Grantham on Vikings’ late TD: ‘What goes around comes around’
(Updated 8 p.m.)
So what did Todd Grantham, Georgia’s new defensive coordinator, think about the Minnesota Vikings running up the score Sunday on the Dallas Cowboys?
Grantham, Dallas’ defensive line coach until its season ended with the playoff loss to Minnesota, was asked in a postgame interview posted on the Cowboys’ Website about the Vikings throwing a fourth-down touchdown pass with less than two minutes to play and a 27-3 lead. An interviewer told Grantham he could be unguarded in his comments since the Vikings are not on Georgia’s schedule next season.
“No, they’re not,” Grantham said. “I wish they were, though.”
He continued: “I really can’t answer why they would do it because I’m not in their head. But I do know what goes around comes around, and they play the Cowboys next year.”
A few other notes:
– Word is that Connecticut’s defensive backs coach, Scott Lakatos, is a candidate for a job on the Georgia coaching staff. (UConnReport.com says he interviewed on Saturday.) UGA still has two openings on its defensive staff after hiring Grantham, who said late Friday that he and head coach Mark Richt “will be working throughout the weekend and next week to iron some of those things out. But anything like that would be premature at this time.” Call it Phase 2 of the coaching search. And this phase will not be nearly so protracted as the DC hire.
– Lakatos has been the DB’s coach at Connecticut the past six years. Before that, he coached the secondary at Rutgers for three years.
– It took Georgia 43 days to hire Grantham. It took the Cowboys 30 minutes to hire his replacement. The Cowboys on Friday hired Paul Pasqualoni, fired earlier in the week as the Miami Dolphins’ defensive coordinator, to replace Grantham after this season. Pasqualoni previously coached three years for the Cowboys.
– This could be the connection between Lakatos and Grantham: Lakatos played for Pasqualoni at Western Connecticut and later coached under him as a graduate assistant at Syracuse.
– Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, by the way, told Dallas reporters that Grantham was “grossly overqualified” to be a defensive line coach, his job the past two seasons.
– Derek Dooley is taking over Tennessee’s football program at age 41 –- 10 years older than his father was when he took over Georgia’s program in 1964. “My qualifications were 10 times less than Derek’s,” Vince Dooley says, “but the beauty of youth is I didn’t know I wasn’t the best hire in the world. . . . Being an administrator [later], there is no way I would have hired me with my experience.”
– Click here for a flashback to the start of Derek Dooley’s coaching career as an unpaid graduate assistant under Jim Donnan at UGA in 1996.
– The night before Derek Dooley became Tennessee’s coach, Vince Dooley, 77, was in Houston to receive the Paul “Bear” Bryant Lifetime Achievement Award.
And please follow me on Twitter for the latest UGA news and notes.
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229 comments Add your comment
TUCKDAWG
January 17th, 2010
5:05 pm
Why dont all you tech fans go to your own blog we dont care what you think until you nerds can be a real threat and i mean more than one win in 9 years why dont you shut up grantham will be fine and i cant wait to see how our new defense plays you guys couldnt even run on willie how you gonna handle a fast penetrating D welcome to the DAWGS coach now just bring us some more like you and bring back GATA
TXDawg
January 17th, 2010
5:05 pm
SOS….you really should check your comments regarding your lack of football knowledge. Shelley was on point when iterating that Grantham was only the line coach. If anything, Dallas’s D-Line was the only bright spot on a defense exhibiting a very lackluster effort today. Brett Favre was pressured a lot and Peterson didn’t even sniff a 100 yard day…..so give it a rest.
maddawg
January 17th, 2010
5:08 pm
Would Saban had offered him a DC job if he were not a good coach???
BTW, He would have been the replacement had CKS accepted our offer!!
SOS Dawg
January 17th, 2010
5:11 pm
Tx dawg ….Dude its about scoring points, Dallas D looked confused you blind homer….
TXDawg
January 17th, 2010
5:13 pm
Me blind, that’s like the pot calling the kettle black. You must have been blind if you think Dallas’s D-Line was overmatched or lacking effort today. Grantham is not the D-Coordinator….you blind homer.
