Grantham now providing the right highlights at Georgia
Mark Richt and Todd Grantham both earned contract extensions. (Brant Sanderlin/AJC)
ATHENS – Once you get past the standard, astronomic, cartoon-like expectations of spring — Will Georgia go 13-1 next season? Maybe 14-0 if the dang, cheatin’ refs ain’t from Bessemer? — it’s worth noting that Todd Grantham has accomplished something pretty significant in Athens.
Something even bigger than evolving from sideline sideshow on YouTube — and who knew that was possible?
The Bulldogs, the team headed by a former offensive coordinator (Mark Richt), the program that recently had produced the likes of A.J. Green and Matthew Stafford — only to too often get punched in the mouth by Alabama, Florida or LSU — has discovered the key to success in the SEC.
Defense.
Who knew?
It’s important to note that college football in general, and the SEC in particular, doesn’t mirror the changing NFL. The pros have become pass-happy on offense. That means nickel defenses are now the rule, not the exception (which means old-school middle linebackers such as Curtis Lofton, who neither pass rush nor drop into coverage, can’t command the lofty free-agent dollars they used to).
But defense still rules in the SEC, and this is where Georgia’s return to relevance comes in.
When Grantham — Richt’s fourth choice as defensive coordinator — was hired two years ago, the Dogs were coming off a season in which they ranked 38th in total defense and 63rd in points against. The question wasn’t whether Willie Martinez would get fired, the question was whether he would be able to make it out of the parking lot.
Oh, boy. Here we go again.
Grantham, now in his third spring with the Dogs, has brought success — the defense ranked fifth in yardage last season, 23rd in scoring and third in third-down efficiency– but more important he has changed the mentality and the focus at Georgia.
When asked what is different now from what he saw on tape from Georgia players when he arrived, Grantham said, “The biggest thing we’ve done is we’ve become more resilient. We’ve learned to play every play. Did guys learn our system better last season? Yes. Were guys more comfortable? Yes. But playing the next play, competing, playing the game the way you’re supposed to, with effort, with toughness — that’s it. We’re tougher mentally. We’re tougher physically.”
There will be no cartoon-like predictions here. But that change in philosophy, combined with the Dogs’ soft-as-nougat-schedule next season, does set up for a potentially — potentially — special season. Also, Grantham seems to have learned from his own head-exploding tendencies.
“I’m driven,” he said, in comical understatement.
Driven — sort of like how Yosemite Sam was driven to get Bugs Bunny, only to inadvertently wire his boot to the dynamite.
Grantham admits he has “lived and learned. There are cameras everywhere.”
Two years ago, one spotted him grabbing his throat and yelling, “You’re gonna [bleepin'] choke” at Florida kicker Chas Henry, as the 21-year-old was lining up for a potential game-winning field goal.
Last season came the postgame skirmish with Vanderbilt coach James Franklin, fueled in part by Grantham’s beliefs that the Commodores were playing dirty.
Days following each incident, Grantham expressed regret. “I’ll use it as a learning experience,” he said of the Franklin confrontation.
So it won’t happen again?
“We’ll see,” he said, smiling. “When you put a hundred hours a week into something, you’ve got a pretty vested interest in it.”
Two embarrassing incidents had the potential to derail things. But Grantham has managed to overcome, well, himself.
The defense succeeded last season despite having 11 different lineups in 14 games because of suspensions and injuries. Georgia has great athletes, but that always has been the case. College teams aren’t defined by the number of stars on letter-of-intent day, they’re defined by how players develop and play.
“In this profession you either get better or worse, so you can’t stop teaching,” Grantham said. “In the pros [as an assistant with Dallas] I saw that if a guy knew that you could make him better and extend his career, you never had issues with him. At this level, you’re obviously developing more. But when players know you have a genuine interest in them and they believe in you, that goes a long ways.”
Grantham spent 11 years in the NFL. When asked if he prefers coaching in college, he said, “Obviously, I wanted to come here. I was friends with Nick Saban and used to watch him when he was at LSU. Systematically, we’re pretty similar. I felt like we could have that kind of success.”
The Dogs aren’t nearly at the Saban level of success. But at least they’ve figured out which side of the ball matters most.
By Jeff Schultz
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458 comments Add your comment
GTBob
March 28th, 2012
4:14 pm
Grantham > Groh
What has Grantham done in his career (NFL or College) that is so impressive? From what I can see he had one DC position in the NFL that he failed miserably at. He has had one average year and one above average year at UGA. Is there something im missing?
