Georgia’s Todd Grantham focusing on Kentucky, not contract extension
ATHENS — Georgia defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said Tuesday he’s focusing on nothing this week but preparing his unit for Kentucky’s offense and leaving contract negotiations to his agent.
Grantham has 14 months remaining on a three-year contract he signed to become Georgia’s defensive coordinator in January of 2010. His annual salary of $750,000 ranks among the highest in the country for assistant coaches.
Grantham’s agent/attorney, Michael Harrison of Stevenson Ranch, Calif., told the AJC on Sunday that Grantham wants a contract extension. Harrison said he has already “gotten inquiries” from some NFL teams about the possibility of Grantham returning to that league and that he has “gotten feelers” indirectly from colleges gauging Grantham’s interest in becoming a head coach. Ultimately, however, he said Grantham wants to remain in Athens.
Grantham was asked about his agent’s comments on Tuesday.
“You hire people to do a job for you and I let him handle that part of it,” he said. “My focus is on getting the defense to play well and getting us ready for the Kentucky game and getting ready to win the SEC East, truthfully.”
Grantham’s defense has climbed to No. 4 in the nation statistically as the Bulldogs have won eight straight games. A win over Kentucky on Saturday will clinch a berth in the Dec. 3 SEC Championship Game in the Georgia Dome.
Grantham, 45, admitted he would like to become a head coach one day. But he said playing in the title game is dominating his thoughts at the moment.
“I think everyone wants to become a head coach,” he said. “First of all, I have a very good job. I was excited to come here because of the vision I had about what I felt you could do with the type of players you can get at the University of Georgia. I’m very excited to be here. Truthfully, I just focus on every situation that’s coming up. For instance, after I leave here I’m going to a third-down meeting to figure out how we’re going to get off the field on third down and then what we’re going to have to do to win the game this week.
“We’re in a championship game this week. There’s a lot of time, energy and study that has to go into each week that honestly you don’t have time to focus on anything like that. You just focus on the next task at hand.”
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323 comments Add your comment
Still@theKool-aidBAR
November 15th, 2011
10:38 pm
DawgLESSville…………..My Take is I have tickets and I will be at the game. how about you?
bitter trolls
November 15th, 2011
10:41 pm
to funny where are all the —HATERS—-turd roll———-and all his/her personnalities
—————————-wal mart trash———————dawgs rule tree killers
Thunderfoot
November 15th, 2011
10:41 pm
For all the real Dawg fans……sure is great to be a Dawg! Dome here we come…Beat UK!
Still@theKool-aidBAR
November 15th, 2011
10:45 pm
Dawgs in the Georgia Dome isn’t much different than Katrina victims in the Super Dome. Add LSU fans and God i would hate to smell the place after that game.
Dawglasville
November 15th, 2011
10:47 pm
Still@theKool-aidBAR – You did a little play on my name… clever. I’ll be watching it on t.v. So, again, please tell me what Tech is going to do to the Bulldogs this year?
Still@theKool-aidBAR
November 15th, 2011
10:52 pm
Why are you not going to be at the game? All you Dawgs say there are open seats. You are Broke and afford the cheap tickets and 4 hot dogs and 4 cokes? Damn Your UGA degree is making you RICH at McDonald’s ain’t it?
Dawglasville
November 15th, 2011
10:52 pm
Still@theKool-aidBAR – Did you leave the computer to go call one of your buddies to tell him about the big Katrina burn you blogged? Please tell me how bad Tech is going to beat UGA.
Dawglasville
November 15th, 2011
10:54 pm
Still@theKool-aidBAR – No. Actually when you have your own family one day you will understand. Again, stop hiding behind the insults and tell me how many points Tech is going to beat Georgia by.
Not So Fast
November 15th, 2011
10:56 pm
UGA finishes year 12-2 after the bowl game.
Still@theKool-aidBAR
November 15th, 2011
10:57 pm
you make the bet DawgLESSville. How you feeling Froggie? JUMP on the spread you feel is where you can get money.
Not So Fast
November 15th, 2011
10:57 pm
UGA vs Houston in the Sugar Bowl.
Old Dawg
November 15th, 2011
10:57 pm
Show him the money!
Still@theKool-aidBAR
November 15th, 2011
10:59 pm
What does having a family have to do with going to a game? I think I go with my family. I see many families at the games. Can’t you sell your EBT credits for cash to buy some game tickets.
