Al Groh breaks down Georgia Tech defense
From my interview with Al Groh for the “10 things” series, Groh offered a handful of observations about a few players I asked about, which I haven’t gotten to posting. Without further ado…
On T.J. Barnes: “He’s not a flamboyant player, not a flamboyant person, but he’s a very determined kid. He’s had a lot of challenges to work through in life, starting long before he got here. He’s got challenges here. He’s always fighting the weight circumstance, different issues. He’s one of those people who doesn’t say very much but is a very bright person. Was a different player in the spring, did a nice job.”
On Shawn Green: “Shawn Green, much the same way. He really hadn’t gotten much time. He came here as a freshman, not in the picture, out of shape, broke his leg, really not ready to participate or be coached in training camp last year. … He just wasn’t really ready to go. He hadn’t been able to condition and train. He missed a good deal of spring practice. So the first time he was able to get concentrated coaching was in the spring. And he made good progress. [Defensive line coach Andy McCollum] has done a nice job with those guys.”
On the secondary: “Well, we have a lot of experience on the corners, or a good amount. We don’t have very much experience at safety. We really only have one safety (Isaiah Johnson) that’s ever played very much. It’s kind of split that way. Pretty good experience, a lot of background in the schemes that we’re playing, a lot of background in pattern recognition on the edges. In the middle, we’ve got to catch up with the looks that the players see.”
On safeties Johnson and Fred Holton: “Isaiah’s got two years of playing. Fred has never really played safety in games. Two years ago, he played some special teams. Last year he was out for the year, so it was kind of the same situation as Shawn Green. Didn’t get coached for the whole fall. Didn’t participate. Had 15 practices in the spring to start to catch up. Picked up well on what he saw, there’s just a vast amount of other looks to see that are yet to come. … He showed a very good upside. He’s got range. He’s got toughness. He sees the game well. It makes sense to him.”
On Jeremiah Attaochu: “A lot of plays that Jerry had – and I use this same critique with other guys – I would look at the play and say, ‘What’s he doing? It’s not what we teach. It’s not what he did on Wednesday (in practice). What’s he doing?’ Eradicating those from his game and doing the things that he knows how to do and do well with greater consistency, which should happen for a lot of these players who are now going into their third season of doing the same thing.”
On Jabari Hunt-Days: “He’ going to be a lot better in the future than he is now. He’s never played in a game. We have to get him ready in a hurry to play well. It’ll be very challenging to him, challenging to us, to get him ready. It’s necessary for both parties to get way ahead of schedule.”
Thanks for reading. I’m technically off this week, but the 10 things series will continue this week with A-backs coach Lamar Owens. Previously, wide receivers coach Buzz Preston, secondary coach Charles Kelly and Groh.
Michael Carvell reports on three commits this weekend. Coach Paul Johnson is now up to 13 for the 2013 class.
Ken Sugiura, Georgia Tech
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
133 comments Add your comment
chas_jacket
July 16th, 2012
4:23 pm
Valid points and i am also hopeful on both greene and barnes, but the ol is a strength, rivals has devine at 360 and they are reporting commisong (sp) is rethinking his commit to gt.
dawgalltheway
July 16th, 2012
6:07 pm
Another stellar recruit for the bees. His first offer, EVER, and he commits on the spot. You can’t blame the kid, he knew he had no chance at any other Div 1 school. CPJ’S recruiting had gotten worse every year. What is he thinking about?
chas_jacket
July 16th, 2012
6:17 pm
certainly are a dog all the way – you posted on the wrong blog/article
Freddie Blassie
July 16th, 2012
6:44 pm
Groh coached Lawrence Taylor and LT ain’t no Alfred Einstein. Of course, Taylor could do the wrong stuff and still make the play.
wait for it…….wait for it……
GT Albany
July 16th, 2012
7:00 pm
Okay guys we are entering PJ’s fifth year and are way over due for some defense.
flamboyant fan
July 16th, 2012
7:03 pm
Albert Einstein
flamboyant fan
July 16th, 2012
7:05 pm
Albert Groh isn’t very flamboyant.