TXDawg
January 17th, 2010
5:14 pm
Furthermore, Favre threw 4 TDs. How many rushing TDs did Minnesota get?
SOS Dawg
January 17th, 2010
5:20 pm
So what… Willies D was good against the run too. Kevin Steele at Clemson was suppose to be so great too and he got shreaded in the ACC. Until this guys does something then I will be impressed.
jasuga
January 17th, 2010
5:20 pm
SOS must be a Tech fan. I’m glad Tech hired a D-Cordinator who is used to loosing to his in state rival. Al Groh was 1 and 8 against VA Tech, so Tech fans he’s used to loosing to his in state rival.
Mr Me
January 17th, 2010
5:22 pm
All of you saying Dallas’ D looked bad are crazy. I thought they did a good job given the field position and lack of rest they recieved because of their terrible offensive line play. Aside from a great but lucky catch by Rice and running up the score at the end the D kept Dallas in the game. So shut the hell up you Blind Haters. Can’t wait to see our D play with some passion and agressiveness, hope thats what Grantham brings to UGA.
English Dawg
January 17th, 2010
5:24 pm
Look, regardless of how the cowboys ended up lets not forget they did make the playoffs! And the new coach hire puts our team lightyears ahead of where we were a couple of years ago. Lets stay positive and pick up the last of these great recruits! COME ON MAN!!!
pdawg
January 17th, 2010
5:26 pm
nnnn
SOS Dawg
January 17th, 2010
5:28 pm
You Blind homers sound like Willie lovers II…… This guy was fired at Cleveland. UGA and Damon needs to understand if they want a championship they must go out and pay the big bucks and dont take no for an answer. Florida got Urban, Bama got Saban and in return got a NC. The University paid the big bucks and and got huge returns……
Saint Augustine
January 17th, 2010
5:32 pm
Now the Cowboys suck too. Hahahah. I’m telling you, everything that the university of georgia touches turns to sh#t.
Saint Augustine
January 17th, 2010
5:35 pm
LOL
“everything that the university of georgia touches turns to sh#t”.
Obviously the umpteen other guys that turned you down before Grantham knew this too.
Hope your O has zero turnovers next year otherwise it’s going to be another LONG year.
I’m thinking more 45-17, 49-10 and 45-42’s!
Hope Dooley doesn’t tourch your hedges too badly.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
e.lo
January 17th, 2010
5:39 pm
Enter your comments here
e.lo
January 17th, 2010
5:42 pm
Hey Stinger, our DC was not the DC for Dallas today, however Al “old man” Groh was the DC for Virginia this year when they got beat by William and Mary for God’s sake.
big dawg
January 17th, 2010
5:55 pm
go dawgs
JESUP
January 17th, 2010
5:55 pm
Time to get on the phone Mr. Grantham, Whitaker kid from warner robbins is a good place to start… he is a beast and our future dt….slash dive option destroyer…..Tech fans NEWS FLASH….BRETT FARVE AINT YALLS QB… YOURS CANT EVEN THROW………..LOLOLOLOLOLOL
Gdawg
January 17th, 2010
6:04 pm
Haters of UGA; go to your home blog and get the hell of our blog. Talk is cheap, but I will guarantee you that the UGA D will be in the top 30 by EOY. Grantham is the man. Unlike KS, at least TG turned down Saban for DC at Miami to prove that he could stand on his own in Cleveland. If you would do your homework you would quickly see that his Browns defenses were very successful in many important categories, such as; red zone defense. I will put Grantham agaianst Groh any day of the week. Go to your own stinking boring blogs. Maybe the three of you can carry on a decent conversation. Go Dawgs!!!!! GATA!!!!!!
Danny Forde
January 17th, 2010
6:11 pm
Heck Stinger, you call that an offense, yu onlye scoreddd 24 points on UGA. How the heck do you hope to score more in th futreer. Dagnabit, you tech rats don’ttt unrestand anything bout footeballle. It seems like you lost 2 out of last 3 games, and the only other big team you beat was that freqk win over Ginny Tex. I bet they will be lying in wates for youins next year.
