Bust poll: Bobo (Georgia offense) vs. Groh (Tech defense)
Mike Bobo (Georgia offense).
Al Groh (Georgia Tech defense).
In the interest of full disclosure, here goes: When Georgia and Georgia Tech both hired new defensive coordinators in January, I had more confidence in Paul Johnson’s decision to bring in Al Groh than I did Mark Richt’s decision to hire Todd Grantham.
The reason was simple: While Groh was a disappointment as a head coach at Virginia, he was a proven commodity as a defensive coach in the NFL and college, working with the likes of Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick. I also believed that taking a college coordinator’s job at 66 indicated that he must be truly motivated to win again. Conversely, while Grantham came highly recommended, most recently as the linebackers coach of the Dallas Cowboys, he had been a coordinator only once before: with the Cleveland Browns, where he had mixed results (2005-07). Grantham was closer to an unknown commodity.
Loading ...Now, while Grantham hasn’t beeen stellar in Athens, Tech’s defense has been a disaster. That has to be a reflection on Groh. I’m not saying the guy forgot how to coach defense, but neither do I buy into the notion that the Jackets are completely devoid of any talent.
In fact, I will now pose a question that before this season would’ve seemed unfathomable: Who has been worse — Groh as Tech’s defensive coordinator or Mike Bobo as Georgia’s offensive coordinator. (Vote in our poll. This should be interesting.)
My view: Groh is the bigger bust because he is in complete control of the defense at Tech. Bobo works for an offensive coach (Mark Richt) and designs the game plan with his boss in mind.
The Jackets were smoked by North Carolina State, 45-28. They have allowed 12 offensive touchdowns in the last three games.They have an ACC low two interceptions, rank eighth in the conference in total defense (367.8), ninth against the pass (212.5) and 10th in scoring (26.8).
They didn’t have to be great defensively this season — they just had to be better than in the last two years under Dave Wommack. That hasn’t happened.
Johnson is trying to temper the criticism of Groh. Quoting from Tuesday’s news conference: “As I said when [Wommack was fired], I don’t want to put all that on Dave Wommack. Guys have to make plays, too. You can’t change coaches every time you don’t tackle somebody.
“We’ve got guys who have played for two or three years here that are doing things there’s no explanation for.”
Johnson is equally upset about the Jackets’ play on both sides of the ball. He counted 85 missed assignments against N.C. State — 43 on one side of the ball and 42 on the other (he didn’t remember the breakdown). He believes the team is playing with a lack of urgency, saying, “We need to go to Winston-Salem and play like our hair’s on fire.”
As for this excuse by some that Tech just doesn’t have enough talent, he said: “It’s like anything. The more talented you are, the more mistakes you can make. Do we have guys as talented as Derrick Morgan? No. But that doesn’t mean we can’t play better defense if everybody didn’t do what they’re supposed to.”
That’s mental, not physical. That’s where coaching comes in.
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284 comments Add your comment
joeygt
September 28th, 2010
1:13 pm
???
Brandon
September 28th, 2010
1:13 pm
Groh doesn’t have the personnel to run the 3-4 at Tech yet. His hire timeframe and therefore impact on last season’s recruiting was minimal at best. You have to give that shift time, no matter the coach, especially considering the players Tech lost. Jumbo sized DEs and nose tackles don’t grow on trees in college, and rarely can a true Freshman make an impact at those positions. Tech and UGA are both having D-line depth and challenges right now due to this. Alabama was blessed with Mount Cody in their 2nd season. Remember that first season they went to the 3-4 and were 6-6, including a loss to Lou-La-La at home?
