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Tears Gator Tears

FL Cane said:
I was surprised by Mullen's demeanor in the clip of his presser. Seemed pretty arrogant and aloof. If that's his demeanor, imagine the rest of his team. If we can somehow get on top of them early, and keep a high level of intensity, they'll fold. The similarity between their team and 2018 Miami is uncanny.
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It's precisely why he didn't get the job here, twice!

Dude acts like he invented football.
 
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FlaSportsFan88 said:
Why are they so confident about Grantham? Didn't he fall on his face at Georgia and Louisville? Definitely a beatable DC.
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Grantham has had one of the strangest career arcs of any assistant coach in football. He's managed to work at a bunch of big programs over the years and his overall body of work is respectable. However his defenses have had a habit of not showing up in particularly important games and when he gets fired, his replacement almost always does better with the same talent. He somehow still manages to get hired at top tier programs even though the fanbases at all his prior stops will say he's a bum.
 
DTP said:
Grantham has had one of the strangest career arcs of any assistant coach in football. He's managed to work at a bunch of big programs over the years and his overall body of work is respectable. However his defenses have had a habit of not showing up in particularly important games and when he gets fired, his replacement almost always does better with the same talent. He somehow still manages to get hired at top tier programs even though the fanbases at all his prior stops will say he's a bum.
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Sounds like he’s a strong candidate for the “Stacey Searels” lifetime achievement award.
 
Arjei Henderson not getting in? Wilson still hasn’t been cleared yet to enroll at uf
Sheesh that’s like 5 or 6 4 stars not making or even transferring out
CE1930BE-5377-4BCB-AE3F-297A7F6EEBA6.jpeg
 
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FL Cane said:
I was surprised by Mullen's demeanor in the clip of his presser. Seemed pretty arrogant and aloof. If that's his demeanor, imagine the rest of his team. If we can somehow get on top of them early, and keep a high level of intensity, they'll fold. The similarity between their team and 2018 Miami is uncanny.
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Mullet reminds me of the guy who cleans tables at a restaurant but tells everyone he’s the owner/manager. Then eventually starts believing it himself he’s so arrogant
 
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DTP said:
Grantham has had one of the strangest career arcs of any assistant coach in football. He's managed to work at a bunch of big programs over the years and his overall body of work is respectable. However his defenses have had a habit of not showing up in particularly important games and when he gets fired, his replacement almost always does better with the same talent. He somehow still manages to get hired at top tier programs even though the fanbases at all his prior stops will say he's a bum.
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Sooooo...it's time to do a deep dive on the magical Todd Grantham, the mediocre disciple of the 3-4, the man whose amazing defenses are going to destroy Miami's pure true freshman offense in 2 weeks...

Team Rankings - out of 32 NFL teams, out of 120 NCAA Division I teams

Cleveland Browns - 2004 was Butch's last year coaching the Browns, he was fired mid year. The 2004 Browns' defense was ranked 24th by points allowed (#1 gave up the fewest points) and 15th by yards allowed (#1 gave up the fewest yards). In 2005, Crennel was hired as HC and Grantham as DC. Grantham was fired in 2007.

2004 pre - 24th in points, 15th in yards
2005 Y1G - 11th in points, 16th in yards
2006 Y2G - 22nd in points, 27th in yards
2007 Y3G - 21st in points, 30th in yards
2008 post - 17th in points, 26th in yards

Conclusion - Obviously, 2004 was a chaotic year for the Browns, and Grantham got a (somewhat artificial) bump in stats in his first year. However, his second and third years were worse than his first, and after he was fired, the Browns D "bounced back" to have a better year than all but Grantham's first year of 2005. Not a pretty picture.



Georgia Bulldogs - After serving his penance as a position coach for the Dallas Cowboys, Grantham took over for the fired Willie "Don't Call Me Mel" Martinez after the 2009 UGa defense was 64th in points allowed and 38th in yards allowed. Grantham was pushed out/left of his own accord at the end of 2013 after 4 years, taking a lesser job at Louisville (for a bit more money when Louisville was making it rain for Petrino II, though Grantham had to pay a buyout to UGa, thus he pretty much broke even).

