Dan Mullen said when he was at Mississippi State, he had to consider an “outside the box” view when hiring members of his staff. That was one reason why he went to hire Manny Diaz from Middle Tennessee State.

Mississippi State played Middle Tennessee State in 2009, and Mullen said he noticed Diaz’ energy, and the Florida coach called Diaz a great coach, motivator and intelligent. That’s why he put Diaz name in a folder as a potential future hire.

“I thought he had a good scheme and he wasn’t afraid to think outside the box, and tried different things,” Mullen said at a press conference on Monday. “Then had the intelligence to back it up and we got along pretty well when I met him. It was a great fit for us at Mississippi State and I thought we worked really well together.”

The hire came to fruition the following year when Diaz went to Mississippi State. Diaz then went to Texas two years later and then Louisiana Tech before Mullen and Diaz were reunited at Mississippi State in 2015.

Now they square off in Orlando on Saturday in the season opener, and the marquee game of Week 0 weekend as Diaz is in his first season at Miami and Mullen his second at Florida.

“I know Manny very well,” Mullen said. “He worked for me for two years. Great coach, great motivator, very intelligent.”