Sta Augustine, you need to reevalutate what you say boy yu sseeems to think you are king of th eworld and if you aint’ first it don’t matter anyway. You ain’t no better than Vanderbilt when it comes to the end of the season. It don’t mean a thing now does it? I hereed that you were movin yer practice field over to Starke so you can be with your 256 arrested players since marvin crier became coch there.
NC DAWG
January 17th, 2010
6:15 pm
Get Travis Jones and Charlton Warren
Stinger
January 17th, 2010
6:17 pm
Mark my words, you will miss Willie. Grantham has never proved anything. He is an over-rated defensive lineman coach. He does not have a clue how to draw up a plan. Wade Philips calls all the defense plays. We jackets will leave your blog once you get your idiots off ours. 40 yr old man ripped them apart !!! Ahhhhh, hhaaaaaa,hhhaaaaa, LMFAO.
Welcome
January 17th, 2010
6:17 pm
Really people? You cant base the Dallas D only on today. They had one of the best defenses all year, and lets not forget that this D is the one who stopped the almighty Saints. Yes, they had a bad game, but it happens. Overall, their D was great throughout the year.Grantham has worked under some great defensive minds. Saban was probably going to go get him if Kirby left, so he is well respected by great defensive minds. We don’t know for sure if he will be a great coordinator, but all we can go on is his record, and that speaks for itself.
Welcome
January 17th, 2010
6:18 pm
Oh, and please go get Travis Jones. He, from what I have read and heard, is an excellent recruiter and is willing to come home for less.
32258 DAWG
January 17th, 2010
6:21 pm
I wonder if CTG can make a special stop tomorrow on the way to UGA. I wish he would make an in home visit to J. Jeffcoat and get him to come along with him to UGA; it would be a hell of a way to get things started!
GATA!!! GO DAWGS!!!
BTW St. Augustine, Im not far from you and I think you and your school are cry baby chumps! Get off the tracks cause the trains coming through!
David Pollack
January 17th, 2010
6:23 pm
I thought Grantham was a good pick even though I wanted Kirby Smart, but after today, we are in deep trouble. The Cowboys looked totally disorganized and undisciplined. I hate to agree with Stinger, but he is right.
Dawg Lost in PA
January 17th, 2010
6:23 pm
I hear Coach Van Hallenger had a heart attack around Christmas and then triple bypass. Any truth to this????
Dawg 3/20
January 17th, 2010
6:23 pm
Where can I get one of those Advocare Independence Bowl Champion shirts or maybe a hat? I want to wear that around with pride that we won such a fine bowl after our historic season. 2010 National Champs !!!!! ESPN stole the National Championship away from us in 2007!!!!! New coach + same average players = best defense in the SEC!!!! We own the Gators!!!!! Go Dawgs!!!!!
SavDawg
January 17th, 2010
6:23 pm
I agree with SOS DAWG. When do we get rid of Mike DoDo Bird? Some of the worst play calling that I have ever seen. I am ready to see the Junkyard Dawgs again. Go Dawgs
32258 DAWG
January 17th, 2010
6:24 pm
I agree with getting Travis Jones to add to the staff. I would think him and CSL would be a nice finishing touch to a new powerhouse Defensive staff. I would like to see Travis also do Special Teams
KJ
January 17th, 2010
6:27 pm
“40 yr old man ripped them apart !!! Ahhhhh, hhaaaaaa,hhhaaaaa, LMFAO.”
Good God you’re beyond an idiot. The defense played well, considering Playoff Romo coughed up the ball at every opportunity, and the OLine couldn’t block my grandmother.
Also, we beat your sorry team with Martinez, and we’ll beat them without him. 30-24, 8-1, choke on it.
32258 DAWG
January 17th, 2010
6:28 pm
anyone have any insight on the chances of us getting J. Jeffcoat??? CTG should start pressing to get this stud!
