Note to Alabama football fans: Todd Grantham will not damge Tide defense

Quite a few Alabama football fans are perplexed over former Florida, Defensive Coordinator joining the Crimson Tide staff. Some are Crimson Tide heretics, defined by doubting Nick Saban has made a good decision bringing Grantham to Tuscaloosa.

Grantham, fired by Dan Mullen last season, only a few weeks before Mullen got fired, is a veteran coach. Grantham spent 11 seasons as an NFL assistant going back to the Indianapolis Colts in 1999. In 2010 he joined the Georgia Bulldogs(2010-2013), followed by stints at Louisville (2014-2016) and one season (2017) as the Mississippi State DC, before going to Florida in 2018.

Except with the Gators, Grantham carried titles at the other schools that combined Defensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach duties. Prior to going to the NFL, Grantham was a defensive line assistant at his alma mater, Virginia Tech and Michigan State. He was with Nick Saban for three of Saban’s seasons as head coach of the Spartans. He also had an Assistant Head Coach title for Saban in East Lansing in the 1998 season.

That Grantham has been one of Saban’s ‘guys’ is enough for many Crimson Tide fans. The ones who are bothered point to Grantham’s weak Florida defenses and that many Georgia Bulldogs’ fans do not remember Grantham fondly.

That is an incomplete picture of Grantham’s ability. His excellent work at Mississippi State is summarized below.

"Grantham’s best work as defensive coordinator might have been in 2017 when he was leading the defensive charge at Mississippi State. With his 3-4 defensive scheme, he took a Bulldogs’ run-stopping unit that had ranked below 100 and turned the Bulldogs into the top-10 national rankings. That year, Grantham was a Broyles Award semifinalist"

Grantham also did credible work at Louisville. His 2014 and 2015 defenses finished No. 6 and No. 18 in the FBS, respectively.

Grantham was once defined as a defensive innovator. He was also a bold play-caller. His blitz-heavy schemes both delivered and failed, but he always wanted his players to dictate what the opposing offense could not do.

Alabama Football and Blitzing

A few months ago, Nick Saban explained his sometimes reticence for blitzing too frequently. On his rado show, Saban said,

"Miss Terry always wants to blitz more.I’ve never said this to Miss Terry, but I’m a secondary coach, and secondary coaches that play for coaches who blitz a lot, they end up sleeping under the bridge and twitching, like this. Cause you’re always putting the back end in a tough situation."

Nick Saban will not let Todd Grantham increase the Tide’s probability of dangerous game situations.

Every seasoned addition to Saban’s Alabama football staff brings valuable knowledge. Like other analysts, Grantham will provide input with no decision authority.