2009 pre - 64th in points, 38th in yards
2010 Y1G - 36th in points, 23rd in yards
2011 Y2G - 23rd in points, 5th in yards
2012 Y3G - 18th in points, 32nd in yards
2013 Y4G - 80th in points, 52nd in yards
2014 post - 16th in points, 17th in yards

Conclusion - the college game can be a bit trickier, no free agents and you often have to play with "the last guy's" players. Richt was at Georgia before and after Grantham, and Grantham's replacement was Jeremy Pruitt (current HC at Tennessee). No one would dispute that Grantham's coaching initially sparked a defensive improvement from what they had under Martinez. However, after 3 good years, Grantham's fourth year was even worse than Martinez's final year, and Grantham was pushed out...or politely allowed to leave. Pruitt came in and immediately outperformed both Martinez and Grantham. Therefore, to sum it up in mathematical terms: Martinez < Grantham < Pruitt. Hey, maybe we should have let Richt have a few more shots at hiring OCs and DCs.



Louisville Cardinals - So, after Charlie Strong's 2013 Louisville team had the #2 defense by points allowed, and the #1 defense by yards allowed (Vance Bedford was the DC), there was no place to go but down, which is exactly what Grantham did. Sure, Louisville hired Petrino for a second time and (apparently following Petrino's lead) threw money at coordinators like they were strippers, but Louisville was still a "step down" for Grantham. The Louisville defense declined in 2014 and 2015 before rebounding mildly in 2016. However, even that accomplishment came with a cloud of suspicion as multiple Louisville assistant coaches were believed to be involved in the "Wakeyleaks" scandal. Not unsurprisingly, Grantham left for an even lesser job than Louisville, and THIS time he took a pay cut.

2013 pre - 2nd in points, 1st in yards
2014 Y1G - 25th in points, 6th in yards
2015 Y2G - 39th in points, 17th in yards
2016 Y3G - 31st in points, 14th in yards
2017 post - 70th in points, 62nd in yards (Peter Sirmon was the DC, more on this later)

Conclusion - Louisville definitely fell off under Petrino II (and Grantham) and the 2016 season is questionable for the Wakeyleaks issue, so maybe Grantham and company were "cutting corners" in Year 3 because Years 1 and 2 were successive dropoffs. At any rate, Grantham's long slow decline from his brief zenith at UGa continues...



Mississippi State - Grantham spent 1 year at Mississippi State, which is less time than it takes to spell Mississippi State (even when you are spotted the I and the S). This line on the resume is notable because Louisville and MSU basically swapped DCs. The horrible Peter Sirmon went from MSU's 2016 defense which ranked 93rd in points and 110th in yards to the Louisville job that Grantham was pushed out of (and where Sirmon did not improve on Grantham's stats). Grantham, meanwhile, got to take over Sirmon's office and try to improve on one of the worst defenses in the NCAA for 2016 (a defense that Dan Mullet was responsible for as well). So, sure, Grantham got to look like a gawd at MSU, but have I told you about Bob Shoop?

2016 pre - 93rd in points, 110th in yards (Peter Sirmon)
2017 Y1G - 27th in points, 10th in yards
2018 post - 2nd in points, 1st in yards (Bob Shoop, and those numbers are strikingly similar to pre-Grantham-Louisville)

Conclusion - Again with the math: Sirmon < Grantham < Shoop. Look, we obviously can't attribute Grantham's turnaround to his recruits, so we have to give him some credit for coaching (and one might argue that if Grantham coached defense on the Sirmon level, Mullet might not have gotten the Gaytors job). But, again, BOB MOTHERFVCKING SHOOP.



Florida Gaytors - Look, we can't sugarcoat this one. Grantham took over for Randy Shannon. Now, Shannon wasn't the worst, but you have to admire a guy who coaches a bunch of Randy Specials. So let's cut to the (short) chase.

