Bob Diaco
| Sport(s) | American football |
|---|---|
| Current position | |
| Title | Assistant Coach |
| Team | Oklahoma |
| Biographical details | |
| Born |
February 19, 1973 Cedar Grove, New Jersey |
| Alma mater | Iowa |
| Playing career | |
| 1992–1995 | Iowa |
| Position(s) | Linebacker |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 1996–1997 | Iowa (GA) |
| 1999–2000 | Western Illinois (RB/ST) |
| 2001 | Eastern Michigan (RB/ST) |
| 2002 | Eastern Michigan (LB/ST) |
| 2003 | Eastern Michigan (OLB/ST) |
| 2004 | Western Michigan (LB/ST) |
| 2005 | Central Michigan (co-DC/LB) |
| 2006–2008 | Virginia (LB/ST) |
| 2009 | Cincinnati (DC/ILB) |
| 2010–2011 | Notre Dame (DC/ILB) |
| 2012–2013 | Notre Dame (AHC/DC/LB) |
| 2014–2016 | Connecticut |
| 2017 | Nebraska (DC) |
| 2018–present | Oklahoma (DA/OLB) |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 11–26 |
| Bowls | 0–1 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Awards | |
| Broyles Award (2012) | |
Robert Albert Diaco (born February 19, 1973) is a former American football coach and former player. He currently serves as the linebackers coach at the University of Oklahoma.
Prior to Oklahoma, he was the head coach at Connecticut, with stops as an assistant at Western Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Central Michigan, Virginia, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, and Nebraska. Diaco played college football at Iowa.
Playing career
Diaco played college football at the University of Iowa, under head coach Hayden Fry, who described Diaco as "extremely tough, very intelligent".[1] He was a two-time All-Big Ten selection as a linebacker and was named the team’s co-MVP in 1995, starting in all 23 games over his junior and senior seasons. Diaco was teammates with Mike Devlin, Scott Slutzker, Danan Hughes, and Mike Wells.
Coaching career
Diaco began his coaching career in 1996 as a graduate assistant at Iowa. From 2001 to 2004, Diaco was an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan, coaching running backs, linebackers, and special teams. He became the linebackers and special teams coach at Virginia in 2006, coaching under Al Groh.
University of Cincinnati
Diaco served as the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati in 2009 under Brian Kelly. UC finished the year 44th in the NCAA's Division I-A in points allowed per game (23.1) and 23rd in sacks (37.0).
University of Notre Dame
Diaco followed Brian Kelly to Notre Dame in 2010, taking the same position as defensive coordinator.[2] In 2012, Notre Dame finished the year ranked 2nd in points allowed per game (12.8) and appeared in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game. He was awarded the Broyles Award, which recognizes the top assistant coach in college football.[3]
University of Connecticut
In December 2013, Diaco agreed to become the head coach at the University of Connecticut, replacing interim coach T.J. Weist (who replace Paul Pasquoloni), and was replaced at Notre Dame by Brian VanGorder.
While at Connecticut, Diaco coined the term "Civil Conflict" to describe games between Connecticut and the University of Central Florida. This one-way declaration of a "rivalry" was first derided and then ignored by UCF.[4][5]
In 2015, Diaco's Huskies beat 10-0 Houston at Rentschler Field to make the Huskies bowl-eligible for the first time since Edsall left. At this point many UConn fans believed that Diaco was the future of the program after taking a 2-10 team to a bowl game the next year.
After an exciting 2015, the Huskies were projected to be bowl-eligible in 2016, but hope quickly faded after a weak win over FCS Maine, and a botched goal-to-go situation that would have put the Huskies at 2-0. The Huskies traveled to Houston at 2-2, but got blown out by Houston. UConn the went on to beat Cincinnati 20-9, but then lose out to finish 3-9.
Connecticut fired Diaco on December 26, 2016, effective January 2, 2017. His buyout, renegotiated after the 2015 season, was $3.4 million. Media reports indicated that Diaco's refusal to consider former Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill for the position of offensive coordinator may have led to his termination.[6] Connecticut hired former head coach Randy Edsall to replace Diaco.[7] He finished his head coaching career at the University of Connecticut as having the worst winning percentage amongst Huskies' head coaches since 1920.
University of Nebraska
In 2017, head coach Mike Riley hired Diaco to serve as the defensive coordinator at Nebraska. He was fired along with Riley and most other assistant coaches on November 25, 2017 after the Cornhuskers finished 4-8.[8]
University of Oklahoma
Diaco joined the University of Oklahoma as a defensive analyst on March 17, 2018.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connecticut Huskies (American Athletic Conference) (2014–2016) | |||||||||
| 2014 | Connecticut | 2–10 | 1–7 | T–10th | |||||
| 2015 | Connecticut | 6–7 | 4–4 | T–3rd (East) | L St. Petersburg | ||||
| 2016 | Connecticut | 3–9 | 1–7 | T–4th (East) | |||||
| Connecticut: | 11–26 | 6–18 | |||||||
| Total: | 11–26 | ||||||||
References
- ↑ Diaco was Fry's bell cow at Iowa Archived March 17, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Kaipust, Rich (January 15, 2017). "Coach who worked with Bob Diaco gives him high marks". Omaha.com. Terry Kroeger.
- ↑ Bob Diaco Captures Broyles Award As Nation's Top Assistant Coach
- ↑ Sherman, Rodger (June 1, 2015). "UConn-UCF's new 'Civil Conflict' rivalry trophy is already the country's worst". SBNation.com. Vox Media.
- ↑ Fuller, Jim (October 22, 2016). "UConn coach Bob Diaco says loss to UCF 'sickening'". The Middletown Press.
- ↑ Jacobs, Jeff (December 28, 2016). "Jeff Jacobs: UConn AD Benedict Reverses Field, Decides Diaco Has To Go". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016.
- ↑ Anthony, Mike (December 28, 2016). "Randy Edsall Back At UConn: Coach Says He Should Have Done Things Differently When He Left". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016.
- ↑ Kaipust, Rich (January 15, 2017). "Coach who worked with Bob Diaco gives him high marks". Omaha.com. Terry Kroeger.