Todd Grantham is YouTube gold — and that’s a problem
Todd Grantham's actions at Vanderbilt shouldn't be defended by anybody. (Johnny Crawford/AJC)
I hadn’t planned on writing any more about the incident between Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and Vanderbilt coach James Franklin Saturday night. But I’ve been astounded by how many Bulldogs fans have come to Grantham’s defense, so let me just get this out once:
There’s a line between emotion and stupidity, and Grantham crossed it.
Coach Mark Richt knows as much. Athletic director Greg McGarity, who has met with Grantham according to our Chip Towers, knows as much. The SEC is reviewing the incident.
Even Grantham — once he cooled down 36 hours later — somewhat admits he overreacted, saying this morning: “… It was unfortunate that things escalated to a confrontation. However, I’ll use it as a learning experience for myself as well as my players so that we all become better men.”
To recap quickly (video below): The Georgia-Vanderbilt game was an emotional one (more than one would have expected). Georgia had a few personal fouls (Kwame Geathers even punching a Vandy player while he was down). Some Dogs defensive players reportedly were upset about Vandy’s cut-blocking tactics.
But none of that excuses the way Grantham acted during a post-game feud with Franklin. For one, he’s a college coach. There something to be said about setting an example for youth .This has nothing to do with Georgia needing to show more emotion and a coach trying to fire up his troops. Emotion can be more of a weakness than a strength.
Secondly, some folks get the benefit of the doubt. Grantham is not one of them. Last season, he gave the choke sign to Florida kicker Chas Henry multiple times before the Dallas, Ga., native nailed a 36-yard field goal in overtime to give the Gators a 34-31 win in Jacksonville. (See video below.) That was even worse than this because it was a 44-year-old coach taunting a 21-year-old college kid.
A few days after that game, Grantham expressed regret about the incident, saying, “As a competitor, sometimes you get caught up in the heat of the moment. I wish the situation hadn’t happened.”
This makes it two straight seasons Grantham has been a YouTube sensation (or embarrassment). With the Florida game coming up, he might want to turn the other way during field goal attempts.
And from now on, just walk off the field after the game and avoid the handshakes. It’s clear he needs some alone time first.
Grantham after Vanderbilt game
Grantham against Florida last season
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933 comments Add your comment
ga gator
October 17th, 2011
5:17 pm
Barbara Dooley would not back down from anyone. Funny one Trisha
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 17th, 2011
5:18 pm
Tiger Dominator
Writes we would own them WOW
Yet you about got owned by Maryland
Classless
October 17th, 2011
5:20 pm
Are we not addressing the symptoms of this fight and not the cause? When it UGA going to start instilling discipline in their players that are constantly chirping and taunting? A few weeks ago I saw Nick Saban slap down his QB on camera for acting the fool, something you never see from Richt. Because of this leadership void, you get thugs like Grantham acting a punk just like the players.
Furman Bishop
October 17th, 2011
5:21 pm
You must know by now Schultz that nobody gives a damn about what you think,say or write.
Classless
October 17th, 2011
5:23 pm
If you are posting comments on the board, you care what Shultz writes.
stendek
October 17th, 2011
5:24 pm
Todd Grantham was not in the best of moods anyway. The offense and special teams of Saint Mark Wretch was surrendering points galore to a Vandy team known for its offensive ineptitude. The Dawg defense was mediocre at best. Seeing the punter, who was too close to the line of scrimmage, without two protectors in place and as slow as aged Rip Van Winkle, have the kick blocked with 15 seconds to play in a five point game did not sweeten his disposition. Mine either! A baldheaded Vandy head coach lashing at one of his guys at the end just added the final match to the flame. Glad someone woke Saint Mark Wretch up long enough for him to make token appearance. Such a gutless loser with no fire or emotion. At least DC has both!
A quick note
October 17th, 2011
5:27 pm
I love Barbara Dooley, except in that ugly orange, which even she hates.
Trish, trash talk all you want…but Auburn is still going down against GA….What was it 5 in a row GA beat aub before Aub sold their souls for one year of Scam….Well that payments come due again and Scam man is gone and so is aub when it plays GA.
01HAWK
October 17th, 2011
5:32 pm
Not all UGA fans saw a problem with GRANTHAM, but the ones that want to sweep this under the rug have serious problems themselves.
Why do most UGA fans not see a problem……………………………………..Unexplainable.
A quick note
October 17th, 2011
5:33 pm
Now bamard killing trees, that was classless….but absolutely hilarious as it fit perfectly with the bamard stereotype…..and what’s with auburn having a freaking drug store as their main claim to fame?! Toomers corner is it? Proud of that one are ya?!
