Heat Check: Grantham needs to sit; Johnson needs to chill
Todd Grantham is shown here debating the finer points of decorum.
Our weekly Heat Check arrives a day late due to Columbus Day. (Wait. That was last week? Never mind.) And we start at the obvious boiling-over point.
Todd Grantham, Georgia: He’s proving he’s a good defensive coordinator. (The Bulldogs rank eighth nationally in total defense.) He’s also showing he’s a bully. Giving the choke sign to an opposing player was bush league. Getting into it with the Vanderbilt coach — the Vanderbilt coach, I emphasize — after a victory tainted the whole winning effort and cheapened the Bulldogs’ brand, which had been in the process of undergoing some needed touch-up.
It’s one thing for players to get excited and stomp on a logo. (Georgia managed that trick at Vandy a while back.) It’s another for a grown man — Grantham is 45, which means he meets the Mike Gundy standard for grown-man status — to embarrass the program twice in 12 months. And I don’t buy the whole I’m-just-standing-up-for-my-players line: You can stand up for your players without baying at the moon.
(An aside here: I’d also be careful about angering this Vandy coach. James Franklin is going to beat some big names very soon.)
Don’t know what the SEC will do regarding Grantham. Don’t know if the SEC will do anything. Were I Greg McGarity and/or Mark Richt, I’d suspend Grantham for one game.
And who does Georgia play next? Florida. Yes, it’s a massive game for this football program. But sitting Grantham would also send a massive message: This is not how we do it at Georgia.
Now, do I think such a suspension will occur? Nope. But it should. Heat Index: Too darn hot.
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech: His team lost at Virginia and looked bad doing it. His postgame briefing was a classic in sardonic semi-humor. A highlight was PJ’s description of the long field goal attempt that was kicked “into the back of the line.” The word “bonehead” was invoked. From a dispassionate perspective, these sessions are always entertaining. That said …
I wonder, not for the first time, how Johnson’s players take them. No, they’re not in the room for his media sessions, but I’d imagine they read the highlights somewhere. I also imagine they hear similar sentiments expressed by PJ himself behind closed doors. And it’s undeniable that the feeling around Tech is that the Jackets win only when they do what the coach says and lose whenever they don’t.
And that, if you’re a player, gets old. As smart as a coach is — and Tech’s coach is very smart — he’s not out there getting smacked by 500 pounds of opposing manpower. Johnson is a great play-caller, but somebody wearing shoulder pads does have to make even the clever plays of his work.
I’m sure it’’s a lot of fun to play for Tech when everything’s working and you’re gaining 768 yards, but I wonder how much of a treat it is to be around Johnson when his team just laid an egg in Charlottesville. Can’t blame a coach for wanting more and better — that’s pretty much his job — but I think he needs to cut his men a bit more slack. Heat index: A chill pill for PJ would not be unwarranted.
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
900 comments Add your comment
GA_DAWG10
October 18th, 2011
11:01 am
When did we become “The U” of Georgia. Late hits, stomping on logos, trash talking after every play. Go back to the films. Did the 1980 team (Belue, Walker, Woerner) ever do this? No. They did, however, win the Nat’l Championship.
TX Dawg
October 18th, 2011
11:01 am
How in the world do we know what actually happened after the game. Just because the Vandy coach says so? There is two sides to the story and right now no one is listening to the other side. Reserve judgement until you know the facts (I know that is asking the impossible from the media though; you all live to throw stones).
Joey
October 18th, 2011
11:01 am
Total BS, MB.
It’s all about the “hits” UGA fans, and of course of ignoring this BS, we will provide the “hits” . . .
Gbal
October 18th, 2011
11:01 am
Come on Mark … I know your there,,, Why does Franklin get the pass?
Big Ten Champs Nebraska
October 18th, 2011
11:02 am
This situation epitomizes the typical redneck UGA fan. You make several, convoluted attempts to mitigate Grantham’s actions. It does not matter what was said to him, what set him off, or that he did not actually become physical. What matters is his behavior. It was repugnant and an embarrassment to the UGA program. If you truly love your team and program, you would be quick to condemn Grantham’s actions and then move on.
JB
October 18th, 2011
11:02 am
Do they have any trees we can kill they care about……….whoops, sorry Bama.
Dawg Tired
October 18th, 2011
11:03 am
Mark – You MAY be right about the appropriateness of sitting CTG for a game. On the other hand, you MAY be wrong. Simply need more facts. He clearly needs to be severely reprimanded. Regardless of what did or did not actually happen, hisr eaction was off the chart as far as acceptable adult behavior is concerned.
