Louisiana Tech head football coach Skip Holtz announced the hiring of Bob Diaco as the new defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs, the program officially announced on Jan. 24, 2019.
Diaco comes to Louisiana Tech with more than 20 years of coaching experience, including a three-year stint as the head coach at UConn, and a proven track record of success at the highest level. Additionally, he has served as defensive coordinator at Nebraska, Notre Dame, Cincinnati and Central Michigan over the course of his career.
“We are excited that somebody with this amount of talent, abilities and background is joining our program,” Holtz said. “I think Bob brings an unbelievable amount of knowledge, experience and energy to our football team and we are excited to have someone with of his caliber on board.”
Most recently, Diaco spent the 2018 season as a defensive analyst at Oklahoma where he helped guide the Sooners to a Big 12 championship and an appearance in the Orange Ball as part of the College Football Playoff. The previous season, Diaco served as the defensive coordinator and linebacker coach at the University of Nebraska. Diaco joined the staff at Nebraska after three seasons as the head coach at the University of Connecticut.
In 2015, the Connecticut defense was the key to the Huskies winning three of their final four regular-season games to reach the St. Petersburg Bowl. Diaco was the first head coach in UConn history to take the Huskies to postseason play just two years into their tenure. The Husky defense led the American Athletic Conference in total defense in 2015, ranked 15th nationally in scoring defense (19.5 ppg) and was seventh in the country in red zone defense.
The 2015 St. Petersburg Bowl marked the ninth postseason game for Diaco as a coach, including the 2012 BCS National Championship Game and the 2010 Sugar Bowl. He also played in three bowl games as an All-Big Ten linebacker at Iowa in the mid-1990s.
From 2010 to 2013, Diaco was regarded as one of the nation’s top defensive coordinators during his time at Notre Dame when he led the Irish defense under Head Coach Brian Kelly. During his time at Notre Dame, Diaco helped lead the Irish to multiple bowl appearances, including the 2012 national championship game, while also being named the winner of the Broyles Award (nation’s top assistant coach) in 2012 and a semifinalist in 2011. In addition to his defensive coordinator role, Diaco also held the title of assistant head coach in 2012 and 2013.
In 2012, Diaco’s Irish defense ranked among the top 10 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 12 different categories as the school played in the BCS National Championship Game and finished with a 12-1 record.
The defense led the way to the BCS title game in 2012, as Diaco’s unit ranked second in the FBS in scoring defense allowing just 12.77 points per game. Notre Dame only allowed 15 offensive touchdowns, four fewer than any other FBS school. The Irish held six opponents without an offensive touchdown and nine opponents to one or fewer offensive touchdown.
During his four seasons in South Bend, the Fighting Irish defense allowed an average of 19.08 points per game, which ranked as the ninth-best average over that time among FBS programs.
Diaco's 2011 defense ranked in the top 30 in both scoring defense (24th, 20.7) and total defense (30th, 344.7). In his first season at Notre Dame in 2010, Diaco switched defensive schemes from a blitzing 4-3 defense the Irish utilized in 2009 and installed a 3-4 no-crease defense. Diaco's defense became immediately better as the Irish allowed 5.69 fewer points per game and 40.5 fewer yards per game in 2010 than 2009.
Before his four-year run at Notre Dame, Diaco spent one season as the defensive coordinator on Brian Kelly’s Cincinnati staff in 2009, helping the Bearcats to a trip to the Sugar Bowl. He also served as the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator at Virginia from 2006 to 2008.
A native of Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Diaco began his coaching career in 1996 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, the University of Iowa. He then served on the staffs at Western Illinois (1999-2000) as the special teams coordinator and running backs coach, Eastern Michigan (2001-2003) working with the same positions and Central Michigan (2005) as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.
Diaco was a two-time All-Big Ten selection at Iowa as a linebacker under Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry and was named the team's co-MVP in 1995, while also starting in all 23 games over his junior and senior seasons.
Diaco and his wife, Julia, have two sons, Angelo and Michael, and a daughter, Josephine.
