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
Boobie Bowden
October 17th, 2011
4:19 pm
Grantham better be thankful Monahan has more self-control than he does or Grantham would still be trying to pull his head out of hi nether regions.
Weather Channel Expert
October 17th, 2011
4:19 pm
Everyone post how much money they made last year. I want to know who I am dealing with.
5150 UOAD
October 17th, 2011
4:20 pm
How many more years does BOBO have to keep a job at UGA to draw a State Pension? You people do know the Highest paid Retired State Employee is Ray Goff at of $700k/yr.
Hit A Single
October 17th, 2011
4:20 pm
Hey Buzzz on Senior Day at Ga. Tech why do they call out the majors of the senior band members but they don’t give the majors of the football team? They don’t want to say Sports Management major. How many football players are engineering majors? That is what I thought.
Tiger Dominator
October 17th, 2011
4:20 pm
Please do not bring Atlanta into this. Have you ever been there? If there is a worse Olympic city I’d love to know what it is. The place is a garbage-infested dump.
Loveliest Villager
October 17th, 2011
4:21 pm
We have a coach who understands and loves the concept of Junkyard Dogs.
No, you have a jerkoff thug coach.
D Fence
October 17th, 2011
4:23 pm
Meanwhile….in the utopia that is Gainsville…think he’s pissed now, just wait til 7:00 Oct 29.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_college_uf/2011/10/espn-cameras-pick-up-will-muschamps-rant-at-refs.html
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 17th, 2011
4:23 pm
Buzzzzzzzz
Glad to know Georgia Tech Football has a high SAT score
Im surprised though
You would think such smart people could figure out how to win in the easiest conference in America and beat a middle of the road UGA football team
Oh and Tech ranks #36 in National University’s, UGA ranks #62
Be glad that Tech has all those foreign students ehh
And we dominate you in sports
LaGrange Resident
October 17th, 2011
4:23 pm
Jeff why dont you go write for Auburn since you never have anthing good to say about UGA anyways…its always dispair and controversy
Joe
October 17th, 2011
4:23 pm
Grantham was correct and anyone who think otherwise is an idiot who never played at a high level. Kudos to Grantham for sticking up for his players!!!!
Erk Russell
October 17th, 2011
4:24 pm
Please don’t mention my name in the same sentence with that Neanderthal loser Todd Grantham.
I wouldn’t let that doofus tote my jock strap.
5150 UOAD
October 17th, 2011
4:24 pm
Tiger Dominator……………Dabo is the Head Coaching version of Mike Bobo……. Dabo is no prize.
P_The_Ricker
October 17th, 2011
4:25 pm
Schultz, you moron!
Schultz, you hack!
Schultz, you ignorant dude!
UGA fans/backers aren’t necessarily backing the reaction by grantham, but instead are primarily attacking your lack of investigative journalism. trying getting the whole story correct before you not only write one article about an event…..but another one some 1 1/2 days later when you have ample time to get all of the facts straight.
the sad thing about blogs is that there is no PROOFING by qualified editors
greg
October 17th, 2011
4:26 pm
Oh no!!!! JS and the AJC are upset and astounded that UGA fans came to TG defense. What’s the world coming to? Maybe Dawg fans are tired of being crapped on by a second rate newspaper and a crappy blog writer. CTG has to take some responsibility, but if the Vandy coach doesn’t point and shout at a UGA player then none of this happens in the first place. Franklin initiated the entire thing, and imo it was calculated by him for a reaction.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
October 17th, 2011
4:26 pm
@Tiger (the 3rd Tiger team in the south, the one without the BCS trophy) Dominator
Raises her hand … ooo ooo sir you forgot what else AU has
It’s made of Waterford Crystal, and it’s shaped like a football, and it comes with this large black base thus inscribed.. “2010 BCS NCAA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS ” And you can’t buy one..USC proved that. Is Dabo short for something, or were his parents just ’special’ ?
Erk Russell
October 17th, 2011
4:28 pm
“Maybe Dawg fans are tired of being crapped on by a second rate newspaper and a crappy blog writer.”
Then hire a decent Head Coach who knows how to hire qualified assistants. It ain’t brain surgery people!
hmmmm
October 17th, 2011
4:28 pm
Schultz, where was this holier than thou attitude 10 years ago?
Admitting your misgivings from writings back then and turning over a new leaf?
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 17th, 2011
4:28 pm
Tiger Dominator
The state of Georgia has hosted the Olympics, Bowl Games, Final Fours, Super Bowl and World Series
I havent seen South Carolina host anything better than the local Chicken Fair every year
If I were you I would stop drinking the alcohol, your statements are about as stupid as your neighbor the chicken farmer
RGP
October 17th, 2011
4:28 pm
If Franklin started it by yelling and getting in the face of a UGA player then the start of the problem was not with Grantham. Schultz you love to put the blame on UGA. Are you sure you aren’t a Tech fan? I never see you write anything positive in your articles about UGA.
