Al Groh Names Bob Diaco to Coaching Staff

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Dec. 27, 2005

Nashville, Tenn. – University of Virginia football coach Al Groh today announced the hiring of Bob Diaco as linebackers and special teams coach.

Diaco (pronounced dee-occo) comes to UVa after spending the 2005 season at Central Michigan where he served as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. In 2004 he was the special teams and linebackers coach at Western Michigan. The Broncos finished in the top three in the Mid-American Conference in punting, punt returns, and kickoff returns that year.

From 2001-03, he was an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan, where he moved from coaching the running backs to coaching linebackers to coaching the secondary.

Twice an All-Big Ten selection at the University of Iowa under Hall of Fame coach Hayden Fry, Diaco was a semifinalist for the Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker in 1995. A 1995 graduate of the University of Iowa, he led the Hawkeyes in tackles in both 1994 and `95 and finished his career as the seventh-leading tackler in Iowa history.

Diaco served as a graduate assistant at Iowa for two seasons in 1997-97 and helped the Hawkeyes to the Alamo and Sun bowl games. His first full-time position was at Western Illinois where he was the running backs and special teams coordinator in 1999 and 2000. The Leathernecks won the Gateway Conference crown in 2000.

A native of Cedar Grove, N.J., Bob and his wife, Julia, have three children–Angelo, Josephine, and Michael.

Virginia’s staff lost four assistant coaches to other schools earlier this month. Associate head coach and outside linebackers coach Danny Rocco was named head coach at Liberty University. He was followed by offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Ron Prince who succeeded Bill Snyder at head coach at Kansas State. A short time later, defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach Al Golden was tabbed at Temple’s head coach. Inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Mark D’Onofrio follows Golden to Temple, where he will serve as defensive coordinator.