2017 pre - 69th in points, 31st in yards
2018 Y1G - 20th in points, 27th in yards

Conclusion - here is the fascinating part. Grantham really didn't get much improvement on the yardage situation, but the Gaytors definitely improved in the points category, which seems to indicate an improvement in "big scoring plays allowed" and/or forcing FGs instead of allowing TDs. Grantham lost several of Randy's players to the NFL draft, and is going to have to get by on abysmal recruiting classes (from a retention standpoint, since the Gaytor posters insist that class rankings are based on NSD, not on eventual enrollment or retention), transfers, recoveries from injuries, etc.



Bottom line is that I am not particularly impressed with Grantham. He is CERTAINLY better than Willie "Mel" Martinez and Peter Sirmon. But he's also no Jeremy Pruitt or Bob Shoop or Vance Bedford. And outside of having a 3-4 d!ck in his mouth, I don't see anything unique or "signature" about what Grantham does. As a DC, he has improved the defensive situation a couple of times and worsened the defensive situation a couple of times. I am not yet drawing a conclusion on his Gaytors performance. He has been fired once as DC and "allowed to leave" twice as DC (for lesser jobs), only once walking out the door with his head held high (after 1 year with his buddy Mullet).

But, hey, this is the guy that the Gaytor fans think is going to get all exotic against us, and allow the walk-ons to play in the second half.

Sure.
 
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TheOriginalCane said:
Sooooo...it's time to do a deep dive on the magical Todd Grantham, the mediocre disciple of the 3-4, the man whose amazing defenses are going to destroy Miami's pure true freshman offense in 2 weeks...

Team Rankings - out of 32 NFL teams, out of 120 NCAA Division I teams

Cleveland Browns - 2004 was Butch's last year coaching the Browns, he was fired mid year. The 2004 Browns' defense was ranked 24th by points allowed (#1 gave up the fewest points) and 15th by yards allowed (#1 gave up the fewest yards). In 2005, Crennel was hired as HC and Grantham as DC. Grantham was fired in 2007.

2004 pre - 24th in points, 15th in yards
2005 Y1G - 11th in points, 16th in yards
2006 Y2G - 22nd in points, 27th in yards
2007 Y3G - 21st in points, 30th in yards
2008 post - 17th in points, 26th in yards

Conclusion - Obviously, 2004 was a chaotic year for the Browns, and Grantham got a (somewhat artificial) bump in stats in his first year. However, his second and third years were worse than his first, and after he was fired, the Browns D "bounced back" to have a better year than all but Grantham's first year of 2005. Not a pretty picture.



Georgia Bulldogs - After serving his penance as a position coach for the Dallas Cowboys, Grantham took over for the fired Willie "Don't Call Me Mel" Martinez after the 2009 UGa defense was 64th in points allowed and 38th in yards allowed. Grantham was pushed out/left of his own accord at the end of 2013 after 4 years, taking a lesser job at Louisville (for a bit more money when Louisville was making it rain for Petrino II, though Grantham had to pay a buyout to UGa, thus he pretty much broke even).

2009 pre - 64th in points, 38th in yards
2010 Y1G - 36th in points, 23rd in yards
2011 Y2G - 23rd in points, 5th in yards
2012 Y3G - 18th in points, 32nd in yards
2013 Y4G - 80th in points, 52nd in yards
2014 post - 16th in points, 17th in yards

Conclusion - the college game can be a bit trickier, no free agents and you often have to play with "the last guy's" players. Richt was at Georgia before and after Grantham, and Grantham's replacement was Jeremy Pruitt (current HC at Tennessee). No one would dispute that Grantham's coaching initially sparked a defensive improvement from what they had under Martinez. However, after 3 good years, Grantham's fourth year was even worse than Martinez's final year, and Grantham was pushed out...or politely allowed to leave. Pruitt came in and immediately outperformed both Martinez and Grantham. Therefore, to sum it up in mathematical terms: Martinez < Grantham < Pruitt. Hey, maybe we should have let Richt have a few more shots at hiring OCs and DCs.