yeller bug
July 16th, 2012
8:00 pm
So according to Ken, Albert Groh’s theory of relativity regarding the D-line is that is this year’s line appears to be the best of the 3 he’s coached. That sheds light on things. The secondary seems deep—but without Mr. Make-a-Tackle J Burnette, how will the LBs be? In a 3-4, they are the key. Hopefully, they will not be quarky lest we have another year of worm-hole filled quantum indeterminancy of how our D will play.
superDawg
July 16th, 2012
9:25 pm
3-4 sounds like reggie is coaching now at tek.
Paul in NH
July 16th, 2012
11:34 pm
WnE
July 16th, 2012
12:13 pm
re:
THUGA
July 16th, 2012
12:06 pm
Or you can have slack drug-testing policy like CPJ & GT does!
————
Looks like WnE’s innner Dawg is showing through. The only bloggers I have ever seen talking about GT having a slack drug-testing policy have been UGA fans. UGA has a strict drug testing policy, but GT’s is the same as 90% of CFB.
brent cunningham
July 17th, 2012
5:07 am
The problem the last two years has been the lack of an all star QB. Inconsistant play at that position has cost us 90% of the big games we have been in. When we find the perfect fit at qb (watch out)….
ACC Preseason Top 25 Players of 2012: #25, Jeremiah Attaochu | Atlantic Coast Convos
July 17th, 2012
7:02 am
[...] want the heightened profile to stand in the way of improvement, though. As he said to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Monday: “A lot of plays that Jerry had – and I use this same critique with other guys [...]
gt4ever
July 17th, 2012
7:48 am
Bottom line is that we haven’t recruited worth a damn on the Defensive side of the ball, particularly on the DL…. Good grief how long are we to listen to this lack of conditioning and not teachable before we take our heads out of the sand….
Birmingham Jacket
July 17th, 2012
8:10 am
Groh needs to go.
GT71
July 17th, 2012
8:34 am
I worry about your headline, there Ken. ‘Breaks down’ may not be a very good choice of words in describing our defense…or does it? We hope not – at least not any more. Alums remember too often praying to NOT have a 3-and-long situation as it would seemingly always be a completed pass for 1st down.
ACC Football Daily Links — Syracuse Cuts $7.5M Deal, Will Join ACC in 2013 | Atlantic Coast Convos
July 17th, 2012
9:01 am
[...] Al Groh Breaks Down Georgia Tech Defense (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) [...]
Birmingham Jacket
July 17th, 2012
9:16 am
@gt4ever
Amen!
And it’s inexcusable to not be able to recruit better D players.
For Johnson, I think it’s because all he cares about is his beloved offense.
And in the case of Groh, I think it’s called “semi-retirement” and don’t really care.
A person SMART enough to know...?
July 17th, 2012
9:33 am
I still don’t know anything. Mama says that I’m gonna need to move out of the basement if I keep making so much noise.
juvenal
July 17th, 2012
9:43 am
consensus-enough time to see if this team works…….
crackbaby
July 17th, 2012
10:43 am
I don’t get the criticism of talent on the defensive side of the ball. The secondary is better, and I mean much better in terms of talent, than it has been since at least 1978. D has been weak up the middle for a while but that’s nothing new. We need a Kevin Battle to plug the middle.
Losing Burnett will hurt. That kid was a hammer out there.
Argentina Blue
July 17th, 2012
11:48 am
@crackbaby – Better than the secondary when it had Ken Swilling and Willie Clay?
1 4 GT
July 17th, 2012
11:57 am
Hit’em hi–Hit ‘em lo–Knock their jocks off–Be lean–Be mean–Knock their socks off–Gi’me a D!!!!!!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JACKETS THEWeorgie gollum go–gollum blow–gollum NOOOOOOO
1 4 GT
July 17th, 2012
11:59 am
Bring back the rat hat!!!!