Chanticleer
October 17th, 2011
4:29 pm
Bi-Polar Grantham was very courteous after UGA beat Coastal Carolina 59-0.
5150 UOAD
October 17th, 2011
4:29 pm
TrishaDishaWarEagle………..easy Clemson did just beat your tigers on the field and it is now 2011 not 2010.
Penelope B
October 17th, 2011
4:30 pm
What really gets me is the whining and moaning AU had to hear last year about how “classy” UGA was and how bad and dirty ole mean Auburn was… what a bunch of pansy, whining hypocrites…
I'm flying a Georgia Tech flag right now
October 17th, 2011
4:30 pm
Thanks RGP.
Confused Dawg
October 17th, 2011
4:31 pm
Everyone complains that the AJC writers never write anything positive about UGA, but they never give any examples of what these “positives” might be.
What has UGA done lately to warrant a positive article being written about them?
dawg supporter
October 17th, 2011
4:32 pm
P-Th-Ricker,
My feeling exactly!
Tiger Dominator
October 17th, 2011
4:32 pm
We have a national title too, Trish. One we didn’t buy. Oh…and we didn’t suck the next year, like you guys. You’re horrible. LOL
rally
October 17th, 2011
4:32 pm
Paul Finebaum just said it right: “I wish Franklin would have taken Grantham’s head off. Somebody needs to put that smart (blank) coach in his place.”
5150 UOAD
October 17th, 2011
4:32 pm
If you don’t like Bradley or Schultz you can always read King and Towers.
Flat Tire on I-95 in Jacksonville
October 17th, 2011
4:33 pm
Tiger Dominator
Your the top 1%
LOL
Well congrats on winning the lottery because by your ignorant statements that you have made you sure didnt earn it
Here is some advice 80% of lottery winners end up broke within a decade make sure you dont spend all of it on beer and toothless women in South Carolina
TrishaDishaWarEagle
October 17th, 2011
4:34 pm
5150, yes they did and I gave them their proper due by congratulating them on their first victory over Auburn since 1951. That was 3 weeks ago, this is today
Mountain Dawg
October 17th, 2011
4:34 pm
I don’t know if you were watching the same game I saw on tv. It was one of the poorist televized games I’ve ever seen.
I don’t know if you were watching the same game that I was on Saturday night. It was one of the poorest televised games I have ever wittnessed.
One camara must have been stationed in Kentucky and the other in Ringgold. But what one could not help but notice if you were following the play away from the ball was a lot of chop blocking by Vandy. I do not condone personal fouls for any reason, but sticking up for your players when that kind of crap is going on is what we need.
dawg supporter
October 17th, 2011
4:34 pm
confused,
how about 5 wins in a row? how about how much off the field disciplinary problems have gone away. how about how much the “dream team” freshman have positively impacted the team…….etc
Tiger Dominator
October 17th, 2011
4:35 pm
I’m laughing at the UGA fans especially. Any team that lets the chickens beat them regularly should crawl in a hole.
I wish you wouldn’t have bailed out of scheduling us. Hope you enjoyed Coastal Carolina.
LOL
Live From New York
October 17th, 2011
4:36 pm
To those who condone or vigorously support Coach Grantham’s hotheaded, profane, public reaction to Coach Franklin’s emotionally unhinged, deplorable behavior at the end of Saturday’s game, I ask:
1. When do two wrongs make a right?
2. When does the Golden Rule not apply?
3. When is it a mistake for a football coach, an adult leader of young men, to take the high road and refuse to engage in a confrontation on the gridiron?
4. When is it wrongheaded to control your temper?
5. When is it acceptable to embarrass your employer (in this case, UGA)?
6. In this situation, WWJD?
Tiger Dominator
October 17th, 2011
4:36 pm
Flat Tire, you douched yourself by beginning with “Your.” It should be “You are.” When trying to intimate that I won the lottery to earn my gaudy income, try not to display your density.
TwoDown
October 17th, 2011
4:37 pm
Schultz, you’ve really shown your true colors on this one. You state your obvious disdain for a coach yelling at an opposing player when it relates to a UGA coach yet when it happens with a Vandy coach yelling AT a UGA player you shrug it off and go after the UGA coach again for sticking up for the young man.
It’s one-sided reporting like this that gives your entire profession a bad rap. Be a man, take a side. If you’re truly as disgusted about a coach yelling at an opposing player as you seem to be when it involves a UGA coach then Man Up and find out what Franklin was yelling at Williams. Then you’d earn some respect from UGA fans. But as it stands you come off sounding like you have an agenda.
hmmmm
October 17th, 2011
4:37 pm
guess coach richt didn’t know how to hire a qualified assistant when he hired brian van gorder as dc with nationally ranked defenses. Or I guess he wasn’t a decent head coach when he went 13-1 or the year he finished #2 in nation. No, the good things don’t count, do they? He must’ve just forgotten everything he knows about football, huh? Teams don’t go through cycles, do they?