Hey Bubba, let’s go over to the drug store and celebrate…..They have to be on drugs to live in that backwater state.
01HAWK
October 17th, 2011
5:34 pm
Put GRANTHAM and MUSCHAMP in a room together and see if each one comes out of the the room without a scowl on their faces or bruises on their body.
BOTH ARE LUNATICS
falcon
October 17th, 2011
5:34 pm
Grantham apologized. Franklin said he didn’t think he needed to apologize. Did you mention that Jeff?
A quick note
October 17th, 2011
5:36 pm
maybe their trees really had a Tumor
A quick note
October 17th, 2011
5:36 pm
Good point falcon
Just wondering
October 17th, 2011
5:38 pm
Can we not get a You Tube Video of Franklin and his facial expressions to show in slow motion. I’m sure that would look just as bad.
Cdpridg
October 17th, 2011
5:39 pm
Shultz..let me give you a clue on how things work and what the problem is. You said you were done with the Grantham story, but here you are writing on the subject once more. The fact is you and the media keeps talking and stirring the more defense is going to come to the side of CTG. We all know he overeacted…but if you want to write a story on Grantham everyday then do it but expect more and more defending of Grantham. you guys in the media love this stuff so spare me and anyone else with a brain in their head knows you guys are hardly a moral authority…so Shultzie are you moving on or writing another story…the fire will continue to slowly be put to your hind side in return
TwoDown
October 17th, 2011
5:40 pm
01HAWK,
Can’t speak for all UGA problems but my problem is with the reporting, particularly Schultz, as much as the finger pointing. Last year he takes Grantham to task for yelling at a UF player (as he rightly should have). This year he again takes Grantham to task…for REACTING
AAA Bail Bonds R Us
October 17th, 2011
5:41 pm
I hope Grantham is worth his $750,000 salary, because he’s going to continue to embarrass UGA and the people of this state as long as he’s in Athens. He’s a stupid loose cannon waiting to explode.
And by the way, how are Richt’s Dream Team Morons doing? Are any of them passing their remedial studies classes?
Oh, one more question – has Cornelius Washington sobered up yet?
And did they get some diapers for Israel Troupe?
Sorry, that was two more questions.
McGarity 5-OH
October 17th, 2011
5:43 pm
All I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten.
McGarity 5-OH
October 17th, 2011
5:45 pm
Yeah Washington’s sober and coming to get your stupid a$$.
Bright Idea
October 17th, 2011
5:46 pm
Bet the SEC sends Penn Wagers to J’ville. At least Meyer won’t be on the sidelines.
DaMan
October 17th, 2011
5:48 pm
Typical UGA reaction….and nice punch by Gaethers….don’t ever call another school “dirty” like the UGAy fans did last year to Auburn, your guys are terrible…..and this isn’t an isolated incident, he taunted the 21 yr old kid last year…….he needs his a** kicked……way to represent your school……I thought losing to UCF in a bowl game and only scoring 6 points was as low as UGA could go….but after this, not the case…..
RedandBlackDawg
October 17th, 2011
5:49 pm
J. Schultz,
Your first line was, “there is a line between stupidity and emotion and Grantham crossed it.”
Considering some of the opinions you offer in the articles you write, I would say then that he must have just stepped on your foot, if he did cross over.
Seems to me, you should be preaching to the coach at Vandy, and not Grantham. He did not let his players get harassed by the Vandy coach without letting him know about it. Maybe, if we had a little fire in our bellies and had shown it the last couple of years, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. If emotion is a bad thing, somebody better slow the Florida coach down or he is going to have a heart attack, before he reaches 50. I would bet his continuous complaints to the refs. during the game, aren’t along the lines of, ” say ref. can you explain to me, how that was called?”
GO DAWGS and GATA
mark louis
October 17th, 2011
5:49 pm
So it is acceptable for James Franklin to get in the face of an opposing player? What Franklin did was worse.
LHarding Dawg
October 17th, 2011
5:49 pm
DaMan – Let some idiot try to end your career with a chop block and you’ll probably punch him to. Just saying!
Alphare
October 17th, 2011
5:53 pm
Since James Franklin got in the face of an opposing player, Grantham’s behavior must be right.
Some guy beat up an elderly, it must be OK for a UGA fan to commit murder.
2010 BCS CHAMPS
October 17th, 2011
5:54 pm
Yep, dawg fans, players and coaches are thugs.