Bobo has time, and if he is not the most predictable game caller in the nation, I don’t know who is. Miss State fans came up to us at the game last week consistently wondering what he was doing, and said they are lucky he didn’t make adjustments b/c they believe should have and would have won the game if it weren’t such an easy offensive gameplan to defend. Why don’t ya’ll pass it, they asked? Why do ya’ll keep running that little guy up the middle against the stack Defensive set? Even non-UGA fans can see the lack of creativity and refusal to change the play calling when it’s just not working. Football at this level is about matchups. UGA is not good enough to win head up right now. They have to outsmart the other team some. If not, they will continue to struggle offensively. They have some talent, but the in game play calling has been very poor. Make us of the TEs, pass the ball to the RBs, get deep some with underneath and check down routes available. Run to the outside – what a concept! Get behind Boling and the FB on the outside, instead of hoping the Defense already outnumbering you in the middle just makes a mistake or messes up. This is big boy football. Let’s be big boy creative. UGA doesn’t have big backs, and they need to get in space more. 7th grade 3 yards and a cloud of dust or play action fly patterns is middle school football play calling.
Upset jacket
September 28th, 2010
1:14 pm
I agree with you jeff. Groh has been a huge disappointment of epic proportion. How in the world with so many guys back on defense from last year, could they be even worse under groh than wommack?? This team lacks REAL leadership. CPJ can blame the guys all he wants, but he doesn’t seem to be able to inspire any fight in them. When i watch this team, they just go through the motions out there and continue to not tackle or play out of place or not block on offense. In this offense you must block to spring the backs. We got guys who run the wrong routes, drop passes a 7 year old could catch, and then we also have a QB who has completed 32 percent of his passes through 4 games. I think my grandmother could at least connect on 40%! It’s really pathetic and the special teams looks like garbage as well.
This team will be lucky to win 6 games given the brand of football CPJ has put out there. I’m tired of him saying guys didn’t block or missed assignments over and over again. GT is 3-4 in it’s last 7 games. Recruit better talent and a QB who can throw the ball so teams will respect our passing game. We have no passing threat at all and it’s killing us. CPJ as the coach and leader, should bench all these kids who show no intensity and i don’t care if all freshman are in there as LONG AS THEY TRY AND PLAY HARD! What do we work on in practice 5 days a week to only see no blocking,dropped passes, poor passes, no tackling, out of position,secondary get roasted brand of football on saturday? I will wait and someone can explain it to me so that it will make some sense.
With the lack of heart this team displays, i would be ashamed to call myself champions as we were last year! You have to earn respect, i this bunch thinks they can just show up and win i guess. Nesbitt for heisman?? I love the kids toughness, but 32 percent is what i just can’t come to terms with. This team has serious issues and everyone is accountable including CPJ. He needs to light the fire under them period, or bench them! The defense is worse than someone holding me down and forcing me to watch brokeback mountain for god’s sake! Georgia would beat us by at least 2 td’s right now and i don’t want to think about how bad miami will paste us in atlanta. I’m pist because of what i paid to watch on the field saturday. Can i get a refund for my 400 bucks back please?
GTJeff
September 28th, 2010
1:14 pm
When Tech & UGA play its gonna look like two really bad Pop Warner teams on the field.
old gold engineer
September 28th, 2010
1:15 pm
Al Groh’s defense at GT hasn’t received much help from the offense, especially in the first half against NC State. Don’t know if UGA’s defense helps Bobo’s offense.
MURPHY
September 28th, 2010
1:16 pm
I guess we will know which one is the bigger bust around Thanksgiving time.
Vixzilla
September 28th, 2010
1:16 pm
“what happens when they play”………That was a brilliant statement. Don’t know where your allegiance lies, but I know good stuff when I see it.
MURPHY
September 28th, 2010
1:17 pm
GTJeff,
A Pop Warner team will look better!
GTJeff
September 28th, 2010
1:18 pm
Yeah maybe Nesbitt should have spent some more time practicing this summer with Hill instead of worrying about that stupid Heisman campaign.
INCOGNITO
September 28th, 2010
1:18 pm
true story saturday me and my 8 year old took turns saying where Ga’s plays were going to go by the second quarter he was saying run left middle or right middle and he was right over half the time for the whole game . this is an eight year old that out guessed Bobo
GT Alum
September 28th, 2010
1:20 pm
If you want to hold Groh responsible for the defensive players not executing properly, then you have to hold CPJ responsible for the offensive players not executing properly. And I think CPJ has to take some of the blame for the defensive side of the ball too, because he hired Groh and he’s the one who makes the final recruiting decisions and the final decisions for the team and sets the overall tone for the team.
