. But now the idea that you
can compete for championships and and and get prepared for
(01:44):
the National Football League, that's you know, that's the total package.
All right.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
So yesterday on the show, I talked to Michael Strickland
the senior Associate commissioner for ACC Football, and I brought
up the uh somewhat convoluted tiebreaker rule that got you
into the title game this Saturday. You know, he said
the conference would likely address that, take an additional look
at that this upcoming off season. Clearly there's been criticism
of how you got into the game. What are your
thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Well, it's it's funny to me. It's the most objective way, right, right,
once there's no head to head, right, I mean, the
most objective way is who played the hardest schedule? Right,
all the teams that have six wins, our six were
against the tougher teams than anybody else is six. So
it's so bizarre to me. We live in a world
where everybody complains about the subjective rankings, right, We're all
(02:28):
gonna yelling scream about the CFP rankings, and here in
a league we have as much as possible, we try
to make it as objective as possible. And that objective
measure pointed towards Duke, which means that our guys aren't it.
We won our six games against the tougher teams, then
anybody else won our six games. So any way you
change a tie break or someone's gonna fuss. But to me,
(02:48):
the more we make it about you know, who did
what on the field, I think the better off we
all are.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Okay, I'm an ACC guy, I'm an ACC alumnus root
for the conference by and large, so I can be
a little defensive of this conference too, But what do
you think of the way that the ACC is being
discussed week by week, you know, by the committee, by
the media, and the folks in the immediate orbit of
this college football playoff decision making.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Yeah, for sure doesn't get the respected deserves. I've said it.
Miami should be in the playoffs. I don't know why
Miami's you know, again, we talk about their losses to
Louisville and SMU as if those are two terrible teams,
two outstanding teams. And you know, it's just simple to me,
the body of work across this league. It's a very
(03:32):
strong league. And as I mentioned, the as champion champion
will be in the collegeable playoffs.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Well, you've said publicly that if Duke wins the ACC championship,
your team belongs in the college football playoff. If you
could make that pitch personally, to the committee, like, what
do you want them what do you want people to
know about or understand about who you played, how you
played in the strength of your schedule.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Saturday will be our tenth eligible opponent that we've played against, right,
I mean even our losses are a team with ten wins,
ten wins, nine wins, nine wins and eight wins. We've
played a very very difficult schedule. No one else who's
played as many Bowl teams as we have is even
Bowl eligible. There's only five teams that played nine Bow
eligible teams or more. The rest of them are not
even Bowl eligible. And so to have a quality win,
(04:17):
which we would be of course by what you're suggesting
on Saturday, would be the quality win those are. Those
are just wins better than anybody in the other group
of five conferences would be able to match. And I've
got a lot of respect for those teams and their
coaches and how they do it. But you know, you
go six to two in this league, you've done something.
(04:38):
You win a championship game, you've really done something, and
that's just you know, that's that's that's what, that's what
it's all about.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Manny Diaz, Head Football coach Duke Blue Devils in the
ACC title game on Saturday here with us on the
hot line. You know, this playoff is supposed to reward
champions and strong scheduling. How important is it for you know,
college football long term? The teams like yours, who you know,
as I'm sure you argue, didn't duck anybody, aren't punished
for playing strong schedules, for playing real competition.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Yeah, it's immensely important that the champions are awarded. The
only thing, again that we have an objective measure of
is conference champions. Everything else is a beauty pageant. So
this ninety three team better than that ten and two
team and whatever. So the fairest competition we still have
right now is conference leagues. Unfortunately, they've gotten so big
you're gonna lead to tiebreakers like what we have. And
(05:24):
that's why we've got to it's got to be more
about conference champions, about more about who comes out of
the conferences, and less about what committees decide.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
You've mentioned already a couple of times the need for
improved execution against Virginia this time right based on the
last meeting they got to win. What are those biggest
adjustments that you that you need to make this time
around to flip that result in the title game.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
On offense, we have to run the ball better. We
got to play better up front. They really did a
good job against our front. And then and then defensively,
it's just third downs. This is an elite third down offense.
We've got them into many, many third downs. But you know, again,
Morris is an outstanding quarterback and they were able to
stay on the field and control the game with their offense.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
As a lot of coaches would like, it seems like
your team is coming together over the last month. What
is it you like the most, not only about the
way you've played overall, but the way your locker room
is operating. Practice is going day by day.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
What I like is we're learning. We're learning how to
win on the stage. We're learning how to win these
type of games. We're learning how to be just be
ourselves and trust ourselves in these environments. I keep saying,
we want do to be a program that when the
other team plays well, we still have a chance to win.
We don't need our party to mess it up. And
that's a learned skill. And I'm really proud of our
(06:36):
leadership of persevering through what we did through this year.
Speaker 1 (06:39):
So you're in the title game. You've been talking about
this since the summer, since training camp. This was the
goal probably on the wall somewhere. Football teams talk about
wanting to go one to zero each week. Everything's the same.
It's got to be the same preparation, the same process,
all those things. But it is a title game. Any
different messaging, any different way you're framing things for your
team this week, how do you mentally get them prepared
for this opportunity.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
They know what's at stake, I mean, no different than
you know, we were playing for the bell two weeks ago.
We were playing for the state championship last week. So
they're aware of that, but they also know that it's
all about winning a football game and what wins the game,
you know, protecting the ball, taking it away, possession. Now
it's I mean running the ball, stopping the run. So
(07:22):
it's pretty simple. You know, you gotta you'll manage, You'll
be aware of the emotions, but then it's just a
football game after that.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
I've watched a lot of your games this year. I've
seen a lot of your players make big plays. But
as the coach seeing them every day. Who's made the
biggest strites? Who are those players you point to us
having the biggest year in terms of development.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Well, we've had some you know baptism by fire. Defensively
this year, we've had a lot of young guys that
have stepped up for us and to play some roles.
So been proud of them in that regard. You know,
Luken or God jumping in a middle linebacker at the
injury of Nick Morris has been one of our stories
of our season.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Head football coach Duke Blue Devils with us. They're in
the title game Saturday night, Bank of America Stadium against
the Wahoos and looking.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
Forward to thanks for having me on. Excited to get
down there.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.