2010 BCS CHAMPS
October 17th, 2011
5:55 pm
“but Auburn is still going down against GA….What was it 5 in a row GA beat aub before Aub sold their souls for one year of Scam”
UGA easily has the dumbest fans in all of college football.
UGA: Chicago Cubs of the SEC since 1980.
Ginger
October 17th, 2011
5:59 pm
Jeff–you are right..Grantham has a weakness that he needs to work on…But to be fair—don’t we all have weaknesses….So let’s take this as a teaching moment
It is a shame he is in the spotlight and he has to be smarter than Coach Franklin..
He made a mistake to let Coach Franklin’s mistake become his mistake…Clearly Franklin was hot and he was hot before Coach Grantham. So let’s not forget Coach Franklin’s behavior.
Anger mgt, temper mgt is something that we all have problems with if the right button is pushed. We just have to be smarter and know when to turn and walk away and let our talking be through our playing on the field….It is good to be passionate—I like people that care and want all of us to be the best that we can be and reach our potential in life. Some of us have to work every day on anger mgt…It is harder for some of us than others….We have to pray, read things, talk with folks daily, listen to folks smarter than us, find out how others handle anger and learn. Coach Grantham is a good guy and he knows football. I am in his corner. I hope that he will read, pray, study, talk to other and learn how to control emotions and respond rather than react…..But never, never forget he is not a bad person….I am glad that he is at UGA.
.
Danny G
October 17th, 2011
6:01 pm
Pressure, pressure, pressure. How many “almost” fights did NFL coaches get into this week end? There is so much pressure to win for the all mighty dollar, it is amazing that it does not happen more often. Both Coaches were wrong, but is someone came up to one of my kids and cussed at him, I would be the first to tell you I would not just yell at that person. Leave it alone Jeff.
01HAWK
October 17th, 2011
6:01 pm
SABAN will not tolerate it. As a one poster stated when McCarron got to emotional SABAN got on him and told him to calm down. Cortney Upshaw did not start against OLE MISS due to he got a little mad at a VANDY player and stepped on him I believe.
Will CMR do the same with WILLIAMS and GEATHERS.
Probably not. From CROWELL TRASH TALKING to the others mouthing off it has become a very undisciplined team.
Go ahead and stick up for them, I am not surprised.
5150 UOAD
October 17th, 2011
6:02 pm
Not close UGA fan………………..“but Auburn is still going down against GA….What was it 5 in a row GA beat aub before Aub sold their souls for one year of Scam”
11/13/2010 @ *Auburn (14-0)L 31 49
11/14/2009 vs. *Auburn (8-5) W 31 24
11/15/2008 @ *Auburn (5-7) W 17 13
11/10/2007 vs. *Auburn (9-4) W 45 20
11/11/2006 @ *Auburn (11-2)W 37 15
11/12/2005 vs. *Auburn (9-3) L 30 31
11/13/2004 @ *Auburn (13-0)L 6 24
11/15/2003 vs. *Auburn (8-5) W 26 7
11/16/2002 @ *Auburn (9-4) W 24 21
11/10/2001 vs. *Auburn (7-5) L 17 24
Richt against Auburn. I don’t see a 5 in a Row anywhere.
Hit A Single
October 17th, 2011
6:05 pm
You can tell Schultz has never been in the heat of battle. If he had he could understand this happening. I’ll be honest with you this is being given way too much attention. I see college basketball teams fight and yell and they get not near the attention. Get over it.
coach for years
October 17th, 2011
6:06 pm
FINALLY, someone on the dawgs bench with some fire. Jeff- shut the hell up, you and the rest of the Richt sissies. Now the players actually have someone they can respect, a coach who will stand up for them. Fire everyone but Grantham because we’ll never win a national championship with these gutless pansies.
T'TownDawg
October 17th, 2011
6:06 pm
WOW – Jeff, let’s get some fair and balanced reporting. I only wish the sidelines were opposite at Vandy. Then you would have the camera face front shot of the VANDY HEAD COACH, pointing and shouting at a UGA PLAYER-STUDENT ATHLETE!!! Only see the back of CTG head as it bobbles and he points at Vandy HC.
Perception and perspective are a result of the camera angle, it should not get the Vandy HEAD COACH, off the hook for going after a student athlete?!?! CTG, and adult, confronted another adult HC of a university to protect his player, who was getting attacked….
What if the Vandy HC is going after your son Jeff, you going to let it happen? or step in?
As far as setting example, I just can’t get over the fact the Vandy HC went after a student athlete, and has no remorse, and no apology fro his behavior; read his comments, what an errogant S@B. Repremant CTG for protecting his player OK, but the SEC needs to put the hammer down on VHC for going after a student athlete.
