Groh on preseason, linebackers
Greetings-
A couple other reporters and I spoke with defensive coordinator Al Groh Monday after practice (the day when defensive coaches and players, along with coach Paul Johnson, are available). You can read my awesome (sarcasm) collection of notes from the interviews here. I am working on a story about Tech’s linebackers and asked him a few questions about that.
Q: How did the preseason go for the defense?
A: There’s been a good sense of purpose. Clearly, there’s something that we want to prove and that’s been pretty consistent throughout. It’ll take a long process to do that. It’s a process to prove yourself. You don’t do it in training camp, you don’t do it the first week you don’t do it the first quarter of the season. it takes 12 weeks to prove yourself. We’re still obviously in the early part of the process.
Two cents: Fair answer. Al Groh doesn’t seem like the type to go waving the pom-poms.
Q: Did anyone surprise you with how much he improved or did it pan out as expected?
A: It pretty much has. I think those players that were kind of going in a positive direction continued with that.
Two cents: When giving an interview subject two ways (Is it A, or is it B?) to answer a question, he/she usually takes the easier/safer option (sometimes, I suppose, because it’s the correct one). I try to avoid phrasing questions that way, but I do it a lot, and it’s almost like I try to grab the words out of the air as soon as I realize I’ve done it.
Q: How did the linebacker group look to you?
A: As I said, the evaluation comes when we start to play and so we’ve gone through a process where we put it in, we practice it, we come in, we look at it, we correct it, we go back out the next day and try to get better at it. It’s a process that we’re involved in.
There’s certainly not results at this time. If you just look at the daily results, then you lose the big picture of what you’re trying to get accomplished. So we’re trying to stay focused on that and realize for us to prove what we want to prove, it’s a long process to do it and it’s going to take 12 weeks to do that.
Two cents: I don’t say this to poke fun, but I think “process” is one of Groh’s favorite words. It says something about who he is. In the same vein, one of my favorite words is “taco.” I had three Monday night. Pretty good.
Q: Is it accurate to say that for your defense to do what you want it to do, you need to have playmakers at the linebacker spots?
A: We need playmakers all over the place. That has to be a position in every defense that produces that. To make an analogy to a baseball lineup, that’s kind of where your 3-4-5 hitters are supposed to be. But there are some defenses where it comes from the front guys.
What you do is you just evaluate where those particular players are and as I say to the baseball analogy, if it just so happens that your second baseman is your best home-run hitter, than you bat him fourth, even thought most second basemen don’t hit there.
It’s the same thing with the linemen. If they look like they can be better playmakers, then we try to create some things for them. If we’ve got a secondary player who’s maybe our best pressure player then we’ll use him with more pressure than somebody else.
Two cents: One of my favorite baseball players of all-time was a power-hitting second baseman, at least in his prime. Ryne Sandberg. I think his answer was a qualified yes.
Q: Have (cornerbacks) Louis Young and Rod Sweeting taken advantage of their athletic ability?
A: They have. Those are two players that showed promise last year. Rod Sweeting played sparingly. Louis played mostly special teams, but when they came back, really throughout the winter, very diligent. I’d be out here on a Saturday in February or whatnot, look out the window and there’d be Louis and Mike Peterson and a couple of others doing drills. So they’ve shown their intent and their purpose from long ago.
Two cents: Interesting detail about Young and Peterson. Groh said a couple weeks ago that Young is a guy who loves everything about football, whether it’s practice or weights or meetings or whatever. It may sound a little obvious, but it isn’t. Not every player is that way.
Q: How has Jemea Thomas looked and what sort of role do you see for him?
A: It’s an evolving circumstance with him there. It’s not what I see his role to be, it’s what he carves out to make his role. All I do is go on what I see. When I see certain things from a player that enables us to create a role for him, then that’s what we try to do. But in all cases, the player kind of has to show us something in the first place.
This is a talented player who really didn’t have to have it screwed down real hard last year. If he made a mistake running the defense off a card (with the defensive scout team), it was quickly forgotten. Now, particularly in the back end, those mistakes aren’t forgotten. That’s been a transformation for him here.
Two cents: Groh was talking about Thomas being redshirted last year, if that was unclear to you. It sounds like Thomas has yet to find his role in the secondary. I’d think he’s the No. 3 safety but beyond that, I don’t know. I can tell you that he switched jersey numbers from 38 to 14.
Q: You’ve said in the past that Jeremiah Attaochu is the prototype for his position. How close are the other three linebackers — Julian Burnett, Daniel Drummond and Steven Sylvester — to what you want for their respective positions?
A: What we’d really like is Casey Matthews, DeMarcus Ware and Jerod Mayo, if you want to know what the prototype looks like. Anything less than that is somewhat short of the prototype, but that’s the trick of it. That’s the fun of it, is to take what we have and try to get the results that we’re looking for in whatever way that we need, to take the skills of this particular group and try to mix and match ‘em and come up with what we need.
Two cents: Read: Not as close as Attaochu is. It’s not too surprising. Drummond is a converted B-back and Burnett and Sylvester were recruited to play in a different scheme. It’s a good group, though, and one that has two of the best players on the team (Attaochu and Burnett). In 2012 and beyond, you’ll see more “fits” into the scheme than this year.
Thanks for reading. Please follow on Facebook and Twitter!
By Ken Sugiura, AJC
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147 comments Add your comment
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
4:41 pm
And in 2008, you were pre-season number 1 and lost to Tech. Based on the opinion you have about Tech, yes, I would say that was mediocre, especially when 2 of those wins were Ga Southern and Central Michigan, and both Bama and UF mopped up the floor with you. Not exactly a stellar season, regardless of the record.
headley lamar
August 23rd, 2011
4:59 pm
and yet you’ve been irrelevant in the SEC east for at least the past 3 years, and I doubt any of the powers in the SEC west even take you seriously anymore.
They should. We have winning records against all of them under Richt.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
5:00 pm
But 3 of them have NC’s, and you don’t. So what’s your point?
Old Blind Dawg
August 23rd, 2011
5:00 pm
AG sounds more like a spin master politician than a defensive coordinator (just MHO). Like someone else mentioned – his defense was average when he was at Virginia and he had more and deeper talent than he has now. I think GT will be down for a year or two as the young guys develop.
UGA went through it last year and part of the year before. It sucks being a fan when your team just fails to preform but we all experience it. You only need to look at Texas.
headley lamar
August 23rd, 2011
5:02 pm
And in 2008, you were pre-season number 1 and lost to Tech. Based on the opinion you have about Tech, yes, I would say that was mediocre, especially when 2 of those wins were Ga Southern and Central Michigan, and both Bama and UF mopped up the floor with you. Not exactly a stellar season, regardless of the record.
Not stellar using UGA’s standards. For Tech it would be parade time.
We lost to Tech in 2008 ( Hey even a blind squirrel …. )
Florida ( The National Champion )
Bama ( Next years champion )
We won every other game.
That isn’t too bad.
headley lamar
August 23rd, 2011
5:04 pm
But 3 of them have NC’s, and you don’t. So what’s your point?
Yes they do. Bully for them.
We had the best team twice. 2002 and 2007.
Just didnt get into the game. With a playoff we probably win.
Either way all we have to do is keep winning a ton and eventually it will come.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
5:06 pm
yeah, Ga Southern, Cent Mich, Vandy, UK, Az State…… The only really significant win you had that year was over LSU.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
5:08 pm
See, headley, there you go with the what if’s and dwelling on what might have been….ALL IN THE PAST. And yet you are one of the first to slam Tech posters for bringing up things that might have been and reminding you of our past. So it’s ok for you to do it, but not us, huh? HYPOCRITE !!!! You will NEVER win a NC under Richt.