The mitigating factor here being just what did Coach Franklin do to set CTG off like this. Franklin is a fiery guy himself. I feel comfortable concluding he said something he should not have said. Still, CTG’s response was inappropriate. Does it deserve a suspension? Tougher question. Would like to know exactly why he reacted the way he did.
The more disturbing part of this whole fiasco to me is the allegation Franklin made to CMR to the effect that our players were “rubbing their faces in it” after the game. If that is in fact true, as a former coach, I would teach the guys a little humility during this off-week. Suffice it to say that they would not be “rubbing anybody’s face in anything while they remained on my team. There’s simply no place for such bush league behavior by the players. It indicates serious character problems on this team. Of course, Crowell being held out for the first quarter is also indicative of a character problem, not to mention his past taunting episode and spiking the ball in disgust when stopped for a loss or no gain. Just uncalled for. As my generation says. :Idl jerk a knot in ‘em.” They would be humbled after this off-week’s activities. Otherwise, CMR is very close to losing control of this team, if that has not already happened.
TomB
October 18th, 2011
11:03 am
Gbal, you sound just like a kid saying someone else started it. These are grown men we are talking about and there is no excuse for this kind of behavior. The coaches are grown men who represent the university, and honestly I don’t know how youdon’t fire someone who embarrasses your school this way. Grow up.
bamaguy
October 18th, 2011
11:03 am
Heat Index: Hot Hot Hot for Mark Bradley- He will be blasted by the dawg fans for having the audacity to tell them the truth.
james
October 18th, 2011
11:04 am
I think you (Mark Bradley) need to be suspended for the rest of the year without pay for writing an article like this without having all the facts. Watch the video and you will see coach Franklin pointing at Ga players and he appears to be a hothead in the interview after the game.
Joey
October 18th, 2011
11:04 am
Total crap, MB.
UGA fans, it’s all about the “hits,” and as usual, instead of ignoring this smarmy crap, we will bring the “hits” . . .
rumors
October 18th, 2011
11:05 am
@ Uga Insider……the problem we have with your info is for one, nothing ever comes true that you mention, and two, there all RUMORS!! You know nothing.
GeoffDawg
October 18th, 2011
11:05 am
Shawn Williams may have been acting like a “dumb—” but that still doesn’t give Franklin the right to personally berate him. There are proper channels for that to occur. If you were the parent of a player that incurred a personal foul during a game, you would rightly discipline him yourself when you got home. However, if a parent on the other team came after your boy face to face, you better believe that you should stand up for him.
Grantham is getting a raw deal here. Not because he didn’t overreact, which he did but because Coach Franklin is not also be held accountable for his actions. The full story is not being widely disseminated and the impression left is that Grantham is some unstable lunatic who just randomly explodes. Why hasn’t Franklin been taken to task in the media for his role in the matter?
Not interested in giving Grantham a pass. Only want the mitigating circumstances clarified.
Gbal
October 18th, 2011
11:05 am
I hope to see CMR back TG or else he has a busted defensive morale.
Franklin and the Vandy AD are over on the Nashville paper 100% justifying their actions? WHAT??? go look
Beenie Wells
October 18th, 2011
11:05 am
You can’t spell THUG without UGa.
IL Jacket
October 18th, 2011
11:05 am
People respond differently to different stimuli. I think the genius of the best coaches(or any other leaders for that matter) is knowing what motivates their charges. The harsh word to one is what another needs to get motivated while others respond best to private conversations. To the extent, CPJ uses one size fits all, that is wrong and ultimately will be unsuccessful. The poster boy for this misguided method however, has to be Will Muschamp, who only seems to know how to chaw and never compliment.
JB
October 18th, 2011
11:05 am
I’m PO’ed because Mark heard what the Vandy coach said, and replied, ” I figured that’s what happened”. I want Mark Richt Fired !
HDawg
October 18th, 2011
11:06 am
Hey Bradley, you should be suspended for one week for this POS yellow journalism article. Watch the whole video and watch as Franklin is yelling at Williams (#36). Yes, Todd went too far, but Franklin has no right to say anything negative to any of the opposing team’s players. Shake hands and go to the locker room and nothing happens. If one is suspended, then both. Franklin deserved what he got. I personally love TG’s reaction as I am tired of the “Mr. Nice Guy” routine played out at UGA
Flounder
October 18th, 2011
11:07 am
Both Bradley and Schultz have blogs today about the little Grantham Tantrum … AJC getting some serious online visitation today … and you and I and everyone else are just little fishes on a hook.