Ask Texas how their past couple of years have been….or how was AL before team dodger Nick got there?
Now if your old enough to know Erk, then you shouldn’t be in the same category as the instant gratification generation.
TrishaDishaWarEagle
October 17th, 2011
4:37 pm
I did not realize we were 14-1 in the last 15 against Clemson until i looked it up. A 61 yr old in the stands at this years game would have been born the year they last beat Auburn.
Confused Dawg
October 17th, 2011
4:38 pm
Hooray!
We squeaked past 5 cupcakes and we aren’t in the lead for the Fulmer Cup this year… Yet.
Bought n 1981
October 17th, 2011
4:38 pm
Tiger Masterbaiter y’all did buy your one title check the books that’s the reason you couldn’t play in a bowl game for 4 years after
St Simons - we're on Island time
October 17th, 2011
4:39 pm
a problem? It’s only a problem if the University doesn’t back up the staff member protecting his student.
What is this the ACC basketball-league-pretend-football blog?
Hate on, haters. Jealousy is a terrible emotion.
I’ll pay your fine, Todd, if you’ll deck him next time.
PHIL
October 17th, 2011
4:40 pm
Shultz (you remind me of the Hogan’s Heroes character),
Why don’t you do an article on what Shawn Williams parents think about what CTG did? The parents of these kids entrust their care to the coaches and staff at the University of Georgia. If you are an adult and another adult verbally assaults, challenges, what ever you term you’d like to use, a kid in your presence, what kind of person are you if you don’t stand up for, and do so vehemently, for that kid? If you are a parent and another adult did what Franklin did to your kid, what would you have done? Invite him for ice cream after the game? ANY employee of the University of Georgia who would not have done the same thing should be fired on the spot. They have a responsibility to the kids and their parents that far out weighs anything concerning how something “looks” or if it is politically correct. What kind of moron do you have to be to be concerned more about how something “looks” than another adult attacking a kid??????? Where is the article about Franklin and how he “has no regrets” and every move he makes is “carefully calculated?” Idiot.
P_The_Ricker
October 17th, 2011
4:41 pm
If memory serves, the last year clemson even finished in the top 10 was 1990.
tiger dominator,
how big was that rock that you just came from under??
A quick note
October 17th, 2011
4:41 pm
to the pooh Tiggers, SEC makes the SEC schedule for each school. Individual schools do their non-conference. Nobody backed out of scheduling Tiggers this year….idiot
Tiger Dominator
October 17th, 2011
4:43 pm
We already waxed Auburn this year. (They’re terrible, BTW.) I just wish we could wax some other SEC teams before we crush the coots (as usual.)
bamaguy
October 17th, 2011
4:43 pm
Trisha: It’s just trophy envy. The four states with no BCS Championships: Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia. Florida has four (at three different schools), Alabama has two (at two different schools), Louisiana has two (both at LSU) and Tennessee has one.
And at the end of the season, there will likely be another one in either Louisiana or Alabama.
Tiger Dominator
October 17th, 2011
4:44 pm
UGA bailed on our agreement. Look it up. We’d play them every year but they wanted to play Coastal instead.
Born 2 Bark
October 17th, 2011
4:44 pm
Was very embarrassed about the choke sign he made last year and the situation got the attention and reprimand it deserved.
In this case, I’m not embarrassed at all. I’m not happy about this happening, but Grantham did not start this, FRANKLIN did. It is NOT Franklin’s place to dress down another team’s player and he was TOTALLY wrong for verbally assaulting Shawn Williams. Grantham backed up his player which is what a good coach should do. Should he have handled it differently? Yes, he could’ve kept his cool better while still defending Williams. Let’s move on, shall we?
Again, this is football people, it is a macho sport that thrives on passion, anger, fear, and intimidation. If you’re offended by this and think it’s uncalled for go watch the damn Disney channel!
Barnyard Follies
October 17th, 2011
4:44 pm
NO JEFF HE DID NOT CROSS IT……..MAYBE THE VANDY COACH DID BUT YOU WONT HEAR ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT HE DID BECUASE WE CANT SAY SOMETHING BAD ABOUT THAT PARTICULAR COACH…….GRANTHAM DEFENDED HIS PLAYERS….ASK THE MORON AT VANDY WHY HE YELLED AT ONE OF OUR PLAYERS….ASK HIM WHY ALL THE CHOP BLOCKS…….GEEEZZZ……GET OVER IT
5150 UOAD
October 17th, 2011
4:45 pm
bamaguy
When did the BCS start? What year?