GTFan478
August 23rd, 2011
5:09 pm
@super he has no point. He knows just like you and I know minus Bama and UF uga had one of the easiest schedules they’ve had in a while in 08 (part of the reason they were voted no.1), but they again they underachieved. They lost to every team that they played that year that was good. Again mediocrity at its best.
GTFan478
August 23rd, 2011
5:11 pm
@super I was just about to call him out for the same thing. He loves to say Tech fans make excuses with the what ifs and buts, but he’s doing it right now. He really one to call the pot black.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
5:13 pm
GTFan478, the mutts almost always have pansy schedules. Google their upcoming schedules and take a look at some of the powerhouses (HA!!!) they play.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
5:15 pm
478, every mutt troll who posts on here dwells on the past and why they didn’t do this or that, and why they lost this game or the other. They are all hypocrites. I even heard a guy say the other day that Crowell is the next Herschel. Now how many times has that been said since 1983, and they still haven’t found one. If that’s not living in the past, what is?
GTFan478
August 23rd, 2011
5:18 pm
Agree completely with you. And wasn’t Caleb King supposed to be the next Herschel?
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
5:19 pm
OMG, 478, EVERY RB they have signed since Herschel was supposed to be his second coming.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
5:23 pm
OK, I’m outta here for awhile. I’m sure headley (or some more disgusting troll) will have some comment to make. I’ll just have to check later. Have a good one, 478…….and you too, headley
GTFan478
August 23rd, 2011
5:24 pm
I wonder where he went?
GTFan478
August 23rd, 2011
5:25 pm
Tried to post this earlier but didn’t go through; thanks for the good read Ken. Nice work keep it up.
duece coupe
August 23rd, 2011
5:46 pm
Good questions asked Ken,
all the players say Attaochu is a protype linebacker, playing good.
headley lamar
August 23rd, 2011
5:59 pm
Agree completely with you. And wasn’t Caleb King supposed to be the next Herschel?
He was a bust. Most of them aren’t however.
Knowshon, Garrison Hearst, Rodney Hampton, Terrell Davis, Tim Worley, Robert Edwards, Musa Smith, Thomas Brown
Crowell is much more likely to join that group.
Its another win for Headley.
Headley 7 Tech 0
headley lamar
August 23rd, 2011
6:01 pm
See, headley, there you go with the what if’s and dwelling on what might have been….ALL IN THE PAST. And yet you are one of the first to slam Tech posters for bringing up things that might have been and reminding you of our past. So it’s ok for you to do it, but not us, huh? HYPOCRITE !!!! You will NEVER win a NC under Richt.
No just pointing out that winning the NC is part luck. Ask LSU when they shot up the poll the last week with 2 losses. We had 2 losses as well and would have beaten them. Oh well.
We have winning records against all those teams under Richt. In fact we have a winning record against every team in the SEC not named Florida.
Just keep doing that and the NC will come.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
6:55 pm
There you go again, headley, with the would-have’s, could-have’s, should-have’s. The point is you DIDN’T. And that one team CMR doesn’t have a winning record against will keep you from ever getting to the NC game. Florida 7 – headley 0
dwight Smith
August 23rd, 2011
7:17 pm
I’ve been reading the ajc for many years. I can see their reporting is like we had at our high school paper. No wonder the newspapers are dragging ass.
Boss
August 23rd, 2011
7:24 pm
Anyone notice the Tech fans on the Tech blog are a lot nicer than the tech fans on the UGA blogs? Bulldog fans are always polite and well behaved no matter where they are.