Dawglasville
November 15th, 2011
11:00 pm
Still@theKool-aidBAR – We were hoping to beat two top 25 teams but your guys didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. Answer the question kid. I don’t care about the score. Will Tech beat Georgia this year?
Dawglasville
November 15th, 2011
11:01 pm
I think it is great that your parents take you to the game. Will Tech beat Georgia?
Dawglasville
November 15th, 2011
11:03 pm
Will Tech beat Georgia?
Still@theKool-aidBAR
November 15th, 2011
11:06 pm
Actually Dad and I go to the games. Mom goes sometimes to out of town games, but her cancer has stopped that the past few years.
I guess my dad is RICH since he can take me but you are poor because you can’t take your child. Is the Crack getting to expensive?
By 1 just by 1.
Now you tell me how much UGA is going to beat Tech by cause I know you really want to run your mouth.
Mikey-A
November 15th, 2011
11:07 pm
Chip, your articles are always spot on. In contrast, why are Schultz and Bradley such tools when they write about UGA? Always instigating and negative. Go back to ky Bradley. Schultz, just go.
Dawglasville
November 15th, 2011
11:11 pm
Good night Kool-aid. You really shouldn’t waste too much time trying to get a rise out of people on a sports blog. I’m sure that you can make better use of your time. For the record, I believe that UGA will beat Tech. Next time you are on here why don’t we stick to football. Be productive. Build things. Don’t waste your time tearing things down.
Dawg48
November 15th, 2011
11:18 pm
Dawglasville
Don’t wast your time on still he is a mindless moron!
Dawglasville
November 15th, 2011
11:19 pm
If what you said about your mother is true than I am sorry. Again, I don’t understand the insults. Believe it or not, my dad went to Tech and we use to go to 3 or 4 games a year until 1983. Football maybe priority one for you, as it was for me when I was a student, but things change. No, I don’t want to “run my mouth” about what UGA is going to Tech. I’m not on Ken’s blog doing the nerd/redneck game. I just don’t understand why you would waste your time and energy insulting people.
Dawglasville
November 15th, 2011
11:21 pm
My apologies to all. I know that the last few posts put everyone to sleep. Much love to all, regardless of your team.
RamboDog
November 15th, 2011
11:44 pm
Still@theKool-aidBAR
November 15th, 2011
11:06 pm
UGA will beat GT 38 to 14….. will “easily” cover the spread on the game. Tech can’t hang with our offense, the Tech offense is too predictable…..Beat Down coming in 11 days!!
WTF, Nerds!
November 15th, 2011
11:52 pm
I see the dweebs did not their blog so they decided to come over and spout nonsense.
WTF, Nerds!
November 15th, 2011
11:54 pm
Koolaid knows he cannot talk about tek football as it is nothing but a joke.
reality DAWG
November 16th, 2011
12:19 am
“Not so fast”….
I think Bama gets the Sugar ahead of us unless we beat LSU in the SEC championship game. I’m hoping we do but they are a strong team for sure.
With that said LSU and Arkansas play soon and Bama does have Georgia Southern????? then the plainsmen, war eagle, tigers…. oh what’s you ma call it. The team we just stomped!
Just saying…. we probably are in the Capital One Bowl.
RED DOG 77
November 16th, 2011
12:45 am
As much as I dislike Alabama, take a page from their “paybook”……….Give Todd Grantham as much as most top head coaches make…….then he would only have 5 to 10 schools capable of hiring him away………….What’s more, as much as I support coach Mark Richt, you got to thank coach Grantham as much as Richt for turning things around………….Richt and Grantham is the perfect “coaching” team for the University of Georgia football program……….Hell, we have the dagum money!!!……….spend the hell out of it………Lock-up Richt and Grantham long term…………….This post comes from a “real” BULLDOG who has supported Richt through thick and thin…………..If we keep these two guys, championships are going to be heading our way for a long time to come…………..I just hope the powers that be are smart enough to do so…………RED
Preston
November 16th, 2011
1:32 am
I haven’t seen anything anywhere that says he wants a raise. He just wants an extension. A raise has been earned as well though. Pay the man enough to keep him around or we’ll be in danger of the same situation we were in after Van Gorder left us.
