LITTLE ROCK — Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco is often at the mercy of his audience on fall afternoons in the meeting room of the Guglielmino Athletics Complex in South Bend, Ind.
Hulking bodies that make up the Fighting Irish defense often walk in mentally drained, their attention spans wiped out after sitting through four or five classes.
“Those classes are pretty dynamic,” Diaco said Tuesday after winning the Broyles Award, which honors college football’s top assistant coach, at the Peabody Little Rock hotel.
Diaco has been up for the challenge.
“At the end of the day, he’s coming to my class,” Diaco said. “So you’ve got to set your bar pretty high, because I’ve got to put on the best class of the day.”
Diaco, 39, has lived up to that charge.
His defense, ranked sixth in the nation, has helped lead top-ranked Notre Dame to a 12-0 record and a spot in the BCS Championship Game, where it will take on secondranked Alabama (11-1) on Jan. 7 in Miami. It’s Notre Dame’s first shot at a national title since 1988.
Diaco beat out Texas A&M offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, Florida defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and Stanford defensive coordinator Derek Mason for the Broyles Award.
Diaco was a semifinalist last year and said he was “humbled” picking up the award Tuesday.
“It’s a profound honor and something you point to as an assistant coach,” said Diaco, who first met Notre Dame Coach Brian Kelly during a stop at Central Michigan. “It is not a little thing. All we’re trying to do is be the best servant we can possibly be. That’s what this award is about.”
Tuesday’s award presentation was a rare public appearance for Diaco, who made only two media appearances during the season — one in preseason camp and another during Notre Dame’s bye week — as the Irish bulled their way to the top of the polls.
“It’s not a conscious decision, or that I’m a hermit that’s disinterested in talking to the media,” Diaco said during a reception Monday night. “It’s just a role that we gladly played this year.”
It was Kelly’s decision to be the sole voice when it comes to Notre Dame football, but Diaco said Kelly hands over control internally to those he trusts.
“The biggest and greatest thing he does is share his vision,” Diaco told a packed ballroom Tuesday. “Then he allows leadership at all levels — custodians, the catering staff, the coaching staff, the players — to do their jobs.”
No doubt it’s a detail-oriented organization.
A 20-second video introduction showed Diaco coaching a drill where his sole focus was getting linemen to use their arms appropriately.
“Use it like it a weapon to inflict the most damage possible,” Diaco said.
It’s perhaps the best illustration of the thinking behind a defense that allowed the fewest points in the nation (10.3 per game) and ranked fourth in rushing defense (92.4 yards per game).
“Our style and idea of success is that every player in the organization improves every day,” said Diaco, whose unit is led by linebacker Manti Te’o, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. “We’re going to invest in that, respect that and make sure they get it done.
“I don’t have this big-picture pressure.”
Diaco said he also understands the public doesn’t care about the process, only the result.
“When you go into a restaurant and order a cheeseburger, it either tastes good or it doesn’t,” Diaco said. “You don’t think about the cow, the work done, the blending of the flavors, the cooking process or how the bun was put together.
“You just eat the burger and you either like it or you don’t.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 12/05/2012