Dan Mullen’s inaugural coaching staff is officially in place, having completed it last Thursday. Over the next few days, we’ll get to know the members of it a little bit better.
We start today with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
Previously: Miss State, Louisville, Georgia
Breakdown: Grantham will switch the Gators over to an aggressive 3-4 defensive scheme, in which, among others, Cece Jefferson figures to unlock his true potential in his senior year. Beyond merely realizing the ceilings of individual players, though, Grantham has a history of orchestrating immediate and complete turnarounds with the defenses he coaches. Most recently, he improved MSU from giving up 459 yards a game the year before he got there to 302 in his first year. The worst he ever did as the head of a defense was allow 375.5 yards a game, with Georgia in 2013, and that was still good enough for 45th in the nation. Grantham is known for employing fierce, intimidating defenses, and perhaps most importantly, he’s got the personnel to do it in Gainesville.
What to watch for: Grantham has a few holes to fill here and there, most notably with the departures of defensive backs Marcell Harris and Duke Dawson. But with the overwhelming majority of the Gators’ 2017 defense coming back, he should oversee a tremendous defense that forces mistakes, limits chunk plays and is simply much more tenacious.
Verdict: About the only reason to not like Grantham is for yelling at Florida kicker Chas Henry, “YOU’RE GONNA F*CKIN CHOKE” as Georgia’s DC in 2010. But that’s the past, and he’s a Gator now, so it’s time to move past that and look at the current reality. This is as good a hire as Mullen could have made.
Grade: A