Grantham showing up big today

57stratdawg

Heisman
Dec 1, 2004
148,715
24,585
113
Does Dan make a move there at the end of the season? Grantham has a rather proven track record, and Dan’s DC hires were 50/50 at MSU.

I wouldn’t be shocked if Dan hangs onto him.
 

Go Budaw

Redshirt
Aug 22, 2012
7,321
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36
Does Dan make a move there at the end of the season? Grantham has a rather proven track record, and Dan’s DC hires were 50/50 at MSU.

I wouldn’t be shocked if Dan hangs onto him.

Grantham only has a “proven track record” because he coaches elite talent into good but not great defenses. Look at our 2017 squad as evidence. The exact same talent that was best in the nation in 2018 gave up 30+ in half our SEC games with Grantham running the show.

Put him at Vandy or Arkansas or Southern Miss if you want to see how good he really is as a DC.
 

57stratdawg

Heisman
Dec 1, 2004
148,715
24,585
113
It makes perfect sense for our 2018 defense to be better than our 2017 since that’s added experience, added conditioning, added familiarity, etc.

Remember, that group has several JUCO transfers on it. Those guys are going to look a lot different in their 15th game together compared to their first.
 

Go Budaw

Redshirt
Aug 22, 2012
7,321
0
36
It makes perfect sense for our 2018 defense to be better than our 2017 since that’s added experience, added conditioning, added familiarity, etc.

Remember, that group has several JUCO transfers on it. Those guys are going to look a lot different in their 15th game together compared to their first.

Except for every one of those JUCO’s was a stud from Day 1, as was Simmons the year before. We were never saying at any point in 2017 that “boy, we really need Abram and Sweat to figure it out so they aren’t such a liability”.

The familiarization thing is also not quite accurate, because the entire system changed in 2018 with Shoop and it was back to square one anyway. And even game 12 of Grantham was a **** show where we gave up one big play after another in the Egg Bowl against a thoroughly overmatched team.
 

57stratdawg

Heisman
Dec 1, 2004
148,715
24,585
113
It takes talented JUCO players a while to adjust to this level. Sweat didn’t have a sack in 2017 until mid season. He finished the year with 10.5. It just takes a few games to get up to speed. Honestly, that probably would have taken longer had Sweat not been a P5 transfer. Remember, it’s not like he was a sure fire first round pick and decided to return for 2018 because he loved the Grille’s cheese sticks.

We finished 10th in total defense in 2017, BTW. It makes perfect sense to me that a top 10 defense returns a ton of talent and has a very special season the next year.

Just to tie a bow on this, here is Grantham’s total defensive ranks coming into this season over the last few years. It’s about as proven of a track record as you’re going to find:

2019 UF - 9
2018 UF - 28
2017 MSU - 10
2016 UL - 15
2015 UL - 18
2014 UL - 6
 
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