UGA hires Grantham for $750,000 per year
(Updated 7 p.m.)
Athens – He last coached on the college level in 1998. He’ll make more money than Georgia has ever paid an assistant coach. He’ll change the Bulldogs’ defensive alignment to a 3-4.
He is Todd Grantham, and he is the answer to the question that dogged Georgia fans for 43 days: Who would coach Mark Richt hire as defensive coordinator?
“We have our man,” Richt said Friday as he named Grantham, the Dallas Cowboys’ defensive line coach, to fill the job that had been open since the Dec. 2 firing of Willie Martinez.
Grantham was known to have been on Richt’s radar for weeks, but at least three other candidates declined the job before it was offered to him. On Thursday night, Grantham accepted the same deal that Alabama defensive coordinator and former Georgia player Kirby Smart rejected three days earlier: a three-year, $750,000-per-year contract.
That salary will make Grantham the third highest-paid defensive coordinator in college football, behind only USC’s Monte Kiffin ($1.2 million plus a $300,000 bonus last season at Tennessee) and Texas’ Will Muschamp ($900,000). Georgia’s highest-paid assistants in 2009, Martinez and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, made $325,000 each, plus bonuses.
Grantham, 43, was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech and Michigan State in the 1990s but has spent the past 11 seasons in the NFL, including the past two with Dallas. His only previous experience as a coordinator was with the Cleveland Browns from 2005-07.
Grantham will begin work at Georgia when Dallas’ season ends. The Cowboys play Sunday at Minnesota in an NFL playoff game.
By phone from Dallas late Friday afternoon, Grantham took a break from preparing for the Vikings to discuss his new job and new team.
He said Georgia will switch from its traditional 4-3 base defense to the 3-4, meaning three linemen and four linebackers rather than vice versa.
“We’re going to an aggressive style 3-4,” he said.
He said two outside linebackers “are going to be coming … are going to be developed as pass rushers.” Two inside linebackers, he said, are “going to be downhill guys to the ball.”
Although the 3-4 will become the base defense, Grantham said the Dogs will use “multiple” defenses “to have the ability to match [the offense's] personnel.”
The end result, he said, will be “an aggressive, physical, attacking-style defense.”
Grantham, who has coached the defensive line for most of his career, said he’ll work instead with the linebackers at Georgia. He said that’s a good role for a coordinator because the linebackers coach spends time on the practice field with both the line and the secondary, depending on the drill.
The only holdover on Georgia’s defensive coaching staff is line coach Rodney Garner. Grantham said they have not met, but “I have heard good things about him, and I expect to be meeting him shortly.”
Two openings remain on the defensive staff — Richt fired three coaches last month — but Grantham said no decisions have been made on who will be hired for those spots.
“Coach Richt and I will be working this weekend and next week to try to iron some of those things out,” he said.
Grantham’s hire capped an arduous process in which Richt was rejected by three highly respected defensive coordinators: Virginia Tech’s Bud Foster, LSU’s John Chavis and Smart. Richt said Grantham, whom he did not know when the search began, was recommended highly by many other coaches during the protracted process. One known to have recommended him was Foster.
After Smart turned down the job Monday, Richt turned the focus to Grantham.
“The overriding factor throughout the entire process is I was very prayerful that in the end we got the right man for the job. And that’s exactly what happened,” Richt said. “It was not something I was trying to do at breakneck speed.
“Sometimes it’s easy to just get a person who is willing to come at the drop of a hat, but when you’re looking at the quality we were looking for, such as Todd, it doesn’t always happen overnight. I’m just thankful we stayed the course and ended up where we ended up.
“I really feel like we hit the jackpot,” he added.
Richt’s six-week search for a defensive coordinator generated extraordinary interest among Georgia fans who have been concerned about the play of the Bulldogs’ defense the past two years. The Bulldogs allowed 34 or more points in 10 of 26 games over those seasons — a culture shock for a program once known for stout defense.
“I think … we can get the defense back to the way it has been in the past,” Grantham said.
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
793 comments Add your comment
Dawg Stephen
January 15th, 2010
10:29 am
Teleconference at 5:15pm with Coach Richt and Grantham. More updates to follow here and on the blog
Tide Rising
January 15th, 2010
10:29 am
The UT head job is still open. May I suggest that Henry Winkler of the mudcats and Goldie Hawn of the wildcats are both still available.
dshep
January 15th, 2010
10:30 am
OFFICIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Groh and Parcells
January 15th, 2010
10:30 am
Who cares if Groh knows Bill Belliceck or Cowboy’s Phillips or knew Vince Lombardi. That is hillarious. Groh is washed up and most of my long time tech buddies agree. There are tons of young firebrand NCAA coaches and NFL coaches ( UGA’s TG ) and they would not work for a slob like CPJ that cannot win outside of the ACC.