1 4 GT
July 17th, 2012
12:17 pm
Motivate the players!! For every mistake (of any kind) on the defensive side of the ball, make the ENTIRE defensive team run the stadium steps one time. Do the same for the offense. And I mean every player on either side of the ball–if they are healthy enough to play, they run the steps–this is extreme, but find some way to motivate the players!!!! AND teach the defense to wrap up the guy with the ball 1st. Coach them so that the 1st guy to contact the ball carrier is supposed to “TACKLE” and stop the forward progress–the next guy can try to strip the ball if possible, but the primary goal is to STOP the advancement of the ball. How hard can that be?? Another ESPN effect!! To make the high light reels.
yeller bug
July 17th, 2012
12:20 pm
Can’t say I hope we walk the talk because the talk is somewhat low key. That appears to be CAG’s style, but some legitimate points have been made:
1. Is CAG’s D too sophisticated for college ball? If you can’t learn it in a year, then it is. This isn’t the NFL and you have constant personnel turnover
2. There is NO reason Tech cannot recruit the best D players—a great school to get a degree—-no claims of a “gimmick” defense like those on the O side hear, the ACC is not the strongest conference, but you get plenty of TV air time and have a chance to stand out.
3. Being a 3-4 we should become the next LB University. An opportunity for great athletes to excel at LB and show their stuff
4. We have a Super Bowl winning DC, former head coach so his resume is as good as anyones.
5. Tech has excellent training facilities—indoor field, nice city if you can avoid the muggers
So what’s the problem? Maybe there isn’t one and this year we will see a noticeable improvement in our overall D performance. Maybe it will be a no name D with no standouts but a unified group of 11 flying to the ball with controlled aggression. Then again, maybe it will be like last year—-inconsistent with flashes of excellence scattered around serious lapses in execution.
Valdosta Jacket
July 17th, 2012
12:23 pm
We can’t change the coaches and players we have right now so let’s see how the season plays out. I agree, by season 3 of the same defensive scheme we should start seeing a vast improvement.
As for recruiting, most big time DL recruits want to go to football factories, but we do need to find some sleepers from year to year if we want to compete at the highest level. DL recruits usually can’t be counted on to contribute much until their 2nd or 3rd year on campus anyways. So even if we’ve landed a few we are looking at 2013 or 2014 before we see a difference.
UGASlobberknocker
July 17th, 2012
12:56 pm
After reviewing the talent level on the Tech defense, I can certainly understand why Coach Groh is about to breakdown.Is that a nervous breakdown or simply a good cry?
1980 was so long ago
July 17th, 2012
2:12 pm
Bring back O’Leary – he can beat CMR’s dogs with UCF talent.
WnE
July 17th, 2012
3:34 pm
re:
Paul in NH
July 16th, 2012
11:34 pm
WnE
July 16th, 2012
12:13 pm
re:
THUGA
July 16th, 2012
12:06 pm
Or you can have slack drug-testing policy like CPJ & GT does!
————
Looks like WnE’s innner Dawg is showing through. The only bloggers I have ever seen talking about GT having a slack drug-testing policy have been UGA fans. UGA has a strict drug testing policy, but GT’s is the same as 90% of CFB.
==================
What a cowardly comment by you Paul in NH, formerly Paul in Raleigh.
Simple question:
Is GT’s drug testing policy slack in comparison to our in-State rivals?
What you did above was try to “talk around” the issue, by making separate comments and then being too cowardly to make that final connection.
You say that Muttville has a strict policy, THEN, you say that GT’s policy is like 90% of CFB, but you STOPPED SHORT of saying that our policy is SLACK in comparison to Muttville’s.
When it comes to Academics GT fans like you love to shout from the hilltops about GT’s “elite Academics”, but then when it comes to our SLACK drug testing policy, you “hide” behind weak statements like, “our policy is in line with 90% of CFB teams”.
Once you “set the standard” of shouting from the hilltops about things we/GT does well, then you should also shout from hilltops about things you do poorly like having SLACK drug testing policies.