Louisville Cardinals - So, after Charlie Strong's 2013 Louisville team had the #2 defense by points allowed, and the #1 defense by yards allowed, there was no place to go but down, which is exactly what Grantham did. Sure, Louisville hired Petrino for a second time and (apparently following Petrino's lead) threw money at coordinators like they were strippers, but Louisville was still a "step down" for Grantham. The Louisville defense declined in 2014 and 2015 before rebounding mildly in 2016. However, even that accomplishment came with a cloud of suspicion as multiple Louisville assistant coaches were believed to be involved in the "Wakeyleaks" scandal. Not unsurprisingly, Grantham left for an even lesser job than Louisville, and THIS time he took a pay cut.

2013 pre - 2nd in points, 1st in yards
2014 Y1G - 25th in points, 6th in yards
2015 Y2G - 39th in points, 17th in yards
2016 Y3G - 31st in points, 14th in yards
2017 post - 70th in points, 62nd in yards (Peter Sirmon was the DC, more on this later)

Conclusion - Louisville definitely fell off under Petrino II (and Grantham) and the 2016 season is questionable for the Wakeyleaks issue, so maybe Grantham and company were "cutting corners" in Year 3 because Years 1 and 2 were successive dropoffs. At any rate, Grantham's long slow decline from his brief zenith at UGa continues...



Mississippi State - Grantham spent 1 year at Mississippi State, which is less time than it takes to spell Mississippi State (even when you are spotted the I and the S). This line on the resume is notable because Louisville and MSU basically swapped DCs. The horrible Peter Sirmon went from MSU's 2016 defense which ranked 93rd in points and 110th in yards to the Louisville job that Grantham was pushed out of (and where Sirmon did not improve on Grantham's stats). Grantham, meanwhile, got to take over Sirmon's office and try to improve on one of the worst defenses in the NCAA for 2016 (a defense that Dan Mullet was responsible for as well). So, sure, Grantham got to look like a gawd at MSU, but have I told you about Bob Shoop?

2016 pre - 93rd in points, 110th in yards (Peter Sirmon)
2017 Y1G - 27th in points, 10th in yards
2018 post - 2nd in points, 1st in yards (Bob Shoop, and those numbers are strikingly similar to pre-Grantham-Louisville)

Conclusion - Again with the math: Sirmon < Grantham < Shoop. Look, we obviously can't attribute Grantham's turnaround to his recruits, so we have to give him some credit for coaching (and one might argue that if Grantham coached defense on the Sirmon level, Mullet might not have gotten the Gaytors job). But, again, BOB MOTHERFVCKING SHOOP.



Florida Gaytors - Look, we can't sugarcoat this one. Grantham took over for Randy Shannon. Now, Shannon wasn't the worst, but you have to admire a guy who coaches a bunch of Randy Specials. So let's cut to the (short) chase.

2017 pre - 69th in points, 31st in yards
2018 Y1G - 20th in points, 27th in yards

Conclusion - here is the fascinating part. Grantham really didn't get much improvement on the yardage situation, but the Gaytors definitely improved in the points category, which seems to indicate an improvement in "big scoring plays allowed" and/or forcing FGs instead of allowing TDs. Grantham lost several of Randy's players to the NFL draft, and is going to have to get by on abysmal recruiting classes (from a retention standpoint, since the Gaytor posters insist that class rankings are based on NSD, not on eventual enrollment or retention), transfers, recoveries from injuries, etc.



Bottom line is that I am not particularly impressed with Grantham. He is CERTAINLY better than Willie Martinez and Peter Sirmon. But outside of having a 3-4 d!ck in his mouth, I don't see anything unique or "signature" about what Grantham does. As a DC, he has improved the defensive situation a couple of times and worsened the defensive situation a couple of times. I am not yet drawing a conclusion on his Gaytors performance. He has been fired once as DC and "allowed to leave" twice as DC (for lesser jobs), only once walking out the door with his head held high (after 1 year with his buddy Mullet).

But, hey, this is the guy that the Gaytor fans think is going to get all exotic against us, and allow the walk-ons to play in the second half.

Sure.
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Thanks for doing the heavy lifting.

Essentially Grantham is a generally mediocre (considering the talent on hand) defensive coordinator who has thrown together a handful of solid season and a handful of poor seasons. He's generally replaceable and most of the time his replacement is much better.

Tactical genius, clearly.
 
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