“Slap em, slap em in their faces” he screamed as he drove from MIami up the Sunshine parkway, tossing his resumes out the car window. Obviously distressed over the physical WHUPPIN that Iowa and UGA put on his lil boys. It just ain’t Big Boy ball in the ACC folks.
I heard from two good sources that CPJ begged UT for their HC job and they shut off the fax on him. HAHAHAHAHAHA
toph
January 15th, 2010
10:30 am
Yes sir! He’s in. Congrats Mark Richt. Nice work
Dawg Souvenirs
January 15th, 2010
10:30 am
Anyone know where I can get a weedeater bowl t-shirt with the score of the game and a DVD? Will UGA be publishing a special shirt/dvd package to celebrate that huge win? Hurry—I’m buying for christmas gifts in 2010.
Jona
January 15th, 2010
10:31 am
I’ve got to go be productive techies. Been fun.
finish up that crack rock and get to class
Since Vince
January 15th, 2010
10:32 am
WTF….. I think some fans including myself want CMR to do well but are a little tired of the blunders. This hiring process has been a little disturbing whether you believe it or not. Hopefully this guy will get it done . Well have to wait and see. The fact remains that there is other problems to be fixed in the football program. There is no reason that UGA should have had a NC during this past decade but huge blunders by CMR leaves fans and even the national sport pundits skeptical.
Welcome
January 15th, 2010
10:33 am
NOW! GO GET TRAVIS JONES!! He will be a great pick-up and has said he is willing to take a pay cut to come back .
Should Richt have gone the NFL route from the start? | The Junkyard Blawg
January 15th, 2010
10:33 am
[...] at last. This morning Mark Richt has confirmed Rivals.com’s Tom Dienhart’s report that he’s hiring Dallas Cowboys [...]
dog
January 15th, 2010
10:34 am
First off, this is the best hire we could have wished for. Grantham is a defensive genius, ask Saban, Smart, Muschamp. Great hire by Richt.
Second, let’s not give Pollack all the credit, remember he also broke the “Smart to UGA” news last week
Sad Richards
January 15th, 2010
10:35 am
Well its about time !!!!!!
Saint Augustine
January 15th, 2010
10:35 am
Dawg Stephen
“Teleconference at 5:15pm with Coach Richt and Grantham”
Let me know how it goes
Great position coaches and beauties
January 15th, 2010
10:36 am
Position coaches in the NCAA that are very, very good like BVG was at UGA are frankly, hard to find. Gorgeous women like at UGA are also hard to corral and date. It only take one BEAUTY however, to make a great football weekend in Athens. If you are smart, you call the good looking girls first and have a blast, cause it only takes o-n-e. ALL of the ugly fat girls at tech well, um they go to Tech games.
GREAT co ordinators? They too are hard to corral and when you get one you know it. UGA has a great one and we will see won’t we gang?? tech’s DC? A typical ugly fat girl at tech and also washed up and over the hill and the kids of today that tech recruits will not relate to him but we also will know soon enough. Correct??
Go Dogs.
1eyedJack
January 15th, 2010
10:36 am
Dawg Souvenirs, wait until next year. There will be a dearth of them….and good news…they’ll have Tech’s logo on them…bonus…cool!!!
TXDawg
January 15th, 2010
10:37 am
No info on this in our newspaper this morning here in Dallas. I suspect there is a deal in place with the local media to keep it hush since the Pokes are gunning for the Super Bowl. Believe it or not, this has been a distraction free zone…..unless you consider the less than TO-ish comments by Roy Williams (pathetic excuse for a WR). I believe the official announcement will happen on Monday, early enough in the week to cool off by next weekend in the event the Cowboys win on Sunday.
Straight from Richt's mouth
January 15th, 2010
10:37 am
“I’m excited the search is over, we have our man, and look forward to what Todd will bring to our defense, our team, and our University,” said Richt. “I think it is particularly valuable that he has a wealth of experience on the defensive side of the ball at both the NFL and collegiate levels. Now we look forward to moving ahead with the home stretch of recruiting, finishing out the defensive staff, and getting ready for spring practice.”
NCDAWG
January 15th, 2010
10:37 am
Who is going to coach the Secondary? Does UGA hire a special teams cordinator?
BMDPD
January 15th, 2010
10:37 am
WOOOOHOOOOOO FINALLY!!!!!!!!
Straight from Richt's mouth
January 15th, 2010
10:38 am
thats from georgiadogs.com
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
January 15th, 2010
10:38 am
i think the next couple years will be exciting for UGA. i believe Richt has hired the right guy, even though it took 6 weeks, but it was for a reason, especially since Grantham was finishing up the regular season and now playoffs. only time will tell how he will do here. i could care less what happened in Cleveland years ago..that was past, let’s live in the now!!