Mike Bobo 17 INT
March 28th, 2012
4:15 pm
I have heard that Bryant-Denny is running out of room for their national championship trophies.
Attached is a link to their most recent:
http://www.bryantmuseum.com/
Mike Bobo 17 INT
March 28th, 2012
4:19 pm
@GTBob
Quite frankly, Grantham has more to work with at UGA as compared to Groh, and Grantham has done a good job of improving their defense. If Grantham gets the defense up to speed, then UGA could be dangerous, but the inept coaching staff and cocky fan base will undermine any moves toward a national title.
PJ is not placing enough emphasis on defense as opposed to his spread option offense. Gailey handed PJ some top-level talent before he left, which proves Gailey was not bad at recruiting or installing his defense schemes with Womack.
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:26 pm
If crystal balls defined a school Alabama fans would not still be trying to find acceptance from Georgia fans and many others on a Georgia newspaper site after their recent success. Please understand this Bama fans…You can win the next 10 national championships and your school will still be looked upon as crap.
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:28 pm
GTBob
March 28th, 2012
4:14 pm
Grantham > Groh
What has Grantham done in his career (NFL or College) that is so impressive? From what I can see he had one DC position in the NFL that he failed miserably at. He has had one average year and one above average year at UGA. Is there something im missing?
Yeah old fart Bob, so did Nick Saban and his NFL gig. Whats your point?
wtf?
March 28th, 2012
4:29 pm
Seems I remember very well, the last time Saban took his Tide to Sanibowl Stadium…ya know, the “blackout”…a 31-0 halftime lead forced some “acceptance” on Ga fans.
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:33 pm
wtf?
March 28th, 2012
4:29 pm
Seems I remember very well, the last time Saban took his Tide to Sanibowl Stadium…ya know, the “blackout”…a 31-0 halftime lead forced some “acceptance” on Ga fans.
Sigh yeah I was at that game in 2008..Were you even born then???
I remember many other teams putting up many points on that willie defense for a good while so dont flatter yourself thinking you were the only team to accomplish so a tremendous feat.
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:34 pm
such*
5150 UOAD
March 28th, 2012
4:34 pm
UGAKev…If crystal balls(VALUABLE DEGREES) defined a school Alabama(GEORGIA) fans would not still be trying to find acceptance from Georgia(TECH) fans. Please understand this Bama(GEORGIA) fans…You can win (1)national championship and your school will still be looked upon as crap)The Drunk Fake Blonde White Girls College & Plantation of Georgia).
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:35 pm
5150 UOAD
March 28th, 2012
4:28 pm
THEUS looks like a Tall Fat Big Breasted Molly Ringwald
I have to agree with you on this one. He really does..lol. But honestly if the guy can block I don’t care if his breast are double D’s.
wtf?
March 28th, 2012
4:38 pm
“I remember many other teams putting up many points on that willie defense for a good while so dont flatter yourself thinking you were the
only team to accomplish so a tremendous feat”
Willie’s gone, and last year ranked teams seemed to average 39/game. By the way, what’s a Housing Degree?
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:39 pm
Actually I didn’t realize the University of Georgia was looked upon as crap academically. If I realized going to Georgia Tech and becoming an engineer would make an employer hire me sooner I guess I should of went to Georgia Tech years ago. You have truly opened my eyes 5150..Thank you so much!
Gorilla Biscuit
March 28th, 2012
4:40 pm
“THEUS looks like a Tall Fat Big Breasted Molly Ringwald.”
He’d gorilla stomp you.
ROLLLLLL TIIIIDDDDEEEE
March 28th, 2012
4:42 pm
Whooiieee!!! There sure is a lot of hate and discontent on this board today! Don’t really see why though, because I haven’t been allowed in a Krystal or White Castle since January. Nothing to worry about though, most of the people in Alabama recognize the crotch-five as a compliment. I proposed to Dumb Dawg’s sister with a quick crotch-five in the back of a El Camino on Arbor Day. Took her up to look-out point in Toomer’s Corner. Never seen someone so excited about a dead patch ‘o leaves. Hehehehe. ROOLLLL TIIIIDDDEEE ROLLLL!!!
Gorilla Biscuit
March 28th, 2012
4:42 pm
And Coach Fishfry looks like a Short Fat Big Breasted Marla Hooch.