If only the camera angle was reverse, this whole story is about VHC, JAMES FRANKLIN, and not CTG and UGA . Please consider all the facts before writing such poor columns, really lost a lot of respect today….
Charles
October 17th, 2011
6:06 pm
So you weren’t going to write on it, but you just couldn’t stand all the UGA fans rallying on something, so you’ve decided to insert your meaningless, biased opinion to sway the masses? Yeah, and maybe ESPN will have you provide an op-ed on the incident, lol. Oh, that’s right, they’ve already hired away the decent AJC scribes and left the scraps for us to suffer reading every day.
You’re so damn predictable, Schultz.
1eyedJack
October 17th, 2011
6:07 pm
Coach Grantham don’t suffer from Low-T.
Jeff, do you have shoes to match your purse?
What’s wrong with a mustache? I’ve had one since I was in the sixth grade.
1eyedJack
October 17th, 2011
6:10 pm
Don’t start nuthin’ won’t be nuthin’.
If Franklin has kept his mouth shut and just congratulated Coach Richt as protocol dictates this would not have happened.
BoutTime
October 17th, 2011
6:15 pm
I for one am glad to see a little emotion on the Dawgs sideline. Kids need good role models, yes, but they also need to know their coaches believe in them and have their back. Football is an emotional sport… teams win and lose on it. Folks that can’t deal with the emotion of the game – especially where there is a simple immediate post-game exchange of words, need to move on to bowling or something.
wolfman
October 17th, 2011
6:16 pm
What a classy program!
you're all idiots
October 17th, 2011
6:16 pm
still trying to find one piece of evidence, aside from the infamous and clearly egregious “finger point”, that coach franklin “went after”, “berated”, or “verbally attacked” shawn williams.
DRO
October 17th, 2011
6:17 pm
Jeff, where is your evenhanded journalism? All this critisim of Grantham and none for Franklin. Since when is it ok for the coach of the opposing team to seek out a player start pointing at him and saying something that caused Williams to turn and walk away? If you are going to go after Grantham for yelling at the opposing coach, than you should go after Franklin for his conduct towards Georgia players. Fair is fair.
Cheryl
October 17th, 2011
6:18 pm
Grantham is certifiably psychotic. Fire his ass now before he kills an innocent person.
DaMan
October 17th, 2011
6:18 pm
@ quick note — question for you — when was the last time UGA not only won the SEC, but even played in the SEC Champ Game……face it, UGA is totally irrelevant to College Football, and a 6-7 season with a loss to UCF takes the cake…..what do you want ESPN to do, talk about how UGA may have a winning season this year?? Time to wake up and realize that nobody cares about UGA football except the ones who follow the Dawgies……
5150 UOAD
October 17th, 2011
6:24 pm
So what is the CURE for this?
What is the Solution?
Why did it happen?
I say it is mostly that the Dawgs play dirty and other teams have to play the same to compete.
Nobody is mad at Bama for putting out what 2 QB’s now? It is how classy the game is played that affected the ending to this WWE event.
bamaguy
October 17th, 2011
6:24 pm
It is likely that we will never know exactly what happened. Unless the SEC publicly reprimands someone (which is unlikely) it will all be handled internally.
I agree that UGA is the victim of bad camera angles because we only saw the face and actions of one coach. But unfortunately for UGA what was seen, and continues to be seen over and over on youtube, is a ranting out-of-control coach, and that coach is wearing a baseball cap with a big G on it.
Bob LaBlah
October 17th, 2011
6:25 pm
Franklin did sumthin first! Waaaah! Waaaaah!
macmcrae
October 17th, 2011
6:25 pm
LOL AJC I have no respect for you cowards. You turn off comments for your news stories because 99 percent of your readers disagree with your liberal positions and they are fed up with your weak sauce leftist slant. Grantham is the best thing going for UGA football. The problem with our team is it reflects the emotionless flat demeanor of Richt who walks up and down the sideline like a sunday school teacher. We need a warrior like Grantham to get these gifted but lethargic automatons FIRED up for big games. I am so tired of watching Georgia play like they just woke up. These guys are beasts. They should act and play like it.
01HAWK
October 17th, 2011
6:29 pm
GRANTHAM will get suspended for one game.
proud dog
October 17th, 2011
6:30 pm
I’m embarassed good coach lousy person
01HAWK
October 17th, 2011
6:30 pm
Can we have some tissue PLEASE…………………………………………….. for UGA fans.
You GUYS have serious ANGER MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS.