This week · as of Wed Nov 4

6-2, won 2 straight, on track for 8-4 in the regular season.

Now

Career arc

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerFBS medianMiamiDukeFlorida StateFlorida StateNorth CarolinaNorth CarolinaBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelMiami when he took over: 54.7 (Power Program I), its final 2018 readingtook overMiami, 2019: 6-7, Power Program IIMiami, 2019: 6-7, Power Program II20196-7Miami, 2020: 8-3, Power Program II20208-3Miami, 2021: 7-5, Power Program IIMiami, 2021: 7-5, Power Program II20217-5-1.1Duke when he took over: 28.9 (National Program III), its final 2023 readingtook overDuke, 2024: 9-4, National Program IIIDuke, 2024: 9-4, National Program III20249-4Duke, 2025: 9-5, National Program II20259-5Duke, 2026: 6-2, National Program IIDuke, 2026: 6-2, National Program II20266-2+2.7best: 2021gray dashed: rival programs · ○ the program when he took over · Dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Bowls and playoffs: 1-3

Miami2019Independence BowlL 0-142020Cheez-It BowlL 34-37Duke2024Gator BowlL 20-522025Sun BowlW 42-39

This week Wed Nov 4

  • Last gameW 47-2 vs. Boston College Sat Oct 31
  • This season6-2 won 2 straight
  • On track for8-4 regular season
  • Nextat NC State Sat Nov 7
  • Stature51st of 138 FBS programs

What the result changed

  • Playoff odds 0.4% → 0.6% CFB Zeitgeist forecast, before and after

Saturday: at NC State

Sat Nov 7, 12:30 pm ET The CW · NC State is 4-4 · First meeting between Diaz and Todd Goebbel as head coaches · Duke’s chance to win: 68% (the site’s model)

His week

I'm really, really happy here”

Manny Diaz addresses links to Florida State job after Mike Norvell firing

On3 headline · Mon Nov 2
What an accomplishment”

Manny Diaz on Nate Sheppard's historic day

Duke Wire headline · Sun Nov 1

Dozens of stories this week →

The headlines, Nov 1–4 from many outlets

On the podcasts

Fans are feeling good about Duke

Asian femboy Can we make friends ?

What’s something about Duke you didn’t expect or know about until you got to campus? Senior. I’ve been looking at Duke and I’ve wanted to hear from you guys. Thanks

logic 150 - lindsay is she good

Fan mood · last 3 weeks · more upbeat than 3 in 4 FBS fan bases

Offense: 43rd of 138 per play. Defense: 54th.

Offense, per play43rdOffense, big plays24thDefense, per play54thDefense, opponents' starting field position9thWorstBest
Offense, per play43rd of 138Offense, big plays24th of 138Defense, per play54th of 138Defense, opponents' starting field position9th of 138WorstBest
Through 8 games. Each tick is an FBS team, adjusted for opponent strength (CFB Zeitgeist model); the dot is Duke. The other two rows are where Duke stands furthest from the middle. Early-season numbers move a lot.

4 games left

  1. Sat Nov 7at NC State (4-4)The CW68%
  2. Sat Nov 14at Miami (8-0)ABC20%
  3. Fri Nov 20vs. Clemson (5-3)ESPN61%
  4. Sat Nov 28at Wake Forest (7-1)27%

Percent: Duke’s chance to win, from the site’s model. Records are through today. Networks as announced; the rest are set closer to kickoff.

How the season got here

Where Duke stood among 138 FBS programs by stature after each game (1st is the highest; the CFB Zeitgeist ledger).

52nd58th64thPreseason58thTulane W 17-3Tulane W 17-3W 17-3Tulane58thIllinois W 31-27Illinois W 31-27W 31-27Illinois59thStanford W 35-7Stanford W 35-7W 35-7Stanford58thWilliam & Mary W 62-7William & Mary W 62-7W 62-7William & Mary58thGeorgia Tech L 25-28Georgia Tech L 25-28L 25-28Georgia Tech57thNorth Carolina L 20-24North Carolina L 20-24L 20-24North Carolina57thVirginia W 19-16Virginia W 19-16W 19-16Virginia56thBoston College W 47-2Boston College W 47-2W 47-2Boston College56th
  1. Oct 26–Nov 1W 47-2 vs. Boston College8 headlines · 54th of 138Manny Diaz Rightfully Upset With Decisions NCAA Has to Make Yahoo Sports
  2. Oct 19–25W 19-16 at Virginia8 headlines · 47th of 138Duke's Manny Diaz Linked to Elite Big Ten HC Job After Beating Virginia Yahoo Sports
  3. Oct 12–18L 20-24 vs. North Carolina19 headlines · 21st of 138Duke HC Manny Diaz’s transfer fee idea comes with an awkward catch Yahoo Sports
  4. Oct 5–11L 25-28 at Georgia Tech12 headlines · 33rd of 138Manny Diaz's opening comments after Duke's loss to Georgia Tech | Video Yahoo Sports
  5. Sep 28–Oct 4No game3 headlines · 70th of 138Manny Diaz Believes Nate Sheppard Playing as Good as Any Running Back Yahoo Sports
  6. Sep 21–27 · rebuiltW 62-7 vs. William & Mary6 headlines · 55th of 138Manny Diaz's Big Words on Duke's Nate Sheppard Outline Stardom Sports Illustrated

Each week as this page showed it at the time. Weeks marked rebuilt came before this page existed: they were built afterward from only what was known by the end of that week.

Watch the biggest plays from Duke’s games, ranked by how much each moved the chance to win.

Poach watch

This winter

9%chance he leaves this winter for a head-coaching job elsewhere, or an NFL coordinator jobSettled22nd-highest of 132 FBS head coaches
0%50%+

Our poach model, on his record so far, the win chances for every game he has left, his program, his pay and his background. Ranked against the 132 FBS head coaches this season. The zone words describe the market’s interest; none of them says he is leaving.

What drives his number

The biggest factors in his profile, each against the typical FBS head coach today. The games he has left are priced into the number, not listed here.

  • ▲ Higher
    His 3rd season at Duke
  • ▲ Higher
    His team is 6-2, outscoring opponents by 17.8 points a game
  • ▲ Higher
    Age 52 · neither at his alma mater nor in the state he was born in
How good is this number? It ranks a head coach who leaves for another head-coaching job ahead of one who stays 78 to 82% of the time, and its average came within a point of the share who actually left. What it can’t do

Tested on every FBS head coach from 2012 through 2025, each season scored by a model fit only on the seasons before it. From three games on, given one coach who left for a head-coaching job elsewhere or an NFL coordinator job and one who stayed, it ranked the one who left ahead 79 to 82% of the time; in a season’s first two games, 78%. Its average chance came within a point of the share who actually left. It counts a move a coach makes while he still holds the job; when his school ends it, that doesn’t count, even if another school then hires him.

  • The live number prices the games he has left with the power model’s ratings from this season. The test priced them with each team’s rating from the season before, because ratings made during past seasons were not kept, so this live version could not be replayed.
  • Programs new to FBS have no FBS record before this season in the data it reads, so their coaches are scored without one.
  • It is frozen: it learns nothing from 2026 until a deliberate refit.
  • A coach hired in December needs his background (age, alma mater, the state he was born in) added before his first game, or he shows as not rated.