Mississippi State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is on the Austin, Texas, campus right now meeting with Mack Brown about the open position at Texas, an Internet Longhorns site reported today.
Orangebloods.com is reporting the Mississippi State Sports Information Department did not comment on the situation
Brown began overhauling its coaching staff about a month ago and has started filling his high-profile vacancies.
Sunday, Kansas” Darrell Wyatt was hired as to be wide receivers coach and co-recruiting coordinator. Wyatt recruited Adrian Peterson to Oklahoma and coached Rashaun Woods at Oklahoma State. Alabama”s Bo Davis has agreed to take over as defensive tackles coach.
In the search for a defensive coordinator to replace Will Muschamp, Diaz is considered one of the nation”s rising stars among defensive coaches. In his first season with the Bulldogs after four years as the defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State, Diaz”s unit improved from 71st nationally in scoring defense to 22nd.
Mississippi State went from 5-7 in 2009 to 9-4 this season, finishing with a 52-14 trouncing of Michigan in the Gator Bowl.
Brown and the Longhorns are expected to fill their remaining vacancies this week. Talks with offensive coordinator candidates have not been confirmed, but UT is believed to be interested in Wisconsin”s Paul Chryst and Boise State”s Bryan Harsin.
Diaz began coaching in 1998 as a graduate assistant at Florida State. Since then, he”s coached linebackers and safeties at North Carolina State, was the defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee and just finished his first season at Mississippi State.
Diaz has been involved in nine bowl games during his 11 years at the collegiate level and played a major role for one of the country”s top-ranked defenses by coaching safeties in 2004 and 2005 and handling the linebackers in 2002 and 2003 for N.C. State.
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