Tech hasn’t played well on either side of the ball this season. CPJ’s gotten a lot of the credit for the success Tech has had the previous two years, so I think he has to take most of the blame for them struggling this year.
Sowega
September 28th, 2010
1:22 pm
Bobo needs to go more because he has had the time to buikd his system. If Groh’s defense looks like this next year then that will be a different story.
Sowega
September 28th, 2010
1:22 pm
Sorry I meant build
UGA Insider
September 28th, 2010
1:23 pm
You can say what you want about Grantham but to be honest, the UGA defense has played well enough for us to be 4-0. Yes, there have been missed assignments and horrid tackling but if our offense could average 30-35 points per game like they are suppose to, UGA is a top 5 team at this moment. However, the offense has gotten progressively worse every week and opposing defensive coordinators know that Bobo is not creative which makes us easy to gameplan. Folks, UGA is in real trouble this season. 3-8 would not surprise me if CMR doesn’t make something happen. Also, everyone is scratching their heads at what’s going on with the offensive line. If I were Searles I would bench every one of them because they are simply not playing hard. They also look weak and unprepared.
Dawglasville
September 28th, 2010
1:23 pm
One thing we do know. At the end of the year at least one of the fan bases has in state bragging rights. So we have that going for us.
GoodTimes
September 28th, 2010
1:25 pm
Would you guys expect a head coach to jettison a Coordinator 4 games after he hired him? Get off CPJ’s case. And give Groh a chance. Do you know how impatient you are? Bobo, on the other hand, has been the target of Bulldog fans’ ire for a long time. After this many years, if you can’t score…..well, what’s your excuse?
GTBob
September 28th, 2010
1:25 pm
Bobo has been at UGA for what? 10 years? Four as the OC. Al Groh has been at Ga Tech for 4 games. This isnt exactly a fair comparison. Although I agree both have been bad. I think Groh deserves more then 4 games to make his defense work.
South Ga Dawg
September 28th, 2010
1:27 pm
Bobo is the bigger bust. He has plenty of talent to work with and can’t figure out how to move the football beyond three yards and a cloud of dust. Then the playaction off of a run thats not even working. No imagination in him. We have playmakers on this team but can’t seem to get them the ball in space. Beats all I have ever seen.
Ralph
September 28th, 2010
1:28 pm
joeyGT – I’ll answer your question. Tech, and they will again be playing in a bowl better the thUGA (IF thUGA plays in a postseason bowl game like Shreveport).
dawgfan
September 28th, 2010
1:28 pm
Schultzie, this poll and blog are a disappointment. The poll should have been: Who sucks the most, UGA or GT? I’m sure something along those lines is on the way, right?
Anyway, I thought Groh was a bush league hire from the get go. It indicated to me that Manboobs was not serious about taking GT to the next level. Groh was a disaster at UVA. If Mark Richt still influences the UGA offense then Groh surely played a part in those God awful UVA D’s.
I thought Bobo showed some promise in ‘07 but it has become apparent that having Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno in the backfield could make a drunk monkey look like a good OC. Bobo has been cluless without them.
old gold engineer
September 28th, 2010
1:30 pm
Good points, GT Alum. If CPJ gets the offense working better, I think the defense will look much improved.
Souljaboy
September 28th, 2010
1:30 pm
Richt and his cru stick together like glue. . . .
GTMustang
September 28th, 2010
1:31 pm
Jeff,
This is by far the dumbest article ever written by you, sir.
How can you include Groh in this article?
Not only does Groh not have the personnel needed to run the 3-4, the lack of talent is all to apparent. You can’t make chicken salad out of chicken crap. He’s using a defense that was recruited for the 4-3. Hell, the fact that two DC’s haven’t gotten much out of this group outta tell you something. Now, if this group had been shut down this year, I think you can blame Wommack. But so far, this group is the same with two different DC’s which leads the reasonable football fan to think that it’s the group not the DC.