DawginTX
November 16th, 2011
2:10 am
Pay him very well, give him a guaranteed contract, and put a big buyout on it if he leaves for anything other than an AQ or NFL head-coaching job. The biggest difference between Richt and his predecessors is that he has had 2 very good DCs. Defense wins championships in this league, so pay the man and don’t mess around.
Hairy Dawg
November 16th, 2011
2:24 am
McG’s got to back the dumping truck up to Coach Grantham and fills it with the money to “shows him the money”. Quit kitten footing around and gets the check book outs and payed the piper. We needs Coach Granthams D to hunker down! With Coach Grantham we’d be back running things and owning all teams such as the Return to Zooking Gaytors of Judas Muschumps.
Go Dawgs!
MoneyTalks
November 16th, 2011
2:34 am
Just bump his salary to $1 mil plus more benefits and give him a 3 year extension to keep him happy.
RedandBlackDawg
November 16th, 2011
5:06 am
KyboDAWG,
Erk would have done the exact same thing with this bunch that coach Grantham has done. This guy can coach, and UGA needs to pay what ever is reasonable to keep him around as long as they can. He is making them into his own brand of Junkyard DAWG, and you can bet opponents have noted what this defense brings to the table. I will bet that the West Champ, whomever that will be, is aware of what UGA brings to the table on the defensive side as well as the offensive one.
GO DAWGS and GATA
RedandBlackDawg
November 16th, 2011
5:18 am
GTBob,
Probably the only reason he would leave, is he will get tired of beating your teams sorry A** every year. Perhaps we could scrimmage with tech. next year, because tackling dummies don’t come cheap, but a tech. player does. Oh that’s right, they are all going for engineering degrees, I forgot, my bad.
GO DAWGS and GATA
25-32 teams we beat, last 2 combined not winning record either
November 16th, 2011
5:22 am
Ranking this morning AP Poll Top 25 :
1.UNRANKED Coastal Carolina
2.UNRANKED Ole Miss
3.UNRANKED Missy State
4.UNRANKED Tennessee
5.UNRANKED Vanderbilt
6.UNRANKED Florida
7.UNRANKED New Mexico State
8.UNRANKED Auburn
9.UNRANKED Kentucky
10.UNRANKED Georgia tek
11.UNRANKED bowl opponent
Why is story on Isaiah Crowell sick showed up to practice late removed ?
November 16th, 2011
5:42 am
http://georgia.247sports.com/Board/19/-Crowell-not-practicing-right-now-as-of-515-pm-5559344/1
TossSweep
November 16th, 2011
6:09 am
SO WHO AMONGST ALL OF YOU THAT WANTED CTG OUSTED? NOW YOU CAN’T IMAGINE HIM LEAVING. FAIRWEATHER FANS NEED TO SUPPORT ANOTHER TEAM. GO DAWGS!
SO WHO AMONGST ALL OF YOU THAT WANTED CTG OUSTED? NOW YOU CAN’T IMAGINE HIM LEAVING. FAIRWEATHER FANS NEED TO SUPPORT ANOTHER TEAM. GO DAWGS!
UAB
November 16th, 2011
6:14 am
We’ll give him 800K per year to come to Birmingham.
ugab
November 16th, 2011
6:44 am
We have the right attitude at Ga this season. Every one of the coaches deserve a something for getting the players headed in the right direction. THANK YOU, COACHES FOR STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE. THE GA WAY. NOW LET’S FINISH THE DRILL. BEAT KENTUCKY! GO DAWGS
dogdawg
November 16th, 2011
6:45 am
Agreed Coach Grantham saved us give him the money!!!!
GATA
November 16th, 2011
7:00 am
I have a red Koolaid mustache and do not care. Unleash the Grantham!
Destin Dawg
November 16th, 2011
7:04 am
Go Dawgs… SEC. champs THIS year… beat Kentucky… GT will be a landslide… great warm up for LSU..
Destin Dawg
November 16th, 2011
7:05 am
Grantham will be our next head coach.. why would he leave.. NFL = Not For Long
bubba4dawgs
November 16th, 2011
7:06 am
Hey GTBob, the Nerds will find out what delusional is soon! Any thoughts they have are delusional.