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:45 pm
By the way, what’s a Housing Degree?
The Housing major focuses on the socio-economic aspects of housing. Special emphasis is given to housing needs and the manner in which the family, the private sector, and government policy respond to those needs. The program features an in-depth study of housing finance and the range of housing alternatives. The program may also be used as preparation for graduate study or as a pre-professional degree. Students may choose an emphasis in Residential Property Management which prepares students to work with diverse groups in property management. Coursework includes sales (leasing), accounting, development, human resources, technology services, legal issues, training, and management.
Please tell me what is wrong with that ???
I assure you a housing degree banks a whole lot more money than your third shift job at wal greens.
yea right
March 28th, 2012
4:46 pm
He is a hot head and a bad representative for UGa. He’s good for one or two a year. We’ll be reading something about something he did come fall 2012. Wait and see.
@#UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:47 pm
Here’s one.
What do Georgia Tech and Georgia students have in common?
They can both get into Georgia!
Dumb dawgs
March 28th, 2012
4:48 pm
“What do Georgia Tech and Georgia students have in common?”
Herpes
Dumb dawgs
March 28th, 2012
4:49 pm
“Please understand this Bama fans…You can win the next 10 national championships and your school will still be looked upon as crap.”
Speaking of crap, how many more players will get arrested at UGA this year?
UGA is leading the Fulmer Cup race.
5150 UOAD
March 28th, 2012
4:49 pm
GORILLA he would PASS OUT drunk on me sooner now that he is in Alcohol Washed Athens.
UGAKev….UGa is #3 in the Special Education Conference behind Vandy and Florida. That is GOOD. You have the 1st smartest kids getting off the Short Bus.
wtf?
March 28th, 2012
4:49 pm
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:39 pm
“…I guess I should of went to Georgia Tech years ago…”
Oh yeah, that kind of speaking will get you hired! hahahaha
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:54 pm
Willie’s gone, and last year ranked teams seemed to average 39/game.
LMAO …Yeah that stat is so obscured that it shows your stupidity. Yes it’s called not having an ounce of a running game and your defense running out of gas from having to play a million possessions. Come back after year 3 under CTG’s defense with that stat. Well I guess it will be december after we roll through our easy regular season schedule.
ROLLLLLL TIIIIDDDDEEEE
March 28th, 2012
4:54 pm
We only give three degrees here at Alabama- Football National Titles, Horticulture, and Small Business Management. I blew my knee out in the summer of ‘83 and lost my ride for football. A tragic accident with some fertilizer, lithium, lye, flammable solvents and some two-litre RC bottles took horticulture out of the picture, so I’ve been managing the Piggly-Wiggly off the 65 in Birmingham ever since! Best career move ever, b/c their talking about stock options! Third shift is time and a half if I can ever talk my mom into driving me up here at 11pm to run the Night Stocking Crew! ROOOLLL TIIDDDDEE!!!
SEC Football Morning Coffee: Tennessee Making Moves on the OL | SEC Football
March 28th, 2012
4:58 pm
[...] Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution details the evolution of Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. [...]
wtf?
March 28th, 2012
5:04 pm
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
4:54 pm
Ok, try to follow, I know it’s hard for you, but, it’s simple math. We’ll call it “averaging”.
35 (Boise State) + 45 (S. Car.) + 42 (LSU) + 33 (MI St.) = 155 total points.
Now, divide the total (155) by the number of games (4) and the “average” point per game scored on ga is 38.75. But, since decimals are not used in scoring, we’ll round up (.75 is more than half) to 39.
39 average points per game to ranked teams. SEE? Even you should understand.
Without Hershel UGA is Vandy without the education
March 28th, 2012
5:07 pm
Kev I would not get too excited about your blowhard friend Grantham. What would his defensive stats be if he played a tough schedule? He gave up 20 points to the worst Gator offense since Emmit Smith and the gators played with a 1-legged QB. Comeback when you win one Leghumper!
Brainiac(Dawg For Life) / (CMR fan for life)
March 28th, 2012
5:09 pm
@ A Father:
If you live another 100 years you will NEVER see UGA finish LAST. Get a grip dude. It is just a game kinda like my daddy can beat up your daddy.
Gorilla Biscuit
March 28th, 2012
5:10 pm
UGAKev, if you argue with a doornob, you are bound to lose.