WTF?
January 15th, 2010
10:38 am
Since Vince, I agree with you 100 % about the blunders and that Richt has egg on his face regarding the Kirby deal. I just feel like he cathches way too much heat. If we got rid of him we may do a little better, who knows. But more than likely, if we had another coach, he could not come close to matching the run we have been on since 2001.
PapaDawg
January 15th, 2010
10:38 am
Shut up Jackets & Bradley. Glad we waited, better than the other 3.
toph
January 15th, 2010
10:39 am
Go DAWGS!!!!
Already got goosebumps
January 15th, 2010
10:39 am
“I would like to thank Coach Mark Richt and Damon Evans for the opportunity for myself and my family to be part of the University of Georgia community,” said Grantham. “I’m very excited about being part of a staff that will work tremendously hard to return Georgia football to one of the premier teams in the SEC. To the fans and boosters of the University of Georgia, I understand the passion and standard of excellence expected. I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against.”
Eric A DawgFan
January 15th, 2010
10:40 am
I believe that this is a good selection on behalf of the Hiring Staff. Hopefully we can the Georgia Bulldogs Defense back into National Recognition, and catalpult the Dawgs back into the Top ten national Rankings. Good Job…
Spin Master
January 15th, 2010
10:40 am
Grantham: 6th choice as d coordinator, but UGA spin people will act like he’s their #1 choice all along!!!! Tech got their #1 choice. Enough said.
Eric A DawgFan
January 15th, 2010
10:40 am
Pardon the typos
'bout time
January 15th, 2010
10:41 am
4th choice is a charm…
toph
January 15th, 2010
10:42 am
Recruits should be pumped about this hire!!!
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
January 15th, 2010
10:44 am
Spin- GT didn’t bother looking at other people, they went for 1 guy and thats it. At least UGA has several candidates on the table to choose from. Its a normal hiring process just like any job, but it sounds like GT had no other options but Groh. Good luck with all that
eastcobbdawg
January 15th, 2010
10:44 am
great hire, Saban had him in at AL last summer consulting on new schemes for the 3-4 Def. Now go get Lance Thompson from TN for Linebackers!
dog
January 15th, 2010
10:44 am
And all you loser @$$ Techies: Go negative all you want. The fact is regardless of who was contacted or interviewed first(Kirby was the ONLY one to get an offer, that’s a fact), Grantham was always the most qualified. His name didn’t excite fans but it will. As I mentioned earlier, Saban, Smart and Muschamp visit with Grantham in the off-season because he’s such a defensive guru. And don’t forget, Saban offered him the DC job when he went to the Dolphins. If he was good enough for Saban in the NFL, I’m confident he will be great for UGA
1eyedJack
January 15th, 2010
10:45 am
Spin Master: Tech got their #1 choice. Enough said.
He had nothing better to do than sit home eating soup and watching I Love Lucy reruns.
Dawg Central
January 15th, 2010
10:46 am
Saban tried to hire Grantham as D-Coordinator for Dolphins before he hired Kirby Smart….Grantham turned him down to take Cleveland job….so Saban knows he is better than Smart…..and the Cowboys have a good D…..so it was a good hire….Kirby Smart will be regretting….hell I could have coached the Alabama D and looked good……Kirby sucked when he coached the Dolphins D…so all u UGA haters…..your ass is grass….Go Dawgs!!!!
Another Saban protege
January 15th, 2010
10:46 am
TG is another Saban protege and was offered the HDC job at Miami. This connection is solid and tell me that UGA got a good one. Now, um if tech and UT can find one. I know!! Maybe Bill Curry will take tech, um no, he passed for Ga Sate U and Johnny Majors is still alive!!! Hmmmmm!
UT is a program that is sliding fast and their 2009 and 2010 recruits know that they have been flim flammed. Too bad. Thes kids will not play well for UT now as they want to get their time in and and go to The LEAGUE ASAP. Gone bye bye they will be.
d1reality
January 15th, 2010
10:46 am
I guess fourth choice is a great hire?
AceDawg
January 15th, 2010
10:46 am
Happy to be looking forward… Time to be excited for a new chapter. Welcome Grantham – I’ll never wish the Cowboys well but I hope your D-Line plays well. Your statement sounds like just what we want! Go Dawgs.
UGA Alumn
January 15th, 2010
10:46 am
Spin Master! Your number 1 choice was a coach that got fired from Virginia! Get real, we could have hired a bum in 5 minutes too! Don’t hate!
