Tech is close to a deal with Groh to coach its defense
Georgia Tech is close to an agreement with former Virginia head coach Al Groh to become the Yellow Jackets’ defensive coordinator, according to someone with knowledge of the situation. Tech coach Paul Johnson and Groh have discussed the position and plan to meet again, possibly before the weekend is out.
Asked if he and Groh were indeed close to an agreement, Johnson said Saturday: “No. Not really. I don’t know how this [talk of Groh] got started.”
Johnson attended Tech’s basketball game Saturday — the Jackets upset No. 5 Duke at Alexander Memorial Coliseum — and responded to the question at halftime.
Final agreement would likely come only after Johnson and Groh meet face to face.
Tech announced Friday that Dave Wommack, who served as Johnson’s defensive coordinator his two seasons here, would not be retained. Rumors had already begun to swirl about Groh, who was fired after eight seasons at Virginia, being in line as a replacement. Groh has been a defensive coordinator in the NFL.
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279 comments Add your comment
meee
January 9th, 2010
5:51 pm
first
vp
January 9th, 2010
5:54 pm
Your life is now complete ha meee???
Joe
January 9th, 2010
5:54 pm
sounds great! I just hate that there is so much bad info on the internet. I hope I am not disappointed Mark.
Go Jackets!
Ma Barker
January 9th, 2010
5:54 pm
Sorry for Dave. This would be a good hire in many ways. I just wonder what the commitment to 3-4 means to current players. Do we have the guys to play it? THWG
TechFan
January 9th, 2010
5:59 pm
MB, can you post some stats on this guy and how you feel like he would make an improvement over Wommack??
hannon
January 9th, 2010
6:00 pm
love the possibility he’s a great defensive coach and recruiter
willie martinez
January 9th, 2010
6:00 pm
what happened with georgia kentucky?
DawgInDC
January 9th, 2010
6:01 pm
Smart on his way to Athens…Going to be fun beating you nerds over the next few years
haywood...
January 9th, 2010
6:01 pm
good hire. hopefully uga will be better. smartly better.
mark,
any word on the “reports” that uga has gotten kirby?
willie martinez
January 9th, 2010
6:02 pm
if tech won, it your heart of hearts, you must have held the conviction that dookies would win.
Beef Cake
January 9th, 2010
6:02 pm
We should have some serious beef on the DL next season with TJ Barnes and JC Lanier at tackle.
AMG
January 9th, 2010
6:03 pm
I hope we sign him, he would improve the defense by light years. I feel sure we have good personel on the defensive side of the ball, we just need the right coach to get them going. GO JACKETS!
whoop de doo
January 9th, 2010
6:03 pm
High profile hire that was pretty much a failure in the Meadowlands and Charlottsville.
Musan
January 9th, 2010
6:07 pm
MB- we don’t care about football!! Give us updates on the world of warcraft.
haywood...
January 9th, 2010
6:08 pm
uga 64 uk 68
2 min left.
Baba O'Riley
January 9th, 2010
6:08 pm
Groh finished with a winning record while coaches his one year in the Meadowlands. Hardly a failure.
Joe's place Joe speaking
January 9th, 2010
6:10 pm
Who’s better Smart or Groh?
Elmore Spencer
January 9th, 2010
6:11 pm
Al Groh record as head coach
85-93
Ohhhh Scary !!!!!!
Joe's place Joe speaking
January 9th, 2010
6:12 pm
Sorry, let me phrase that correctly.
Who’s better Smart? Or Groh?
Elmore Spencer
January 9th, 2010
6:12 pm
BTW Mark you said dogs wouldnt cover. Wrong again
aztec
January 9th, 2010
6:14 pm
does this mean we are suppose to give hewlitt a pass now, now way not in my opinion
Elmore Spencer
January 9th, 2010
6:14 pm
UGA put a scare in em. With a little more depth dogs win.
bornloser
January 9th, 2010
6:16 pm
gt sucks who cares about the dc THEY SUCK
aztec
January 9th, 2010
6:16 pm
according to espn pre game shwo we have two lottery picks in our starting lineup, what they failed to mention is that we have a div 111 coach
Paul Johnson
January 9th, 2010
6:17 pm
Great Mark – will Groh be able to prevent 300+ yards of rushing including Morgan Burnett getting torched by Caleb King on an UNTOUCHED 75 yard run en route to 30-24?
willie martinez
January 9th, 2010
6:19 pm
76-68 kentucky. Mark, i hope you didnt bet heavy on this game.