Boss
August 23rd, 2011
7:26 pm
Of course supersize is a doosh no matter where he posts. I guess all these years of being unemployed has made him realy bitter.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
7:39 pm
so calling someone a name is being polite, huh? yeah, right
KB
August 23rd, 2011
7:43 pm
Supersize, You should check the records, not been very relevant past two seasons, but every program has a down cycle. Over the past 10 year 3-1 vs bama, won 4 of last 5 vs auburn(6-4) 3-3 with LSU. 2 sec championships over last 10 years ties us with UF and Auburn 1 behind LSU . Georgia holds its own in the best football conference in America.In 2008 UGA had 24 season ending injuries, and still went 10-3.And it 13-1 vs ACC over the past 10 years.Keep thinking this Georgia team will be like 2010.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
7:59 pm
KB, you have some talent now that you didn’t have last year, but most of them are freshmen, and they probably won’t have that much impact. So to start the season, you have a very good QB, no receivers of note, and mostly young and inexperienced RB’s. I don’t keep up with you enough to know how your lines are, but I have very serious doubts that Grantham can actually build a SEC-caliber defense. I know several real (as in not online) Georgia fans who agree with that. Of course, with the light-weight schedule you have this year (no Bama or LSU) and Auburn rebuilding, you should be able to win 7 or 8, but probably no more. Plus, I have read all the gripes from Georgia fans about Bobo’s play-calling, and that won’t change.
pigmons
August 23rd, 2011
8:03 pm
no KB I don’t think you guys will be 6-7, but 7-5 or 8-4 is bout as far as I can see, SC and Boise State, UF, even New Mexico State could be a problem as well as Miss state, (option team), Auburn (option), and we tend to play you close.
GDBurdell
August 23rd, 2011
8:05 pm
tek is now on GSU’s level, get used to it nerds
GDBurdell
August 23rd, 2011
8:07 pm
pigmons, tek let UGA have a touchdown last year maybe that has something to do with it
pigmons
August 23rd, 2011
8:43 pm
first of burdell, when you misspell you’re not witty, second on noooooo. we let you have a TD so we could try and score and take things to overtime.
pigmons
August 23rd, 2011
8:44 pm
gsu is not that good sorry
KB
August 23rd, 2011
8:51 pm
Although this years schedule lines up well, there is no light weight schedule in the SEC.If having 5 top 25 teams so far on this years schedule is light weigh what do you call techs that only has 2?
wreckbone
August 23rd, 2011
10:49 pm
UVA had a defense. Anyone who doesn’t remember, that is what kept them in games. And he was so good at defense that Howie long sent his boy there to learn form Groh, because he could get him ready for the NFL. Al Groh is a great coach and well above the level of some smack talking clueless people on a blog. Just meet the man and you will see he commands a respectful response. This guy knows football. been in team meetings with world champions. Coaches who are legends and we are lucky to have him on our coaching staff. Remember, last year, the best talent left early. Hard for a program to recover form that. Hell even UGA had big problems after Stafford and then Moreno left. And they talk smack like they were Auburn. Well auburn last year or Bama would have beat us handily in the past few years. Yet you do win, but only squeak by and talk smack like we don’t belong on the field. So just keep talking….we’ll see what this defensive coach can do to you with our “inferior” players this gobble day. And to all you UGA hate spewing idiots. Keep talking, with your wucky record. You should be embarrassed. Top 5 recruiting in a decade and nothing to show for it. Your blue chip made cash on his “infraction”, much more than ours took in clothing and you act like you have a “clean program”. Please…..that’s the funniest joke I’ve heard. If Clark County weren’t on the payroll, your star running back would have had a DUI to star the season instead of a hit and run. and your AD getting blown by a hooker and trying to get the cops to look the other way….Your fearless leader caught with her pants down. Pretty sad that you mention the state of our program. The only thing is you didn’t get caught by the NCAA. You got caught by real police so you get to throw around this junk like you have a pristine program. The only thing pristine is your trophy cabinet…which hasn’t been touched in years. Va Tech beats us worse than you so tkae your ACC don’t belong crap somewhere else. At least you have your awesome voice in the paper. Yes I am jealous my hometown paper has no blog for my sports but you got your guy blogging is up every day. Its about time the AJC get off its rear and find us a blogger too. I appreciate Ken. He’s doing a great job.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 23rd, 2011
11:07 pm
WOW, wreckbone, you’re on a roll there. I LOVE IT !!!!