JB
October 18th, 2011
11:07 am
A Bama guy who knows anything about the truth. Rich.
Bright Idea
October 18th, 2011
11:07 am
Bradley’s comments on Johnson just a feeble attempt to be fair and balanced for a change. Pack him off to FOX News.
TomB
October 18th, 2011
11:08 am
Mark, I appreciate the column because we are getting the full measure of what UGA fans are like. Priceless.
HedgesHaven
October 18th, 2011
11:08 am
Get a life people…….
JB
October 18th, 2011
11:08 am
Is Franklin Muslim?
dostadawg
October 18th, 2011
11:09 am
I agree totally with Gbal. We are patiently waitng for a comment Mark.
Doc's Harvey
October 18th, 2011
11:09 am
Grantham shouldn’t be suspended and Paul Johnson doesn’t have to change his personality to suit the media.
All the media in this town does is criticise Richt’s blandness and now you’re criticising Johnson’s style.
HedgesHaven
October 18th, 2011
11:10 am
@ Beenie,
Wow you’re a moron.
IL Jacket
October 18th, 2011
11:10 am
GeoffDawg, you make Coach Franklin’s point. He was looking for someone to complain to and as he put it, he saw the “assistant coach and that did not go well.”. It would be
one thing if this were Grantham’s first offense-but he is a repeat offender. Posters on this blog would certainly rail if a judge were to show leniency to a repeat offender, but if it is an assistant coach, oh how our perspective changes.
Spanky
October 18th, 2011
11:10 am
Hey Bamaguy, don’t you have a tree to poison somewhere?
P_The_Ricker
October 18th, 2011
11:10 am
expected better from you bradley.
no need to jump on a dying story. your pal schultz has already blatantly skewed coverage of it. at least your article appears to stay in-line with accurate events that took place, though would be nice if someone dived a little deeper into franklin’s actions and past.
George Stein
October 18th, 2011
11:11 am
The notion that Johnson assumes no responsibility for losses but takes all the credit for wins is a myth. Every coach talks about execution. Plus, he has said repeatedly that he made errors.
Lastly, I was unaware that being a player’s friend is part of his job description. Getting the best out a player is, though.
TomB
October 18th, 2011
11:11 am
Mark, I appreciate the column because we are getting the full measure of what most UGA fans are like. Priceless.
GIVE ME A BREAK
October 18th, 2011
11:12 am
Grantham. Strike two.
Jared
October 18th, 2011
11:12 am
Yeah, suspending Grantham for yelling at a coach would be ridiculous. If he had actually physically assaulted him, or had started chewing out a player, that would be worthy for a suspension (well physically assaulting him would get him fired, as it should). But all he really did was yell at a fellow coach, I would say they are equals and he has every right. He shouldn’t have, since he’s a leader and could lead to further problems. But a suspension is a bit much.
Calhoundawg
October 18th, 2011
11:13 am
Gbal, Jeff Shmultz wouldn’t answer me yesterday, either. It’s called yellow journalism. Evidently, nobody at the AJC has the guts to step out from behind their cozy little desks and write anobjective article explaining why Coach Franklin had such a hard time finding Mark Richt after the game. It appears this situation between the coaches mirrors that of the game; it’s always the guy who retaliates that gets flagged. Also, thanks to a link posted by fan on another AJC story about this same incident (everybody is milking it), it seems that Franklin has a history of wearing his emotions on his sleeve. Bradley, if CTG deserves a suspension(which he doesn’t), so does Crybaby Franklin. Pure and simple.
Gbal
October 18th, 2011
11:13 am
TomB -
I dont like the argument that took place.
I think Franklin should have contacted CMR if he had a problem with his players and how they played and not addressed directly with the player on the field. There is a way to handle this.
So I dont like what happend… what I do have a problem with is
> CTG taking the heat for this and Franklin has apparently done no wrong.
> The AJC taking every opportunity to critize UGA’s involvement but letting VANDY free.
Do you feel Franklin has any wrongful involvement in this???
Jim Jonez
October 18th, 2011
11:13 am
How about turn the heat up on who is running the Special Teams. Good grief, Next week will be a pow wow for Florida.