Welcome
January 17th, 2010
6:28 pm
Ya, if Travis comes that is probably where he will be. CRG will be the D-Line coach I am sure. I am ok with that, because I really do not want him on special teams. Special teams needs improvement, and I dont the CRG is the man for it. His lines have been way too undisciplined for him to take over something bigger.
mike
January 17th, 2010
6:29 pm
I was excited to watch the Dallas defensive line today. Constant pressure and 3 sacks on Favre and held the best running back (A.P.)in the league to less than 70 yards. We have much to be excited about. Simeon Rice made some first class catches against excellent coverage. Favre is the only QB who can throw against his body and complete passes on a regular basis. Dallas got beat because ROMO is overrated and is foolish with the football. They played a rested Vikings club and the O-line got whipped, plain and simple. GO DAWGS! The Vols just gained some much needed class with the Derek Dooley hire!
Welcome
January 17th, 2010
6:29 pm
Jeffcoat would be nice, but Whitaker I think is more realistic. We need someone to plug up the middle. I would love Jeffcoat too/
Gdawg
January 17th, 2010
6:44 pm
Guys I am almost willing to bet my pay check that TJ will come home to fill out a very nice defensive coaching unit. I know TJ and his family personally, and I know that they have a deep love for UGA. I would like to see CMR and TG pull the trigger on the UCONN secondary coach, as I believe the entire UCONN staff are very effective coaches.
Lastly, I am baffled as to why CMR and DE were willing to pay KS the kind of money that was offered. KS is the epitomy of unproven coordinators. I truly believe that KS would have been an emotional hire by CMR only to appease a fanbase that was upset and anxious. I guarantee you Bama will not come close next year to matching this years defensive results.
As for CMB, please have patience with this guy. He has tutored under one of the best offensive minds in the business, and there is no doubt that he is coming into his own. Remember, he was unable to open the entire playbook in ‘09, due to his starting quarterback’s limitations. Also, losing a QB, RB, and WR in the first 2 rounds was devastating to our offense, not to mention the loss of our best lineman at the beginning of the season. Guys, Bobo can coach, and there is no doubt that his offenses will be putting up play station type numbers in the coming years. We need our recruiters to focus their efforts on lineman for both sides of the ball. Go get em guys. UGA will be contending for a national title in 2011.
32258 DAWG
January 17th, 2010
6:45 pm
welcome—- he can at least go to feel the guy out, he’s in Texas… I haven’t seen to much pub about pulling the guy but remember stafford was from texas and this would be a coach that just came from a NFL playoff game coming straight to your crib…… would you give it some deepper thought???? At least you would have a foundation cause this kid seems totally undesided and maybe waiting on something like this to happen… then for sure get on that jet and head to the other 2 monsters and seal those deals too; then you can go back to Jeffcoat and let him know how stout the players around him are….. just a thought but an aggressive coach is also an aggressive recruiter; there is still nice talent there lets go get whats ours!
Go Dawgs……… Florida remember we still hold the overall series!
mike
January 17th, 2010
6:46 pm
By the way, WTF Keith Brooking!!!! What has gotten in to the best player to come out of TECH in years. He must’ve been with RAY LEWIS’ posse when that po’ fool got dead a few years back. Enough already with the “HEY, Look at me chant and huddle” before the games. TAUNTING the Vikings sidelines for running up the score? I’d be cussing ROMO because your offense can’t get across the fifty and you have to defend a short field. Very unbecoming!
Welcome
January 17th, 2010
6:51 pm
32258 DAWG- I am fine with that man. Trust me, if we can get him I am all for it. I was just stating I think Whitaker is more realistic. Also, Jeffcoat might have respect for Grantham since he is a Texas boy. I am definitely with you though. haha.
G-DAWG- I am with you too. Yes Bobo has some questionable calls, but Georgia averages a lot of points. If we can just get some discipline and work on the turnovers then we will be ok. Bobo is definitely improving though. Just go look at the points we have put up. Just wish we could be more consistent with it. Lets not forget the offensive mind he is working for. He’s not too shabby.