Cracker Jack Coach for Sure
August 23rd, 2011
11:55 pm
Yep that Al Groh is probably second only to CPJ. I mean look at Big Al’s – record 85 – 93 as a head coach and that ACC record holy cow 44 – 68. You techies are beyond delusional – really. LMAO keep on lovin it Super.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 24th, 2011
12:09 am
DUHHH. Groh is not the head coach; he is the defensive coach. What does his record as a head coach have to do with coaching the defense? Are you really that dumb?
Supersize that order, mutt
August 24th, 2011
12:14 am
Very few defensive coaches make good head coaches. Bud Carson was a defensive genius, as he showed when he was DC for Tech and later for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Does the name Steel Curtain ring a bell with you? But as head coach at Tech, he pretty much sucked.
White and Gold
August 24th, 2011
12:57 am
Hey Leg humpers… Please spare us your opinion. We really dont care… Go back on your blog and cry about your Heinz 57 unifroms.
jack
August 24th, 2011
2:01 am
not caring about your two cents, anyway to stop that, thanks
ATLER Ramblin Wreck
August 24th, 2011
3:15 am
uga fans love coming on the Tech blog to talk crap. BUT if you go on uga’s blog and read it you’ll see Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, and Auburn fan lighting their butts up. Read some of the cry baby responses that the ugag fans leave……….. Priceless!!!! They (uga) know that their (uga) over-rated so they cry and bitch and moan for the other blogger to get of their page and go back to their own page. BUT they love coming to the Tech blogs to talk crap???!!!!! Interesting…………
ATLER Ramblin Wreck
August 24th, 2011
3:18 am
uga = OVER-RATED AND UNDER ACHIEVERS!!!! ALL THE 5 STAR TALENT IN THE NATION, BUT AS USUAL THE DO NOTHING WITH IT YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT!!!!!!! BOY I WISH TECH GOT THAT KIND OF TALENT. WE’D SHOW YOU MUTTS HOW TO USE IT.
Lee Purdy
August 24th, 2011
7:31 am
Ken -
How is the long snapper battle going?
Tyler Morgan, Cory Pritchett? Are there others??
UGA is definitely overrated
August 24th, 2011
9:43 am
The only team they truly own is GT.
Supersize that order, mutt
August 24th, 2011
12:06 pm
Not that he deserves any kind of explanation, but to the ignorant troll, I am comfortably retired and I don’t have to work anymore. When I don’t have anything better to do, I log in here to get info on the Jackets and an occasional laugh from fools like you
CHOP BLOCK U!!!!
August 25th, 2011
7:58 am
When you don’t have anything better to do? Hmmm…..so basically you don’t have anything better to do 24/7?
RamblinWreck93
August 25th, 2011
2:13 pm
For all you UGA fans who think that you have been nothing but dominant in recent history and that GT is not even to be mentioned in the same breath as you, here are the facts.
Preface: You can holler all you want to about how tough the SEC is and that’s why you underachieve, but the talent that ya’ll recruit is as good as anyone in the SEC. The talent that Tech recruits is pretty good for the ACC. So leave that argument at the door.
UGA W-L record the past 5 years:
2010: 6-7
2009: 8-5
2008: 10-3
2007: 11-2
2006: 9-4
Georgia Tech W-L record the past 5 years:
2010: 6-7
2009: 11-3
2008: 9-4
2007: 7-6
2006: 9-5
UGA final record past 5 years:
44-21 or .677 win %
GT final record past 5 years:
42-25 or .627 win %
So UGA does indeed have the better record, but GT played 2 more games than the Dogs because we’ve made it to our conference’s championship twice in the past 5 years as opposed to UGA’s goose egg. So is Georgia a prestigious football program with a winning track record? Yes. But have the Dogs just been rollin’ out the W’s lately, and has Tech been an utter disaster on the football field in recent history, vastly inferior to their greatest rival? Not a chance. So here’s to hoping that both programs have outstanding seasons in 2011 and that they’ll play one heck of a game in Athens come November. Just my $.02 worth…