Welcome Todd Grantham to the Florida Gators!

[Escambia94]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/CoachTGrantham/status/936053798040145921
[/TWEET]

Todd Grantham will restore the defense to the top 20/ top 30 with Florida's talent. He does have challenges to face due to the lack of depth at linebacker in Gainesville. He needs the inside linebackers to be 235 pounds, and good at the fundamentals of tackling. He needs the outside linebackers to be 245+ pounds and fast around the edges to get the quarterback, or drop back into short coverage.

From the looks of the current roster, there Gators have the right personnel at inside linebacker when they are healthy. At outside linebacker the Gators need to convert defensive ends and defensive tackles to outside linebacker.

ILB
Vosean Joseph sophomore 6'1" 227 (LB)
Kylan Johnson redshirt sophomore 6'2" 237 (LB)
David Reese sophomore 6'1" 239 (LB)
Jeremiah Moon redshirt freshman 6'6" 228 (LB)
Ray Jackson redshirt sophomore 6'1" 217 (LB)

OLB
CeCe Jefferson junior 6'1" 242 (DE)
Jabari Zuniga redshirt sophomore 6'3" 246 (DL)
Antonneus Clayton sophomore 6'2" 254 (DL)
Keivonnus Davis junior 6'3" 253 (DL)
Jachai Polite sophomore 6'2" 260 (DL)
Luke Ancrum redshirt sophomore 6'5" 263 (DT)
Jordan Smith redshirt freshman 6'7" 242 (DL)

Unknown
Zachary Carter freshman 6'4" 270 (DT)
Lacedrick Brunson freshman 6'1" 229 (LB)
Nick Smith freshman 6'1" 213 (LB)
James Houston IV freshman 6'1" 226 (LB)
RJ Raymond redshirt junior 6'2" 253 (LB)

 

[DRU2012]

[TWEET]https://twitter.com/CoachTGrantham/status/936053798040145921
[/TWEET]

Todd Grantham will restore the defense to the top 20/ top 30 with Florida's talent. He does have challenges to face due to the lack of depth at linebacker in Gainesville. He needs the inside linebackers to be 235 pounds, and good at the fundamentals of tackling. He needs the outside linebackers to be 245+ pounds and fast around the edges to get the quarterback, or drop back into short coverage.

From the looks of the current roster, there Gators have the right personnel at inside linebacker when they are healthy. At outside linebacker the Gators need to convert defensive ends and defensive tackles to outside linebacker.

ILB
Vosean Joseph sophomore 6'1" 227 (LB)
Kylan Johnson redshirt sophomore 6'2" 237 (LB)
David Reese sophomore 6'1" 239 (LB)
Jeremiah Moon redshirt freshman 6'6" 228 (LB)
Ray Jackson redshirt sophomore 6'1" 217 (LB)

OLB
CeCe Jefferson junior 6'1" 242 (DE)
Jabari Zuniga redshirt sophomore 6'3" 246 (DL)
Antonneus Clayton sophomore 6'2" 254 (DL)
Keivonnus Davis junior 6'3" 253 (DL)
Jachai Polite sophomore 6'2" 260 (DL)
Luke Ancrum redshirt sophomore 6'5" 263 (DT)
Jordan Smith redshirt freshman 6'7" 242 (DL)

Unknown
Zachary Carter freshman 6'4" 270 (DT)
Lacedrick Brunson freshman 6'1" 229 (LB)
Nick Smith freshman 6'1" 213 (LB)
James Houston IV freshman 6'1" 226 (LB)
RJ Raymond redshirt junior 6'2" 253 (LB)

Yes--all that and more:
Dan ("I LOVE putting up points!") Mullen has an overall plan that has specific goals in all facets of our game:

He himself and his OC will have us scoring much more prodigiously from the start in 2018...and just as one of the ways he has always gotten that done, along with his own flexible approach to getting and then USING the talent he has in the best way possible, he finds and stays with good people to get it done on the sidelines, too.
The same is true with his teams' defenses: In Grantham he has a kind of defensive version of his own philosophy and skill at not just "fixing" a squad's ills, but doing whatever possible to get it done quickly (for eg, Grantham brought MSU's 100-and-something-ranked D to 10th best in major college football from last season to this one!).
We'll see what NSD brings in order to get a better idea "HOW far, HOW fast" (we have as many holes on Defense heading into the off season now as we do on offense)--but I am already fairly confident we'll at least be "a whole lot better" on D in 2018.
With a committed determination to a BIG upgrade in strength & conditioning, despite the multi-year slide under MacEllwaine we'll be stronger, tougher, BETTER in every facet of our game I think come next Fall.

 

[Escambia94]

The only knock against Grantham is that he let a rather bad Gator team beat up his defense in 2010. He will face some issues if his defenders cannot remain disciplined with tackling.

 

[DRU2012]

The only knock against Grantham is that he let a rather bad Gator team beat up his defense in 2010. He will face some issues if his defenders cannot remain disciplined with tackling.

Kudos: I had to dig a bit just to refresh my memory on that one--but I do now.
I guess like most people, I was just happy and hopeful at us putting a beatdown on a former key-guy in the Meyer regime; still bitter at not just losing Meyer but the manner in which it happened--AND hoping by then it was a sign that we were on the right track, moving on and UP. In retrospect, it turned out WE were sliding and MSU was on the rise, overall.
Hard to really see or understand it then, let alone predict that outcome. In fact, though satisfying, at the time I and most fans saw that Gator win mainly as "status quo". We were fooling ourselves.