Robert Albert Diaco (born February 19, 1973) is an American football coach and a former

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

who is the defensive line coach for the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL). He played college football at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 col ...

for coach

Hayden Fry John Hayden Fry (February 28, 1929 – December 17, 2019) was an American college football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Southern Methodist University (SMU) from 1962 to 1972, North Texas State University—now known ...

from 1992 to 1995. He then served as the head coach of the

UConn Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's foo ...

(2014–2016). Diaco was born in

Cedar Grove, New Jersey Cedar Grove is a township in north central Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 12,411, reflecting an increase of 111 (+0.9%) from the 12,300 counted in the 2000 Census, w ...

. He attended Cedar Grove High School. After graduation from high school in Cedar Grove in 1992, Diaco enrolled at the

and played linebacker for the Hawkeyes, starting for two seasons. As a senior in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

, he led Iowa to the

1995 Sun Bowl The 1995 Sun Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 29, 1995 at the Sun Bowl (stadium), Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. The game featured the 1995 Iowa Hawkeyes football team, Iowa Hawkeyes and the 1995 Washington Huskies football ...

and was a two-time All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

selection. He was previously an assistant at Western Illinois,

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, Notre Dame,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

, Oklahoma,

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

and Purdue.

Playing career

Diaco played college football at the

, under head coach

, who described Diaco as "extremely tough, very intelligent". 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 Scott Lawrence Slutzker (born December 20, 1972) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the third round (82nd pick) of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played his college footb ...

Danan Hughes Robert Danan Hughes (born December 11, 1970) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League. Hughes is a football analyst and commentates the weekly Missouri Valley Football Conference Game of the Week. H ...

, 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 Albert Michael Groh II (born July 13, 1944) is an American football analyst and former player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Wake Forest University from 1981 to 1986 and at the University of Virginia from 2001 to 2009, compil ...

Cincinnati

Diaco served as the defensive coordinator at Cincinnati in 2009 under Brian Kelly. Cincinnati finished the year ranked 44th in

NCAA Division I-A The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

in points allowed per game (23.1) and 23rd in sacks (37.0).

Notre Dame

Diaco followed Kelly to Notre Dame in 2010, taking the same position as defensive coordinator. In 2012, Notre Dame finished the year ranked second in points allowed per game (12.8) and appeared in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game. Diaco was awarded the

Broyles Award The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little R ...

, which recognizes the top assistant coach in college football.

Connecticut

In December 2013, Diaco became the head coach at the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

, succeeding interim coach T. J. Weist, who replaced

Paul Pasqualoni Paul Lucian Pasqualoni (; born August 16, 1949) is an American football coach. He most recently was the defensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers. Pasqualoni has served as the defensive coordinator of the NFL's Miami Dolphins and Detroit L ...

. Diaco was replaced at Notre Dame by

Brian VanGorder Brian VanGorder (born April 17, 1959) is an American football coach and former player. He was the defensive coordinator at Bowling Green State University, a position he assumed in 2019. Prior to that, he was defensive coordinator at the Universit ...

. While at Connecticut, Diaco coined the term "

Civil Conflict A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

" to describe games between the

Connecticut Huskies The UConn Huskies (or Connecticut Huskies) are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Connecticut, located in Storrs. The school is a member of the NCAA's Division I and the Big East Conference. The university's foo ...

and the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in Orlando, Florida. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I ( FBS for football) as a member of the Am ...

. This one-way declaration of a "rivalry" was first derided and then ignored by UCF.

2015

In 2015, Diaco's Huskies beat undefeated

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

20–17 at

Rentschler Field Rentschler Field was an airport in East Hartford, Connecticut in use from 1933 to 1999. Originally a military facility, later a private corporate airport, it was decommissioned in 1999, after which the football stadium of the same name was bui ...

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.

2016

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 Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, and a botched goal-to-go situation vs.

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

that would have put the Huskies at 2–0. The Huskies traveled to Houston at 2–2, but got blown out. UConn then went on to beat

20–9, but then lost 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 Gerald R. Kill (born August 24, 1961) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach at New Mexico State University. He played college football at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas from 1979 to 1982. Kill served as the head ...

for the position of offensive coordinator may have led to his termination. Connecticut hired former head coach

Randy Edsall Randy Douglas Edsall (born August 27, 1958) is a retired American football coach, formerly the head football coach at the University of Connecticut from 1999 to 2010 and again from 2017 until his abrupt retirement in 2021. He also served as the h ...

to replace him. Diaco finished his head coaching career at the University of Connecticut having the worst winning percentage amongst Huskies' head coaches since 1920.

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.

Oklahoma

Diaco joined the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

as a defensive analyst on March 17, 2018. He was subsequently promoted to outside linebackers coach on October 8, 2018 after defensive coordinator

Mike Stoops Michael Joseph Stoops (born December 13, 1961) is an American football coach and former player, who is the inside linebackers coach at the University of Kentucky. Stoops also served as the head football coach at the University of Arizona from 20 ...

was fired by head coach

Lincoln Riley Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head coach of the USC Trojans football program at the University of Southern California. He previously served as the head coach ...

Louisiana Tech

Diaco was named defensive coordinator at

on January 24, 2019.

Purdue

On January 2, 2020, Diaco was named the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

. Following the 2020 season, Head Coach

Jeff Brohm Jeffrey Scott Brohm (born April 24, 1971) is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the current head football coach of the Louisville Cardinals. Brohm played college football at the University of Louisville for coach Howard Sc ...

announced that Diaco would not return.

New Jersey Generals

In March of 2022, Diaco was named the defensive line coach for the

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diaco, Bob 1973 births Living people American football linebackers Central Michigan Chippewas football coaches Cincinnati Bearcats football coaches Eastern Michigan Eagles football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football coaches Iowa Hawkeyes football players Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches UConn Huskies football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Western Illinois Leathernecks football coaches Western Michigan Broncos football coaches People from Cedar Grove, New Jersey Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Coaches of American football from New Jersey Players of American football from New Jersey New Jersey Generals (2022) coaches