Brainiac(Dawg For Life) / (CMR fan for life)
March 28th, 2012
5:18 pm
@ Without Herschel:
I have a great idea. Why don’t you waddle over to Athens and tell CTG some of this to his face???
We all know why. After rearranging your face he would demonstrate his famous “Choke Hold” on you. Your own mother would not recognize you when CTG got finished. She would just say “How in the world did you get away child???”
Talk is cheap!!!!! Show us what you are really made of other than a single digit IQ!!!!
GTBob
March 28th, 2012
5:19 pm
Yeah old fart Bob, so did Nick Saban and his NFL gig. Whats your point?
Comparing a defensive coordinator with little success to a head coach with tons of success is probably not the best way to make your point.
ga gator
March 28th, 2012
5:20 pm
5150 UOAD, I would not be putting down the SEC academically; the last time I checked the ACC only had one more member of the prestigious AAU (5 to 4) as the SEC and Tech was not admitted until 2010. Vandy had been in since 1950 and UF since 1985. What major did your Einstein look a like Jonathon Nesbitt have loser?
A Father
March 28th, 2012
5:20 pm
If you are not first, you are last!
highlighted by the high ticket penalty GA paid for not having fans interested in the outback bowl game this year of which I was there. That makes me more of a fan than the others who here who did not support them in Tampa and or travel to away games as I do. I just want to play every QB we have on campus until we find one capable, after 3 years, enough is enough. Play them all till one steps up!!!!
Without Hershel UGA is Vandy without the education
March 28th, 2012
5:23 pm
Brainiac(Dawg For Life) / (CMR fan for life, that is the answer every leg humper has, my coach can kick your coaches azz. So how did fatboys defense do against ranked teams trailerpark genious?
GTBob
March 28th, 2012
5:25 pm
Your own mother would not recognize you when CTG got finished.
Usually guys who act as crazy as Grantham does aren’t really that tough. They act that way in an attempt to portray themselves that way. Its a mechanism for coping with insecurity.
Without Hershel UGA is Vandy without the education
March 28th, 2012
5:25 pm
They look like they are comparing Jail Visit requests in the picture above.
Brainiac(Dawg For Life) / (CMR fan for life)
March 28th, 2012
5:26 pm
@ ROLLL TTIIIIDDDDEEEE:
You left out one of the MOST important classes”Tree Poisoning 101″ but only the most intelligent of the Bammers are allowed to enroll.
ROLLLLL TIDDDEEE = DGD
ga gator
March 28th, 2012
5:26 pm
Easy boys, it is only spring and will be a long hot summer.
5150 UOAD
March 28th, 2012
5:27 pm
Ga Gator name them. You picked up Texas A&M and Mizzou. Texas A&M is full of MOE RONS for Athletes.
5150 UOAD
March 28th, 2012
5:30 pm
ga gator……………………Not Impressed with T A&M.
All 53 schools for which football SAT scores were available had at least an 88-point gap between team members’ average score and the average for the student body.
Schools with the highest admissions standards, such as Georgia Tech, the University of Virginia, the University of California-Berkeley, UCLA, and the University of North Carolina, had the biggest gaps between the SAT averages for athletes and the overall student body.
Football players performed 115 points worse on the SAT than male athletes in other sports.
The differences between athletes’ and non-athletes’ SAT scores were less than half as big for women (73 points) as for men (170).
Many schools routinely used a special admissions process to admit athletes who did not meet the normal entrance requirements. More than half of scholarship athletes at the University of Georgia, the University of Wisconsin, Clemson University, UCLA, Rutgers University, Texas A&M University and Louisiana State University were special admits. . . At Georgia, for instance, 73.5 percent of athletes were special admits compared with 6.6 percent of the student body as a whole.
The newspaper studied 55 of the countries largest public universities and found that the preferences given to special admits at many schools was disproportionately favoring athletes, particularly football players. For example, in 2004 the University of California reported that 95% of freshman football players on scholarship were special recruits while 47% of all freshman athletes on scholarships were special admits. In contrast, only 2% of all freshman students were special admits. At the University of Georgia and Texas A&M University, 94% of freshman football players were special admits.