HelluvaEngineer
January 17th, 2010
6:51 pm
I am a lifelong Tech fan and being a very talented engineer that is rich beyond any of your imaginations I am uniquely capable of seeing the big picture where others can’t. There is no significance whatsoever to the loss to UGA and Iowa. It means nothing that our overpowering offense has scored 10 points in 2 bowl games. What GT fans have to focus on is the monumental achievement of finishing #13 in the nation. #13 guys. Do you realize how big that is. More enlightening is the fact that after losing 2 out of our last 3 games we STILL finished #13. A lessor team would have dropped to at least #20, which in itself proves that GT is a giant in the minds of those that rank football teams.
THWG
32258 DAWG
January 17th, 2010
6:51 pm
I agree BOBO can Coach. he has never had a problem putting up points until he didnt have a QB, and RB that were up to speed. but then again its hard for the Defense to be good when you kick it out of bounds or give up 60 yard+ returns. but also if the defense is giving up so many points its hard for any team to maintain running the ball and not being 1 dementional.
Anyone know teams that have horrible Defenses and ST’s but are successful on Offense you let me know??? I’m waiting; Until then I say BOBO is good!
SOWEGA DAWG
January 17th, 2010
6:51 pm
Stinger “…We jackets will leave your blog once you get your idiots off ours”. You mean tech has a blog. Sure couldn’t tell it during the season last year. St Simons was here every %^&^% day, till the beatdown haven’t heard much from him since. If you guys aren’t worried about UGA what the hell are you doing here? You need to stick with your Almost Collegiate Conference and leave the big boys alone. GATA
JESUP
January 17th, 2010
6:52 pm
Gdawg…………”Also, losing a QB, RB, and WR in the first 2 rounds was devastating to our offense, not to mention the loss of our best lineman at the beginning of the season”………..very good point and we still beat the ACC champions…….GODAWGS…
Louie
January 17th, 2010
6:55 pm
Well where do I start. Watched with curiosity Mr. Brett Favre totally shred the BIG D defense apart . I mean it was atotal BLOOD-LETTING for Christ’s sake. If it was a fight, they would have stopped it !!
Now, I bet cmr REALLY enjoyed that game, don’t you think???
We the Jacket Nation were totally impressed, yes sir. Shivering scared.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STILL L M F A O
32258 DAWG
January 17th, 2010
6:56 pm
Welcome—— with CTG, CSL, and CTJ along with CRG why wouldn’t it be realistic for ANY defensive recruit to want to come play at UGA over virtually any other school? befroe you think of what other college would have as many ex-pro coaches on 1 side of the ball also factor in the amount of defensive players UGA already has sent to the pro’s with inferior coaches to the staff above!
If this is our staff as you can probably tell I believe the JUNK YARD DAWGS are back!!
SOWEGA DAWG
January 17th, 2010
6:57 pm
HelluvaEngineer “…very talented engineer that is rich beyond any of your imaginations”. Do you want to compare your W-2 to mine? Last time I checked us poor doctors made a considerable more than a “helluva engineer.
Welcome
January 17th, 2010
6:58 pm
True 32258. If we get Jeffcoat I will be ecstatic. I was just saying Whitaker is more realistic.
Eaassyy
January 17th, 2010
6:59 pm
If I were a Tech fan I would worry about the old kermugin about to lead an already terrible D next year. I mean, this is the same guy responsible for leading his BCS team to a loss against William and Mary. Talk about the ability to scheme and make adjustments. hahahaha. Sit on it Jackettes
JESUP
January 17th, 2010
6:59 pm
LOUIE…. last time i checked tech runs the ball and dont have a throwing QB, do u care to guess how well Adrian Peterson did???? NOT TOO GOOOD…..LOL GO DAWGS….
JESUP
January 17th, 2010
7:02 pm
Also that poor tackling excuse for a middle linebacker Dallas has did not help them…Brooking, he looked like a dufus techie nerd.