I can’t believe of all writers for the AJC that you would include Groh in an article like this. Of course BoBo is the bigger bust, he’s had years to do what he needs to do and has the talent he needs to succeed, but Groh? Are you kidding me? After 4 games with guys who aren’t even recruited nor experienced with the 3-4 and you wanna blame the DC? If you thought the GT defense wasn’t going to need at least a year to rebuild you have proved your ignorance.
I am not happy with the defense, but I understand that this is an obvious talent problem and GT’s 2010 class has better players to run the 3-4 but they are redshirting for the most part which is the right thing to do.
For further proof, look at the 2010 true freshmen playing over 2008 and 2009 upperclassmen. Isaiah Johnson, Jeremiah Attaouchu, Bostic, Holton, and Young are all getting PT. Why? Because they better suited for the 3-4 than the guys with more 4-3 experience and their playing shows that.
Be patient.
BankerDawg
September 28th, 2010
1:32 pm
Jeff–
Way too early to judge Groh on his body of work (all of four games).
He clearly is a great defensive mind, based on his track record. Given the conversion to the 34 defense with 4-3 players, I just do not see how you can fairly judge the man after four games.
Disappointed with the results? Yes. Room for improvement? Absolutely. But give me a break, it is ridiculous to print this article now. Why not wait until the end of the year if the results continue to trend in this way?
With us, I think it is reasonable to look at our offense and ask some tough questions. Sure, with AJ out, it hurts us, but give me a break, we cannot lose ONE player and completely fall apart like this. Not when you have been selling a bill of goods about how talented we are, and what a bunch of great athletes we have on both sides of the ball.
We have issues. Tech, I think, just has growing pains, given the new scheme and ill fitting personnel. I think CPJ is correct when he looks at lack of effort and blown assignments on film. I watched the NC State game, and several times players were in position, but just did not make a play.
It’s also possible that NC State is really good on offense, no?
I think we’ll see both units improve as the year goes on. Tech will get better on defense, and we will get better on offense (lord I hope I am right).
My answer to the poll is “e”…..Impossible answer–the question is awful.
Hit A Single
September 28th, 2010
1:33 pm
I wonder how the people that get on these blogs and are so critical would like for their job performance be made public with an opinion poll. Oh I know it goes with the territory but that doesn’t change my question, especially when you can hide behind a screen name. But that is the American way now when no one has to be accountable.
joeygt
September 28th, 2010
1:41 pm
go gt
Mr Obvious
September 28th, 2010
1:41 pm
Schultz,
Once your career at the paper is over, try the National Enquirer or TMZ. Your journalistic insight and integrity are second to none.
Taylor Hanson
September 28th, 2010
1:41 pm
Pay me $750K a year like Grantham, and you can publish my performance reviews on Facebook.
wxwax
September 28th, 2010
1:42 pm
College football fans always blame the coordinators.
When it’s the players.
Neither school has enough talent on the defensive side of the ball. Arguably, Georgia doesn’t have a lot of talent on the offensive side, either.
If you want to blame the coaches, blame them for not recruiting better. In which case, nOObs Groh and Grantham get a pass.
Hit A Single
September 28th, 2010
1:43 pm
Who is a bigger bust, Schultz or Bradley? Do you think they are both terrible? Or do you not care enough to give a crap about either one.
The Braves, they...
September 28th, 2010
1:44 pm
Has to be Bobo. So much was expected, so little has been produced.
Ralph
September 28th, 2010
1:44 pm
It was the AJC sportswriter who came up with the criticism – and true to form he has the most for Tech’s Groh. Never mind that unlike Bobo he has been in place for a whole third of a season and instituted a new scheme.
These guys have barely noticed the Fulmer cup, Richt’s FSU recruiting and kid glove handling of thugs, hypocrisy of booting a freshman scout off the team for offenses that starters sit out a creampuff game.
gdawginkalamazoo
September 28th, 2010
1:45 pm
On average UGA has scored 1.33 TD’s per game in SEC play. For an OC that has been running the “system” for 3-4 years, with a veteran O line and 10 starters coming back Bobo has to be called out on this one. Sure Murray is new but he has been on campus a year and a half and appears to be fully capable of making any play given to him.
