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It is white smoke from the Mollenkopf as Jeff Brohm has apparently found his replacement for Nick Holt:
Sources: Purdue is hiring La Tech DC Bob Diaco. He led a high-end unit this season in Ruston, which included No. 2 red zone defense nationally and No. 31 scoring defense.
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) December 30, 2019
Diaco is fresh off of a 14-0 win over Miami (FL) in the Independence Bowl, where Louisiana Tech became the first Group of Five team to shut out a Power Five team in a bowl game since integration. That is good, but trust me, the Miami offense was a complete and utter mess most of the season, especially at quarterback and offensive line. Miami never got closer that the 39 yard line against LaTech, so their offensive output was practically Hazellian with a wealth of 4- and 5-star players.
Diaco has been a head coach before, going 11-26 in three years at Connecticut. He was also defensive coordinator at Nebraska in 2017 when he Cornhuskers went 4-8, but beat Purdue on a late touchdown by a point. In 2012 he won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant as defensive coordinator at Notre Dame. The Irish gave up just 12.8 points per game that season and went 12-0 before losing to Alabama in the BCS title game.
Perhaps he is most famous for creating the Civil ConFLiCT trophy, which was indeed a college football thing for a time.
So what we have here is a mixed bag. He was a very good assistant at Notre Dame and Louisiana Tech, but a failed head coach at a place where it is tough for anyone to win. He has a lot of experience in major conferences and is looking to bounce back after proving himself at LaTech this year.