If GT were the holier-than-thou place that GT fans like you think it is, then they could simply RAISE their drug testing policy to be in-line with what Muttville does and then tell our FANBASE that we won’t let Muttville do ANYTHING better than GT and that “includes drug testing”.
If GT were really the kind of place that we brag about we would simply raise our drug testing policy and NOT let UGA out-do GT at anything, instead of HIDING BEHIND “we are in line with 90% of CFB”.
When other college ADMIT FB players at the NCAA minimum, then GT fans like you jump all over them with snide remarks about their SLACK ACADEMICS, then when it BENEFITS GT, like with drug testing we hide behind the ol’ “we’re just like 90% of everyone else MEDIOCRITY”.
What you just did with your comments are the foundation of GT’s hypocritical ideology, and are the main reason we/GT are a running joke among CFB Fans from other Colleges.
macrotech
July 17th, 2012
4:59 pm
WnE….it’s an elitist thing….we DON’T expect you pups to get it
WnE
July 17th, 2012
5:05 pm
re:
macrotech
July 17th, 2012
4:59 pm
WnE….it’s an elitist thing….we DON’T expect you pups to get it
_________
How is having a LESSER, easier-to-get-away-with-smoking-weed, drug policy an ELITIST thing?
GT fans like you wanna “wax poetic” about elitism UNTIL something doesn’t fit your agenda, and only then do you wanna “be in-line with what 90% of the rest of CFB does”.
That sir, smacks of hypocrisy!
superDawg
July 17th, 2012
5:16 pm
elitist,macriod that word and tek have nothing in common.You are a delusional nurd!
1 4 GT
July 17th, 2012
5:43 pm
Ah, good ole gollum. Let’s all get on our knees and bow before his magnificence!!! He is all knowing!!!
BLT
July 17th, 2012
8:22 pm
“hypocritical ideology”
Hilarious!
BLT
July 17th, 2012
8:24 pm
superDawg may be “Cotton Top” two?
BLT
July 17th, 2012
8:26 pm
“That sir, smacks of hypocrisy!”
Quit smacking WnE, maybe that’s the problem.
HighTech
July 17th, 2012
9:09 pm
BLT…superDwag is Cotton Top number two. Gollum is also Nancy McCoy.
“CPJ killed my Pap.”
GTfan2012
July 17th, 2012
10:54 pm
I don’t know or care what our drug testing policy is. If I thought GT football players had a problem with drugs, I might have a different opinion. But since GT football has not been shown to have drug issues then this is a moot point. Only WnE brings up conjecture and opinion and presents it as fact.
dagnabit
July 17th, 2012
11:16 pm
I’m starting to agree with the guys who dislike Al Groh.
macrotech
July 18th, 2012
2:20 am
Hypocrisy?! I didn’t have a say in the policy. PERHAPS, Tech hasn’t had to take such a hard line with the drug policy because it hasn’t been a HUGE issue. PERHAPS your little mutts have HAD to take the harder line due to their need to clean up their act in this regard…again, I don’t have a say in the policies of EITHER institution. You’ve proven to be a consistent little tail wagger. You REALLY do use a lot of words to say, “Bark, bark, bark”!
superDump…bless your little heart. What is a “nurd”?
I am an IDIOT
July 18th, 2012
8:42 am
I have NINETEEN different Blog Handles. I CAPITALIZE nearly every LETTER of EVERy WORD that I TYPE for EMPHASIS. Why? Because I am OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD all the TIME. I Have never had a SINGLE CONSTRUCTIVE thought to add to ANY of the AJC Football Blogs EVEN though I spend nearly every WAKING hour of EVERY day playing TROLL on the UGA Blogs. Since NO ONE WOULD EVER PAY ATTENTION TO ANYTHING I SAY, I CAPITALIZE As MANY WORDS as I CAN in Hopes that Somebody pays ATTENTION to me. I am a TOTAL LOSER.
