DURHAM, N.C. — Within Manny Diaz’s new office here at Duke University, a commemorative football sits emblazoned with the score of a football game:
Duke 45.
Miami 21.
On Oct. 22, 2022, 10 months after the Miami Hurricanes fired Diaz as coach, the Duke Blue Devils beat them in a stunner at Hard Rock Stadium. Diaz wasn’t a part of either program then. In fact, he was on the staff at Penn State.
And, yet, that football sits in his new office.
It makes little sense until the backstory is revealed.