Texas A&M is no better than Virginia Tech
ga gator
March 28th, 2012
5:31 pm
5150UOAD, let’s see: ACC Duke, Md, UNC, UVA and Tech in 2010. SEC, Vandy, UF, Missou and A&M. Face it boy, you are not even a basketball conference anymore.
ga gator
March 28th, 2012
5:33 pm
UOAD, so what is your point? Do you really think that the Jonathan Nesbitts of the world really study at places like Tech? No moron, they get preferential treatment just as they do at every university.
Carnac
March 28th, 2012
5:36 pm
Dont try to argue with techies, Gator man they spend all their time with their pocket calculators, weird video games and blowup dolls.
GTBob
March 28th, 2012
5:40 pm
Are SEC fans really using Missouri and Texas A&M as arguments for new found academic prowess? How comical.
ROLLLLLL TIIIIDDDDEEEE
March 28th, 2012
5:41 pm
Man even my fourth grade math is better than that!
INT LOST BSU-1 SC-1 LSU-2 MSU-2 FUM LOST BSU-0 SC-2 LSU-1 MSU-1
TOTAL TURNOVERS BTW THE FOUR GAMES-10
Can’t really blame the Puppies defense for the crap situations that their offense put them in. They also gave up two more STs TDs in those games as well. That averages out to about 2.5 TDs per game that the offense was directly responsible for and .5 TDs per game that STs were directly responsible for. Or, 21 pts/gm that had nothing to do with CTG’s Defense. But I’m just a Piggly Wiggly manager from Birmingham. What would I know?
UGAKev
March 28th, 2012
5:45 pm
WTF…Maybe your the one not following me here..Lets go back to my point of why the defense averaged giving up that much a game against those 4 teams. How about looking inside the numbers of why it happened instead of assuming the defense sucks against ranked teams.
Average the first half totals of all 4 games and give me your average. Wait Ill do it for you….lets see 14,14,7,0…..Okay now that equals 35 my little bright student. Im sure you prob knew that.
so 4 divided in 35 is………..no thats not right WTF.. it’s 8.75. lets round it to 9 pts. Ouch that means those second half numbers must be bad. But lets look no further to the Michigan State game to see a 16-0 halftime lead was blown not by the defense, but by the stupidity of the offense. Don’t let your hatred blind you…The moral of the story. ..Todd Grantham has a very good defense that will be even better this season with even more depth added to it.
ROLLLLLL TIIIIDDDDEEEE
March 28th, 2012
5:46 pm
Calculating the differentials for offensive t/o’s and ST’s malfunctions, that means that Grantham’s D gave up 28 pts/gm against top ranked opponents last season. The Dawgs gave up 20pts/gm on the season avg, meaning that they allowed about 1 more td/gm on defense against top ranked opponents than their season avg with differential for offensive turnovers added.
5150 UOAD
March 28th, 2012
5:48 pm
ga gator NESBITT was a MGT Major. We don’t offer P.E. majors like EVERY SEC SCHOOL. NO Tech professors don’t DUMB down the classes for Athletes like the Special Education Conference. VANDY would fit with the ACC in education. i don’t know enough about Mizzou yet to know. UF is an AAU college but not on VANDY’s scale. GREAT in SOME programs for sure and better in the Grad Programs. STUPID in the South means attend the SEC colleges. SMART in the South means go to ACC or B1G schools.
Reality Check
March 28th, 2012
5:56 pm
This is a joke…He has not led his defense to a win over a solid team / program yet. He lost to Carolina, LSU, Boise St and Michigan State….As stated int he article, UGA has a cream puff schedule and the defense will put up nice stats against all of the patsies and then fall to the one or two quality opponents….Joke…to mention him with Saban’s defense is a joke….
ROLLLLLL TIIIIDDDDEEEE
March 28th, 2012
6:01 pm
Statistics are fun! WHooooeeeee. Let’s look at some other statistics!!!
UGA- Top Opponent Ranking- 2, 8, 9, 11
GT- 19, 21, 22
UGA record vs FBS winning opponents- 4-4
GT record vs FBS winning opponents- 3-4
UGA defense allowed 300 yds/gm and 4.74 yds/play vs FBS winning programs
GT defense allowed 388 yds/gm and 6.8yds/play (yikes!) vs FBS winning programs
So, with those statistics, the Bugs played a weaker opponent schedule, had a worse record against those better opponents, and allowed a full drive more/game than that overrated Todd Grantham defense. They also lost (31-17) to those overrated Mighty Mutts.
Sounds like an awful lot of Jacket Buzz that their a$$es haven’t been able to cash.