Todd Grantham Theory

So, what's the chances that Grantham is softening this defense on purpose? We have seen a guy on fire, making one hell of a defense in a year (ranked 3rd in the nation last year), converting a whole program into a different style successfully, and now the whole defense is dead in the water? We see Richt embarrass him during the Vandy game last year and side with a sniveling ass as a coach (Franklin). We have seen Richt rip out every aggressive bone in Grantham's body. Maybe this is his response? It's not the first time I have ever seen someone risk their own job only to take out failure, incompetence, and corruption that sits above him.

Rdawg, BVG did not fit into Richt's plans because he was so aggressive. Now they are or have taken much of Grantham's fire away. Richt choice, Willie Martinez as defensive coordinator, totally 180 degrees opposite of the two mentioned above. Said it before, did not take Oklahoma long to give WM the pink slip.

This is a little off of the subject, but . . . . if Grantham employs the 3/4 against Florida, not going to be a pretty picture. Crossing my fingers that he plays a four man front. 3/4, Florida will be all smiles.

Rdawg wrote: So, what's the chances that Grantham is softening this defense on purpose? We have seen a guy on fire, making one hell of a defense in a year (ranked 3rd in the nation last year), converting a whole program into a different style successfully, and now the whole defense is dead in the water? We see Richt embarrass him during the Vandy game last year and side with a sniveling ass as a coach (Franklin). We have seen Richt rip out every aggressive bone in Grantham's body. Maybe this is his response? It's not the first time I have ever seen someone risk their own job only to take out failure, incompetence, and corruption that sits above him.

Not a chance imo....that would be a stupid move any aspiring coach at any level could make.....who would want to hire him in the future? CTG is smarter than that.

Uh, maybe our players are turning into primadonna's that read their press clippings all summer.

Sometimes you can coach 'em up but you can't make them play.

Food for thought you present wlayton. Something like you can lead them to water but can't make them drink.

If I had to speak on one area of coaching and players, might go something like this. Has been said before on this board.

Players take on the characteristics of their coaches. That is easily proven many times over in the coaching ranks. When I played high school football, my head coach was Al Jeffrey, his last year with the Dawgs was 1946. Like many coaches, he had two sides, and I think it is very important to have that "split personality" as a football coach. I would quickly point to Nick Saban fitting that category.

Our past few years under Richt have become a bit scrambled. This is not a bash Richt post, it points to situations that I and others have witnessed from press conferences and sideline manor. I do not believe Richt has a "full grip" on being the head coach. Say that because of McGarity's first meeting with Richt. I want to believe that McGarity had reasons for changing some of Richt's policies toward the football team.

While at one point I thought that Richt had turned over a new leaf this season, appears that I was wrong in my assessment. Richt is going to be Richt, never will he or seldom will he take on the intensity that Grantham first showed upon arrival. Maybe Richt has toned down Grantham's spirit, meaning that Grantham is more like Richt at this point. Have had a hard time with the football coaches for sometime now, not just this year, dates back a few years.

I think wlayton is pretty close, but I would also submit that maybe our D was never really that good. I think they were statistically good last year because of the UGA formula for success--beat up on a greater number of weaklings for stat padding. Sure we played lights out against the New Mexico States and Coastal Carolinas of the world, but against our 4 "good" teams (ranked), we gave up 35, 45, 42, and 33. Not exactly numbers that would instill fear in the hearts of offenses.

One problem with the run defense is a lot of attempts at above the waist tackling. You get a running back with powerful legs and it takes awhile to get him down that way. Seeing a lot plays where the pile is moving 3 or 4 yards or more because no one has taken the legs out from underneath the ball carrier. Got to get back to basics. Perhaps the practicing one day a week in pads is part of the problem.