Cleveland Knows How to Bring the Suck… Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Todd Grantham
by RedCrake on Jan 15, 2010 10:43 AM EST
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This wasn't Todd Grantham's fault.
Much has been made by some of the more cynical Georgia fans about the success (or lack thereof) that Todd Grantham had the last time he was a DC – for the Cleveland Browns. Though his record there had moments of brilliance (in 2005 they were solid), he was ultimately let go after three years of diminishing returns. While there is no correlation between NFL failures and college successes (see Saban, Nick and Spurrier, Stevie), this has nonetheless caused a small amount of trepidation among the more fatalistic branches of the fan base. To those people I must simply ask… When was the last time anyone was consistently good when they worked for Cleveland?
(Spoiler Alert: It was Marty Schottenheimer in the late 80’s)
Reading over some of their coaches, coordinators, and position coaches in the last 20 years, it’s a veritable Who’s Who list of solid and often remarkable coaches who knew how to bring the suck when they were in Cleveland. Some names:
Butch Davis (HC - .414 winning percentage in Cleveland)
Bill Belichick (HC - .450 winning percentage in Cleveland)
Nick Saban (His trusty DC during the 4 of those years)
Kirk Ferentz (Position Coach)
Pat Hill (Position Coach)
Al Groh (Position Coach)
Ken Whisenhunt (Special Teams)
Does the fact that these coaches went on to have successful careers (ranging from marginally to wildfully) in other locales mean that Grantham will be successful as DC at Georgia? No. Does the fact that the Browns sucked while he was there and he was ultimately fired say anything about his ability as a coach? Again, no. Because almost every coach that has tried to be successful at Cleveland has failed and the vast majority have been fired. The point is, no coach should ever be judged based upon their performance as part of the staff of the Cleveland Browns. If that’s your only reservation about Grantham, put your mind at ease.
How are the rest of you feeling about the hire?
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No reservations here...
What happens in the pro game, with all these overpaid, overhyped player egos and whatnot, has no bearing on anything at the college level. And the problem in Cleveland has consistently been their offense, or lack thereof…
I think it’s a great hire. I see a guy with some fire, some passion and who maximizes his talent.
He’s a fresh face and evidently pretty charismatic. No quite as charismatic as the “Dos Equus” guy, but who is?
Can he recruit as well? I don’t think he’d be here if he didn’t have huge upside as a ’cruiter as well. I say, Welcome!
"If we score, we may win. If they never score, we'll never lose."
-Erk Russell
Couldn't be more excited
I think that this is a great hire. We needed a guy, and we needed him now. Insead of compromising or taking a chance on a flyer (Manny Diaz, anyone?), we got ourselves a proven coach who knows exactly what he wants to do with a defense. Plus, it’s nice to be able to walk in to a recruit’s house and say “I know how to get you into the NFL. I know what NFL talent looks like, and I know what they want.” I’m thrilled about the hire, and very optimistic about the future of our defense. Now, let’s go shore up those wavering recruits before February!
We got a guy that is as close to what I desired as you can get
Dallas win or lose – hope thier D plays well- that game just added tens of thousands of viewers
"Sometimes, you just can't get rid of a bomb." - batman
by tankertoad on Jan 15, 2010 11:01 AM EST via mobile reply actions
Is it too much to ask?
How about a 7-0 Minnesota victory, with the seven points coming from a Romo pick?
Will
That would be awesome
"Sometimes, you just can't get rid of a bomb." - batman
by tankertoad on Jan 15, 2010 11:10 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
I'm on board, but to be safe.....
Let’s root for a Minnesota victory 2-0 on a Tony Romo sack in the end zone.
"I Run This State." - Washaun Ealey and Caleb King
that - that would be too amazing. And hilarious.
it’s tough for me though (here is comes) – because I really liked watching Favre this year.
"Sometimes, you just can't get rid of a bomb." - batman
How about Dallas wins the Super Bowl?
