2014 saw the Mississippi State defense decline. The Dawgs were great at Scoring D, finishing in the Top 3 in the SEC. But State dropped to 12 in Total Defense and 14 in Passing Defense. Needless to say, many State fans weren't sad to see Geoff Collins bolt for the Defensive Coordinator job at Florida.
MSU head coach Dan Mullen would go back to the past and hire former MSU DC Manny Diaz, who coached the Dawg D in 2010 then left for Texas. The reaction to bringing back Diaz was mostly positive from State fans. It will be interesting to see how Diaz has grown in his time away from Starkville and how he will go about improving the defense.