I am an IDIOT
July 18th, 2012
8:46 am
DId I MENTION that you can email ME aT mY FAKE email ADDRESS (EVEN though I am STUPID ENOUGH to INcluDE my real name) JOHNNYMKNIGHT@AOL.COM
WnE
July 18th, 2012
9:00 am
re:
GTfan2012
July 17th, 2012
10:54 pm
I don’t know or care what our drug testing policy is. If I thought GT football players had a problem with drugs, I might have a different opinion. But since GT football has not been shown to have drug issues then this is a moot point. Only WnE brings up conjecture and opinion and presents it as fact.
______________
Without a stronger drug testing policy that publicly suspends violaters for a first failed test then GT can cover up failed drug tests with “internal punishment” that the public never hears about like the majority of the SEC factories that GT fans claim they hate so much.
Maybe if GT had a policy like Muttville that publicly exposes a first failed drug test then we would have enough information to know whether or not GT has a drug problem.
At this point we’ll never know if GT has drug problem due to GT’s SEC-esque, slack drug testing policy.
In summary, get a REAL drug testing policy and only then will we know if GT has drug problem.
After all should we/GT be better than UGA at everything, even drug testing?
HighTech
July 18th, 2012
9:09 am
Why does UGA have a strict drug testing policy, more strict than 90% of CFB programs?
GTfan 2012
July 18th, 2012
9:17 am
WnE,
Why does UGA have such a tough drug testing policy? How long has Mark Richt had this policy? Why did he toughen the policy? These are questions you need to answer before you can compare GT’s drug testing policy to UGAs. GT hasn’t had the drug problems that UGA has had. How do I know this, because we know for a fact that UGA has had MULTIPLE SAs fail MULTIPLE tests. Mark Richt and UGA felt that they had to toughen the policy in order to make it more of a deterrent. GT had not had SAs fail 2nd and 3rd tests like UGA, so apparently internal discipline for the first failed test is enough of a deterrent.
WnE
July 18th, 2012
9:19 am
re:
HighTech
July 18th, 2012
9:09 am
Why does UGA have a strict drug testing policy, more strict than 90% of CFB programs?
___________
Why is GT’s drug testing policy LESS strict than UGA’s?
Shouldn’t GT out-do UGA in every way at every thing?
Or does GT only want to out-do UGA when it comes to “bragging” and “bumping their gums together” and not actual wins & losses on the field?
HighTech
July 18th, 2012
9:43 am
You didn’t answer my question.
Why does UGA have a strict drug testing policy?
WnE
July 18th, 2012
9:55 am
re:
HighTech
July 18th, 2012
9:43 am
You didn’t answer my question.
Why does UGA have a strict drug testing policy?
___________
UGA’s policy has been around since the late-80s or early 90s before many other schools even had any drug testing policy at all, and way before CMR was ever hired at UGA.
According to their AD their drug testing policy is strict because they want their SAs to be responsible adults and drug-free adults.
If schools are allowed to cover up that first failed test then how do you know whether or not those schools can be trusted at all, who is to say that those schools like GT won’t warn their players of when the 2nd test is coming to avoid losing players from playing in games.
The only ETHICAL way if you ask me is to publicly expose (suspend) for the 1st drug test and then go from there.
No public scrutiny for a 1st failed drug test when HCs make upwards of $2.5 million per yr. create an environment that is too easy to abuse or manipulate by HCs seeking to protect their windfalls.
IMO the NCAA needs to step in and put in place a uniform policy like UGA or Kentucky already have in place.
Why isn’t GT at the forefront of this issue like Kentucky or Muttville?
GTfan 2012
July 18th, 2012
10:25 am
This drug testing argument is made up in order for WnE to have something else to bust CPJ about. GT doesn’t have a drug problem… we do not have MULTIPLE athletes failing MULTIPLE tests like some other schools who may have stricter policies. Our drug policy clearly works. Case closed.
HighTech
July 18th, 2012
10:31 am
Here is your answer.
http://www.dawgsonline.com/2012/04/04/how-we-got-here-the-origins-of-georgias-tough-drug-policy/