That would be pretty good for recruiting, team morale, fanbase excitement, etc. too, eh?
Run Lindsay Run!
that would mean
I’d have to root for Dallas. On the flip side – would he leave dallas before their season is over? Don’t we need him to oh get to work?
"Never refuse to do a kindness unless the act would work great injury to yourself, and never refuse to take a drink- under any circumstances." Mark Twain
As long as we get the recruits locked, I'd be ok with that too.
"I Run This State." - Washaun Ealey and Caleb King
No, the annoucement is made - i dont care if dallas wins or not, but it would look good for Dallas D to look good
we can make it to Feb without him on Campus – and Dallas isnt gonig to the superbowl for sure
"Sometimes, you just can't get rid of a bomb." - batman
"...hope their D plays well.."
You can say that again tankertoad. It’s really important that they play well for recruiting purposes. We have national signing day coming up and a lot of recruits are still on the fence… not to mention the few who may back away from Tennessee now. A good defense showing by the Cowboys might just tip the scales in our favor.
Btw, I thought you’d want to know that your signature is slightly misquoted.. The actual line is: “Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb”.
Kyle can start writing now, he usually posts around 6pm, I look forward to this one, he will probably wait until after the presser
"Sometimes, you just can't get rid of a bomb." - batman
You have to respect
a man who respects his contract. The NFL sites are reporting that Grantham’s contract expires at the end of Dallas’s season. He will join the Bulldogs at that point. We all feel that this is a good hire, a good coach and it appears that he is a man of his word as well. The obvious contrasts are there, so I won’t point them out here. I will just say I cannot wait to see our D next season. It’s gonna be special.
RedCrake - by the way , this is an excellent post.
There are enough top bloggers here to run it for T Kyle! Wow – this is a very special blog.
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
Thanks....
It’s surprisingly easy to write when I get riled up….and this offseason has certainly been heavy on the inspiration in that department.
"I Run This State." - Washaun Ealey and Caleb King
I'm thinking of taking a cue from Kyle's "Mark Richt Victory Watch".....
I’ll be proudly presenting the “Todd Grantham Points Allowed Countdown”.
Last year, the defense led by CWM gave up 337 Points in 13 games.
Each week, I’ll be tallying up the points allowed by CTD’s defense and counting down the number of games it takes him to hit “Willie’s Magic Number”
I’m currently forecasting the date to be Week 6-7 of the 2011 College Football Season.
"I Run This State." - Washaun Ealey and Caleb King
That would be very fun. my magic number is 18pts per game average as you likely saw.
now….i get to worry about STs……how is that going to be handled
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
assonance
I had to look it up. Good word, just don’t abbreviate it.
Erk Russell said it best:
“Get after their assonance.”
Go 'Dawgs!
by T Kyle King on Jan 17, 2010 10:55 PM EST up reply actions
I'm not sure what I was thinking with CTD....maybe Coach TodD?
My brain isn’t always cooperative with my fingers (or my mouth for that matter)
CTG has a considerably nicer ring to it.
"I Run This State." - Washaun Ealey and Caleb King
I think its a great hire....but..
as well known and as good as he has been in the NFL kinda worried as much of a coaching carousel that goes on there, he might be one and done. then back to the NFL.
if he wants his cash - he will stay
and its hard on a family to move annually. I feel pretty confident he will do his 3 years.
"I look forward to developing an aggressive, physical, attacking style defense that offenses will not look forward to playing against." - Coach Grantham
Sort-of agree...
… but if he’s “one and done,” that would actually be “three and done,” since his contract is a 3-year contract. In his initial press conference, he made a point of saying that he finishes what he starts, and that his contract with the Cowboys went through their final game of the season.
So, even if he leaves at the first opportunity, that’s 3 years from now. (And, since he signed a 3-year contract to begin with, something tells me he’s looking for a little stability.)
by vineyarddawg on Jan 16, 2010 8:59 AM EST up reply actions
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