Jimmy Crack
November 16th, 2011
7:28 am
With all the player/agent/lawyer foibles recently, have sports agents’ and lawyers’ IQs dropped drastically? Or is it that they just can’t SHUT UP.
tell me again
November 16th, 2011
7:33 am
25 32. You are an idiot. Auburn WAS ranked when we played them and also had the #2 rushing offense in the SEC. As for the rest. You might as well go the the Gator board and quote stats as to how good they USED to be. We had a bad stretch. We are now on the upside of the wheel. Nobody stays on top forever or down forever. Cycles happen. We would be wise to remember that the next time we have a slump. Having bad times is what makes the good times special – we enjoy them because we know they are not always going to be there.
WDE
November 16th, 2011
7:35 am
Coach Grantham’s D is now ranked in the top 10 in the nation…he has proven his worth..pay him.
1969 Graduate
November 16th, 2011
7:37 am
Nobody hopes more than me that we win against Kentucky, the NATS insects, and in the SEC Championship game.
I’d like to see us run up the score a bit against all of them except poor Kentucky. Well, maybe some mercy on pitiful Tech, since they’re in the Great State of Georgia.
Of course, there’s still the chance that Tech could beat us. A good Georgia team has been beat by a bad Tech team before, and vice versa.
Yes, we’ve had a pretty decent season, especially given the bad start.
It is hard not to be (prematurely?) excited, ain’t it. Even with a string of wins against weak teams, at least we won. And against Auburn we looked pretty good doing it. It was a fun game, and has been a fun season so far, all in all.
Certainly we have to give some of the credit for our relatively good season so far to the coaches, particularly the defensive coach, I think, but also to Mark Richt.
Having said that, let’s please not go overboard. Mark Richt has not lived up to what we all thought to be his potential when he arrived, and in the early stage of his career at UGA. Until he does, we shouldn’t act like he has.
The record (his record) is plain enough. There have been too many losses against the big boys, too many important games lost, too few wins against the heavy hitters of our league. Etc.
Winning a weak SEC East is a whole lot better than not winning, and this year is way better than last year, and no school’s team is ever going to win the National Championship every year, but Mr. Richt is still on the hot seat, or he should be.
Beat Kentucky. Beat Tech. Beat LSU, or Alabama, or Arkansas. Then, maybe contract talk makes some sense.
Not yet, guys.
Go, Georgia Bulldogs!
Joey
November 16th, 2011
7:42 am
“Ultimately, however, he said Grantham wants to remain in Athens.”
**************************************
And, Dawg Nation wants Todd Grantham to remain in Athens.
Pay the man . . .
tell me again
November 16th, 2011
7:52 am
We have a soph. QB that is growing up before our eyes. We don’have a great receiver, we have a great receiving corp. We have a potential all SEC running back. We have young talent ready to come on line and already on the field. Our D coor. is in his second year and proving he can get it done. CMR is a proven, long term winner and recruiter and the PREMIER face of any football program in the nation. We have money in the pipeline, a rabid fan base and one the best stadiums in college football. And we have the best d# mn mascot in the country. Our facilities are top flight. We are Georgia and we are BACK! Go Dawgs!
tell me again maybe you should've thought of that before you posted this, eh ?
November 16th, 2011
7:59 am
tell me again October 9th, 2011 9:59 am
“Playing on the road at Tennesse is one of the most difficult SEC venues to play and win in….the last two times we went up there we arguably had better teams and got blown up – this time we win and supposed fans like you STILL are Bit***n and moaning. Yes, the schedule favors us this year I agree with you that we seem to get off the accelerator when we get a lead and that drives me crazy too”
_______________________________________________
tell me again November 4th, 2011 5:22 pm
“We may be inconsistent, We may recruit a few knuckleheads, our QB may be a little shaky as a sophomore, our special teams may have gone south for the winter, our coaching staff may be out to drive us all crazy”
___________________________________________________
Seems to me, sir, that you just only want your version heard, even when your version is no different from all the rest of us. Fascinating that you DEFEND the schedule today when you certainly have ADMITTED, haven’t you, that the schedule is why we end up 11-3 as I said all Summer long we’d be. Truth hurts that Auburn’s defense is not # 2 in The SEC but # 86 Total Defense in the nation and their Offense is the # 97 Total Offense in the nation. They have ZERO votes in the AP Poll Top 25 and ALSO are not ranked in the Coaches’ Poll Top 25. Auburn still has to lose to Alabama, while you sit there bragging how we’d beat 11 teams this season, not 1 of which ends the season in the Top 25. Not 1 win. Pass the Kool-aid. Ban everyone with a view different from your own. Allow only posts saying how we are GREAT. That’s the ticket, tell me again.