Duke turns to Texas State’s Patke as new DC

Pete Thamel, ESPNDec 27, 2023, 01:00 AM ET

Duke on Wednesday hired Texas State defensive coordinator Jonathan Patke as the school’s new defensive coordinator.

Patke will bring with him both extensive experience with first-year Duke coach Manny Diaz and a similar aggressive ethos to Diaz’s defenses.

Patke worked with Diaz at Miami, Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech, starting as a graduate assistant in Ruston and eventually working his way up to being a position coach at Miami and working three seasons as the Hurricanes’ special teams coordinator.

Patke’s final night as Texas State’s defensive coordinator proved to be a memorable one Tuesday. In the first bowl win in school history, Texas State forced five turnovers and shut out Rice in the second half of a 45-21 win in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl. Texas State coach GJ Kinne led the school to both its first bowl game and win this season.

Texas State entered the day No. 1 overall in the country in tackles for loss, averaging 8.5 per game. That statistic offers a window into the aggression that Duke will play with on defense. Diaz came from his job coordinating the defense at Penn State, which ranked No. 2 nationally behind Texas State in TFLs in 2023.

The hallmark of Diaz’s defenses for years has been the aggression, with an emphasis on blitzes and getting opposing offenses off balance and behind the chains.

Patke learned that along the way, including six seasons in various roles at Miami. After that, he worked as a defensive coordinator under Kinne at Incarnate Word in 2022 before coming to Texas State with Kinne in 2023.

Patke is a former walk-on at Stephen F. Austin who worked his way to being a three-year starter.