PeedOnTheArches
October 18th, 2011
11:13 am
@Curious George
No….being a crappy football coach will be Mark Richt’s downfall
Dawg48
October 18th, 2011
11:13 am
Can’t spell weenie without beeni wells
Roaddawg80
October 18th, 2011
11:13 am
AND YET ANOTHER LAME ARTICLE FROM THE AJC> You want to talk about embarrassment? Try looking at your articles. So two grown men had a few words on a football field and you are writing about this 3 days later. Really? I get on the AJC everyday to read Chip Towers articles (becuase he is the only one that is good) and to get a good laugh by these idiots. None more than the Junkyard Blawg! What a joke!
james
October 18th, 2011
11:13 am
I am more concerned about the conditions of the stadium. Trees limbs covered both sides of one scoreboard and the crossbar on goldpost covered info on the scoreboard on other end, not to mention the place smelled like a sewage plant with a malfunction. If Vandy is receiving a portion of the money received by other SEC Teams from bowl games they need to upgrade there facility.
Athens Dawg
October 18th, 2011
11:14 am
Bradley, I see you have joined your bed mate Schultz in the lets kick the crap out of Todd Grantham derby, no surprise. You should address the real problem, that UGA has a head coach that not only can not lead a team but NOW will not even stand up for it. The Vandy coach gets on national TV and says I do not apologize for what I said on the feild ( when he called a UGA player a Fxxxxn thug) , I guess his being a head coach makes him untouchable. If anyone should sit for a game it should be CMR, maybe then we could beat Florida.
George Stein
October 18th, 2011
11:14 am
Suspending TG seems a bit much. This is the second time he’s been unable or unwilling to control his temper, though. I think putting him double secret probation would suffice. Plus, it’s the Florida game. They are paid a lot of money to win games like this one. If they lose to the Gators this year, they won’t have to worry about suspending him because he won’t be there anymore.
Rich
October 18th, 2011
11:14 am
From what I’ve been reading it was Franklin that was instigating the whole situation. Franklin was calling Shawn Williams a “dirty player” while his own players were chop blocking Geathers all night. Grantham was just defending his own players in an unorthodox way. Not saying what he did was right in a professional sense but he just stood up to the plate. Besides, didn’t we all want a fiery, passionate defensive coordinator when we were on the search 1.5 years ago?
SenoiaDawgs
October 18th, 2011
11:15 am
If the SEC suspends or fines Grantham they better get Franklin too. My stance, CTG is a damn good Dawg. The video clearly shows Franklin pointing to and assuming shouting to one of our players. CTG stands up for his players and he is the bad guy. Could he have handled it differently? Sure. Did he probably earn some serious respect from the UGA players. Heck yes!!! From a former player this is exactly the kind of guy you will play your heart out for. CMR nor McGarity can suspend the guy, if they do they will lose respect and effort from players.
As for CMR and McGarity’s response. Piss poor!!!!! It’s really sad they don’t stand up for their guy and coach Richt apologizes.
Do it now before he really goes off the deep end and kills someone
October 18th, 2011
11:15 am
Dump this jerkoff Grantham now. Richt has no excuse for keeping him.
sane dawg
October 18th, 2011
11:15 am
Bradley works for the AJC. That’s not a big plus in his column. Even with that, he’s entitled to his opinion. But that’s all it is, his opinion. It doesn’t make him right. With the influence of political correctness rampant at the AJC, he’s got a pretty good chance of being wrong most of the time. As he is in this case.
Dawg48
October 18th, 2011
11:15 am
Bradley want talk to you unless you say ” FIRST”
Andy
October 18th, 2011
11:16 am
I don’t know why the media is overreacting on this thing with Grantham. Was he out of line? Yes. Did he need a good talking to by Richt and the AD? Yes. Does he need to be suspended? Absolutely not. It was an argument between to grown men. There so no pushing or shoving. Get over it.
South Eastern Criminals
October 18th, 2011
11:17 am
here we go with the REAL MARK BRADLEY back to true form, WHAT DOES PAUL JOHNSON HAVE TO DO WITH UGA’S BEHAVIOR THIS WEEKEND?
WHY WOULD YOU PUT CPJ IN THE SAME CATEGORY/ARTICLE AS THOSE IDIOT INBRED MORONS AT UGA?
YOU ARE THE ONE THAT NEEDS TO TAKE A PILL, ARE YOU SERIOUS MAN? JUST ONE MORE SEC BUFFOON, TWO WORDS FOR YOUR MARK…..COLEY HARVEY…