1.33 TD/game in ANY conference will get you a losing record. That is just pathetic.
I say Grantham is a big improvement and the losses are not the D’s fault. Sure we could use a few more turnovers but the players are still learning their positions. Sure that didn’t look too good against veteran offenses like SC and Arky when the big plays were given up.
I like PJ calling out his players. Classic.
reebok
September 28th, 2010
1:45 pm
i say bobo is worse, ONLY because he’s had ample time to figure out how to get his offense moving, while groh has had 4 games (and has won 2 of them) to install a new defense.
reebok
September 28th, 2010
1:46 pm
the tech-georgia game this year will be broadcast by comedy central.
Gadawg443
September 28th, 2010
1:47 pm
It has to be Bobo. The writing is clear — everyone agrees UGA’s downturn began in 2006, although Stafford and Moreno masked it a little.
Coach Richt turned playcalling over to Bobo in 2006!
Coincidense? I think not!
PermaGrin
September 28th, 2010
1:47 pm
Enter your comments here
harold
September 28th, 2010
1:48 pm
THE PROBLEM HERE IS RICHT!
T3
September 28th, 2010
1:49 pm
GT needs to run more 4-3 than 3-4.
GT’s got the horses for a 4-3 D, but not for a 3-4 D.
It will make a big difference this season.
Ralph
September 28th, 2010
1:49 pm
I vote the AJC is the worst, and it doesn’t much matter what the question is.
Gerald Prather
September 28th, 2010
1:49 pm
I have no problem with Mike Bobo, but it’s obvious that his game is just not cutting it! I mean, anybody can prepare to stop 4 plays! The same for Paul Johnson, his 1 formation football will never win a National Championship, especially when they can’t pass the ball! Solution: Mark Richt call the offensive plays for GA, GT needs to add a shotgun package or something! Make some changes or adjustments please, both teams are killing me!
joeygt
September 28th, 2010
1:49 pm
in coach pj system you dont need the most talented players he proved that at navy.. heck navy almost beat ohio state last year
gt lacks execution of the offense an defense
Vick=Dog killing thug
September 28th, 2010
1:50 pm
The real question is.. Who has hotter cheerleaders?
joeygt
September 28th, 2010
1:50 pm
any team will look bad when it doesnt execute what its soppose to do
Grobo
September 28th, 2010
1:51 pm
Put Bobo against Groh this year and Bulldogs get three field goals instead of two.
juvenal
September 28th, 2010
1:51 pm
best way to avoid criticism is to win..GT is rebuilding, uga thinks they only have to reload-too early to say about Groh, QB is a better poll…
MURPHY
September 28th, 2010
1:51 pm
Hit a single,
Pay me 750,000 a year and you can critique my job anytime you want. They get paid well and should perform to their level of pay. Cant stand the heat? GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!!
OldFan
September 28th, 2010
1:51 pm
Bobo gets the call. He’s had the opportunity to recruit the kinds of players who will make his system successful. So, he’s either recruited the wrong players, or can’t coach them to his system, or his system is just plain broken. Pick one, pick them all—it rests with him.
dawgfan
September 28th, 2010
1:52 pm
I like that reebok. Maybe Bob Uecker can play his character in Major League and do the play by play.
PermaGrin
September 28th, 2010
1:54 pm
PUH-LEEEZE, let’s get a little perspecitve here. GT’s D was NOT better last year, it was one of our worst Ds ever…and I can remember some bad ones. There was actual pass defense in the unc game, and there were a few times that ncsu was unable to pass. We had absolutley NO pass D last year. Moving to a new defensive scheme is not easy, and as much as I want to deny it, losing all those guys from last year has damn sure made a diff. Look, I really like A Allen, but he just doesn’t have the second gear that Dwyer had (yet). This stuff will take some time, and Nesbitt can’t carry the team on his back every game…remember, he’s gone next year. Better get behind the coaches instead of throwing rocks at’em.