J. Banks
January 15th, 2010
10:47 am
he did not run a 3-4 with the browns and if you watch the cowboys they run more 4 down linemen sets than they run 3. It doesn’t matter if UGA has a big nose tackle Jay Ratliff isn’t that big and chris Canty wasn’t big either. they are just strong. Alabama ran something like a 3-4 but no team runs a 3-4 all the time because of the bubbles it creates for the running bubbles refers to having a linebacker on covering a o-linemen every defense has holes it is up to the DC to throw so many different looks at other teams like SABAN/smart it was more SABAN than smart that teams can’t guess whats coming next. the cowboys did a great job of that this year also
Chipped Tires
January 15th, 2010
10:47 am
Any word on a special teams coach ? Ssure has been taking a while……
Dawg Man
January 15th, 2010
10:47 am
Right Man, Right spot!!! GATA DAWGS!!!!!
bart
January 15th, 2010
10:47 am
Fantastic hire. Much better than Smart, Foster, Chavis, or Koenning
South FL Chapter of the Bulldog Nation
January 15th, 2010
10:47 am
dap01…I couldn’t agree with you more! There (correct use btw) are a bunch of people who really do not have much of a life at all out there! It seems that a good majority of them either live in Atl or are really jealous that their not Dawgs…either way it’s amusing! I hate to think that all these losers live in Atl because I plan to move back sometime this year. Anyway, good luck to your respective teams this up and coming season. It sounds as if you’ll need it!
As for this news…I would be very pleased to hear officially that this is the case. It does appear to be credible if that is a quote from Coach Richt. So at this point although I’m holding off any type of celebration, I’m definitely smiling! As I have stated prior…it was a bit hurtful that KS didn’t accept the position, but I knew there was another qualified candidate standing right behind him. I’d say that Grantham is definitely qualified! So now let’s fill in the rest of the blanks with the staff and lock down this 2010 incoming class! Let’s get to work and get ready to do work! Let’s get it on! GO DAWGS!
Nick
January 15th, 2010
10:47 am
“I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against.”
This was all I needed to hear from TG. Now I want to see it. It’s exactly what WM lacked as a DC. PLease TG, if you read these dumb things, create chaos in the offensive backfield, if nothing else.
Welcome aboard. All of us in Dawg Nation look forward to 2010 and beyond!
Go Dawgs!
ajc is slow
January 15th, 2010
10:47 am
DirtyDawg….This show-biz life won’t last much longer – plus it’s only good during football season.
That’s probably the point since he has a young child at home. We wants to have a part-time job. Then he can go back to coaching if it doesn’t work out.
dan
January 15th, 2010
10:48 am
Well I think it’s a pretty solid hire. College football for better or worse has taken on a Pro Football /Big Business mentality. These kids( and more importantly their parents) are looking at schools that will showcase their talents for the next level. Mark Richt’s method of recruiting kids and building to them be great human beings of faith is honorable, but it isn’t resonating like it used to. And Richt’s model of treating players and coaches like they are family( ala FSU) needed to change as well. College Football is a business, and a college football program needs to be run as such. To Richt’s credit he learned his lesson( albeit a bit too late). Now UGA has a selling point to kids, especially defensive players. Athens has always been a great town with an awesome fan base. And now they have a defensive coach who has experience in the NFL( something Richt’s previous staff’s have lacked), who brings an NFL scheme to the table which will get players ready for the next level. If I were a defensive player( especially a defensive lineman since that’s Grantham’s speciality), I would strongly consider UGA whereas I wouldn’t have when Willie was there. And I think the 3-4 is a good fit for UGA’s current personel because their defense is a bit small but they have speed and are pretty decent when they blitz. That’s the biggest knock I had against Willie, he always had success when he blitzed and never did it enough!
CLETIS
January 15th, 2010
10:48 am
NOBODY CARES ABOUT TECH FOOTBALL NERDS!!!! SERIOUSLY, GET BACK TO STUDYING OR SOMETHING!!!
d1reality
January 15th, 2010
10:48 am
Looks like Grantham has been on a regressive career path. So I guess it continues
GaGator
January 15th, 2010
10:48 am
I think Jeff/Tim are blowing smoke. I have gone to Rivals.com, ESPN, the Dallas News and the Cowboys web site. There is absolutely no mention of Grantham heading to UGA. I not saying that won’t happen, but if you Goggle Richt or Grantham the only link saying he is going to UGA goes back to Tim Tucker’s story.
But on the Cowboys web site I found this interesting article showing another Florida Gator braking a Herschel Walker record:
The Minnesota Vikings offer a similar challenge Sunday in the divisional round: speedy rookie Percy Harvin, who broke Herschel Walker’s franchise record for most combined yards in a single season (2,081).
He finished the regular season with two touchdown returns and the second-highest average in Vikings history (27.5). At receiver, he had the second-most catches (60) for 790 yards and six touchdowns