Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco is the architect of the No. 1 scoring defense in the country, and was just given the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the country. So it's no surprise that his name keeps popping up as schools across the country search for a new head coach.
He was reportedly a finalist for the Boston College job, which went to Temple's Steve Addazio. He's also been mentioned in connection with the Wisconsin job, which opened when Bret Bielema left for Arkansas. Diaco said he's not currently involved in any direct talks to become a head coach.
"I would imagine that there are opportunities, but I'm not in direct conversation with anyone in the country," he said Monday. "I haven't personally heard from Wisconsin."
Diaco said he was "honored" by the attention, but insisted that his work in preparing for the Jan. 7 BCS championship game against Alabama won't suffer from the speculation.
"Not really, because of a few reasons," he said. "And I'm not trying to be coy in any way. One, I really believe that I have the best assistant coaching job in America. I love who I work for, I love where I work. I don't want to change who I work for, and I don't want to change where I work. So I love my job. Number 2, the commitment to the players and the daily process and the focus that shifts to Alabama -- it's already in our DNA to work that way. That just doesn't go away. We're focused on our preparation for Alabama and the national championship game. And I love the job that I have.
"At the same time, it's an honor to be in the conversation. I'm very proud of that and I'm honored by it. I don't run or hide from that. But it hasn't been a problem to manage any of that."
He was reportedly a finalist for the Boston College job, which went to Temple's Steve Addazio. He's also been mentioned in connection with the Wisconsin job, which opened when Bret Bielema left for Arkansas. Diaco said he's not currently involved in any direct talks to become a head coach.
"I would imagine that there are opportunities, but I'm not in direct conversation with anyone in the country," he said Monday. "I haven't personally heard from Wisconsin."
Diaco said he was "honored" by the attention, but insisted that his work in preparing for the Jan. 7 BCS championship game against Alabama won't suffer from the speculation.
"Not really, because of a few reasons," he said. "And I'm not trying to be coy in any way. One, I really believe that I have the best assistant coaching job in America. I love who I work for, I love where I work. I don't want to change who I work for, and I don't want to change where I work. So I love my job. Number 2, the commitment to the players and the daily process and the focus that shifts to Alabama -- it's already in our DNA to work that way. That just doesn't go away. We're focused on our preparation for Alabama and the national championship game. And I love the job that I have.
"At the same time, it's an honor to be in the conversation. I'm very proud of that and I'm honored by it. I don't run or hide from that. But it hasn't been a problem to manage any of that."
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