While the 2022 season led to frustrations offensively, it was anything but that for the defense. Manny Diaz’s group will go down as one of the better defensive units in Penn State history, which is saying something given how many elite defenses the Nittany Lions have had over the last five decades.
Unfortunately for James Franklin and Co., Diaz is back in the ACC as a head coach, this go-around coming at Duke. Franklin stuck with the “former head coach” formula for defensive coordinator, hiring former Indiana head man Tom Allen to take over for Diaz. While we’ll learn more about Allen throughout the spring and into the summer, he’s not a big philosophical change from Diaz.