O'Brien
January 9th, 2010
6:19 pm
Mark,
Do you think this would be a good hire, if it does happen?
uberVU - social comments
January 9th, 2010
6:19 pm
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by ajcsportseditor: RT @MarkBradleyAJC: Georgia Tech is close to a deal with Al Groh to coach its defense. http://bit.ly/5qWWVC ……
Buzzwax
January 9th, 2010
6:21 pm
YR UVA GT
Total D Yds/play Total D Yds/play
09 52 30 53 100
08 42 28 25 23
07 23 19 20 32 (Jon Tenuta)
06 17 25 27 15 (JT)
05 61 58 22 21 (JT)
04 18 42 12 12 (JT)
Stats per cfbstats.com
gtbob45
January 9th, 2010
6:21 pm
Any of you Dawg fans that think Kirby Smart actually coaches Alabama’s defense are delusional. During the championship game Alabama called a timeout on defense ,Saban coached the defense ,Smart had his hands in his pockets playing pocket pool. I guess with GA’s long history of outstanding pocket pool players Pollock,Greene,Stafford,Cox he would fit right in.
Gravy Train
January 9th, 2010
6:21 pm
Desperation Time! Scheme can only go so far without the horses…
Harry the Hat
January 9th, 2010
6:24 pm
UGA lost to Kentucky, and that’s as it should be. It’s never a good thing when UGA’s thugs win.
Al Groh would be a good DC at Tech, I think.
Harry the Hat
January 9th, 2010
6:24 pm
Ha ha, gtbob45 is pretty funny.
G
January 9th, 2010
6:25 pm
Enter your comments here
bill
January 9th, 2010
6:26 pm
to all you idiot UGA fans…
Al Groh isn’t coming here as a head coach..he’s coming as a coordinator and a good one with vast experience in the NFL and college.
As far as you morons..I hope you hire Kirby Smart. He’s been built up to be some wonderful DC….fact is Nick Saban runs that defense…period.
Jackets Keep Rollin'
January 9th, 2010
6:26 pm
If this is true, this is a solid hire.
Tech Man
January 9th, 2010
6:28 pm
Bornloser..that title fits you well..You must not know where your pups are ranked..OH YEA: THERE NOT (GO FIGURE!!!!!) FOOTBALL OR BASKETBALL THINK!!!!!!!!!!!!BEFORE YOU COMMENT
Dawgtastic
January 9th, 2010
6:28 pm
Groh will fit in well with the bugs. They both have losing traditions.
Techs Biggest Fan.."UGA"
January 9th, 2010
6:30 pm
He is a life time defense guy. NFL type,college type too, just not right for the HC job. Lets give it a shot.
GO JACKETS !!!
STGTwish
January 9th, 2010
6:30 pm
All the inbreds posting on subject is typical. Do you really think Smart would make lateral move to come to the leghumpers- what idiots. Good hire for Tech!
Pi$$onaDawg
January 9th, 2010
6:32 pm
How good is Smart? Will he learn anything at UGA. Smart stays at Bama and learns more from Saban in hour than he could learn in a lifetime from Richt.
G
January 9th, 2010
6:34 pm
You uga fans can think you own GT all you want. BP-before Paul, yea you owned us 8 out of 10. I will bet my life savings that ratio will even out as long as he stays at GT. Call his offense what you want, it is a proven winner. We lost to you this year because our defense was poor and is why CJP was quick to make the change. The man knows what he wants and knows how to win. You uga fans know it as well. So continue with your cute little remarks about “nerds, joke at coke, etc”, you better be looking behind you because someone is gaining on you fast.
Pi$$onaDawg
January 9th, 2010
6:34 pm
Smart can learn more in an hour with Saban than a lifetime with Richt.
Ray Goff
January 9th, 2010
6:34 pm
All UGA people are trash and should be stopped for traffic violations and suspended licenses, oh wait, those are the players…..well, the fans are certainly Jerry’s Kids on ther best day….whoo hoo…let’s go beat Louisiana School For The Small……unless we play a real big boy football team, then we’ll get killed and embarassed as usual….
Reality
January 9th, 2010
6:36 pm
Groh had a hell-uv-a defense at UVA. Hope he brings that to the flats.
Maybe uga will hire Womack. Dogs always get left overs, right?
Elmore Spencer
January 9th, 2010
6:37 pm
Maybe uga will hire Womack. Dogs always get left overs, right?
Not when we play Tech. That night we have steak
Elmore Spencer
January 9th, 2010
6:38 pm
you better be looking behind you because someone is gaining on you fast.
Who is that? Tech. LOLOLOLOL
gtbob45
January 9th, 2010
6:38 pm
I hear Alabama is displaying the national championship trophy at Wal-Mart. Maybe the Dawgs can display their pocket pool trophies at Family Dollar.
Elmore Spencer
January 9th, 2010
6:39 pm
Call his offense what you want, it is a proven winner.
Unless its a big game or the other team has more than a week to prepare. Then not so much.
pragmatic meteorologist
January 9th, 2010
6:43 pm
See, there’s NOOOOOOOOO such thing as global warming-Earth, 4.6 billion years old, hmmmmm recorded weather data (120-130 years),get the picture, don’t let the main stream media fool you