Manny Diaz tapped into an old connection to hire a current head coach of a team in Florida.

Willie Simmons was announced as Duke’s new running backs coach on Monday night. Simmons spent the last six seasons at Florida A&M, where he was 45-13, including a 12-1 mark and Celebration Bowl title this past season.

Diaz and Simmons go back a little ways; between 2007-09, Diaz was Middle Tennessee’s defensive coordinator and Simmons was the running backs coach.

The 43-year-old Simmons kept working his way through the FCS ranks, spending two more years at MTSU after Diaz’s departure and then going to Alcorn State for three seasons (2012-14).

Simmons’ first head coaching role was at Prairie View A&M, where he was 21-11 in three seasons between 2015-17.

Simmons was the SWAC coach of the year this past season. The Rattlers also won the HBCU national championship in 2019.

There are some ACC ties here, too. Simmons was a quarterback at Clemson from 2000-02, passing for 2,530 yards and 16 touchdowns in 24 games. He finished his career at The Citadel.