I worry about Todd Grantham...

[cards217]

Don't want to put words in your mouth but are you saying Grumpy is just trolling here?

To my recollection, he has said (consistently, and since day one) that Grantham was a scheme over technique DC, and that you'd see the defense reacting slower and being less good at fundamentals as the years went on. So far, he seems to be on track, as the defense was demonstrably better last year (again, so far) with comparable talent.

He also said that JHC, while perhaps a half-step slow to be a safety at the highest level, was a legit 5* player and would be great in run support (and good in pass coverage). He seems to be pretty on target there too.

His last prediction was that Wiggins was a 2* player with a 5* mouth. That might not be a very nice thing to say, and the jury is still out on how good a coverage corner Wiggins will be.

As for the Stoops comparison, I think there's a difference between a rival fan saying "your coach will suck because you suck blah blah blah" and what Grumpy offered, which was a very specific critique of Grantham based in experience following (closely) the team he coached previously. You guys obviously didn't like what he had to say, and I get that, but to say he's just a troll who shows up when it suits him is a little pejorative. JMO.

As Steelers said, Grumpy was no where to be found last year when Louisville's defense was ranked in the top 10 throughout last year. He showed up after the Georgia game and the Houston game, which both were bad defensive games. If that isn't showing up when it suits him, then I don't know what is.

It's also way to early to claim that he's been on track as you say with what he's saying. We're 2 games into the season for crying out loud, and with only 1 bad defensive effort. If Louisville puts up a decent defensive effort tonight against Clemson, I'm sure we won't be hearing from grumpy, at least until the next bad defensive game.

 

[Louisvillian]

Don't want to put words in your mouth but are you saying Grumpy is just trolling here?

To my recollection, he has said (consistently, and since day one) that Grantham was a scheme over technique DC, and that you'd see the defense reacting slower and being less good at fundamentals as the years went on. So far, he seems to be on track, as the defense was demonstrably better last year (again, so far) with comparable talent.

He also said that JHC, while perhaps a half-step slow to be a safety at the highest level, was a legit 5* player and would be great in run support (and good in pass coverage). He seems to be pretty on target there too.

His last prediction was that Wiggins was a 2* player with a 5* mouth. That might not be a very nice thing to say, and the jury is still out on how good a coverage corner Wiggins will be.

As for the Stoops comparison, I think there's a difference between a rival fan saying "your coach will suck because you suck blah blah blah" and what Grumpy offered, which was a very specific critique of Grantham based in experience following (closely) the team he coached previously. You guys obviously didn't like what he had to say, and I get that, but to say he's just a troll who shows up when it suits him is a little pejorative. JMO.

Yes that Grumpy is damn football Nostradamus because he predicted that a 230 lb guy (JHC) would be a half step slow at Safety. Wow, since JHC is bigger than a lot of outside LBs that Is pure genius!

Let's see, the old coot says Wiggins is a 2 star talent with a 5 star mouth and yet you say that the jury is still out on how good a cover Corner Shaq will be. Again pure Beano Cook! The fact is he has already shown some serious skills at corner and like all Corners including Darrell Revis he gets beat now and then. It must be fascinating to Ukay fans that a Georgia fan is knocking all the guys who left his program to come and play at Louisville and are all happy here. imagine that!

And now 2 games into Grantham's 2nd season he is failing even though his D was more than respectable against Auburn holding them to 21 points offensively and 7 of those were a gift TD set up by an INT return. One game of bad tackling against a dynamic Houston offense and Grumpy is a wizard.

The fact is Grumpy needs to go back to Sunset Manor. Give the old fart credit, he has a lot of Mildcats fans rooting for him.

 

[CardChipper]

Grantham turned down Jack Del Rio and the Raiders. I know he got a pay raise but that speaks volumes to me about his committment. As far as this defense goes, I think both sides of the ball, offense and defense, are maturing. Our offense is not giving the defense much help with turnovers and mistakes. Not much cohesiveness anywhere right now. We are 0-2, we have lost both games by single scores. If this team can eliminate just 1 mistake per game we are going to be better, starting tonight. As far as the UK trolls go, I always try to limit my rival message board postings to MY TEAM. UK fans should stick to their own threads-or basketball, you guys don't know anything about football-you are just embarrassing yourselves.

 

[Steelers2012]

Don't want to put words in your mouth but are you saying Grumpy is just trolling here?.

Yes. As far as his presence on our board, I do consider him a troll. His only contribution or participation here has been to show up to badmouth Grantham, specifically after the 2 poor defensive efforts since his hiring (Georgia and Houston). Again, he was nowhere to be found after any of the games that lead our defense to be so highly ranked. And CATFANFOLIFE87 is also piggybacking on Grumpy's Grantham trolling here, although I do believe CATFANFOLIFE87 is doing so while knowingly embracing the role of a troll. See his posts on the Texas-Jurich; he is simply enjoying poking the bear over here.

 

[johnnyrockets]

Fair enough to all responses. Maybe I have a slightly different definition of "troll," which is fine--I think the guy posts earnest opinions about football that just don't happen to align with perceptions of most on this board. If that's a troll then I'm probably considered a troll as well. I'm not sure what he would have been expected to post as follow up during much of last season--he specifically said he thought 2014 would be the best defensive year you'd have with Grantham as DC.

I stand by the notion that the jury is still out on Wiggins and very much in on JHC--he is a player.

For all of the tumult to start the season, a win tonight and you're back on track for a potentially big year. Will be interesting to compare how you guys do with Watson this year after snuffing him out pretty good last year in Death Valley.

 

[The Public Enemy]

I will not go that far with Grumpy as calling him a troll...and his disdain for Grantham as a College DC is known.

I will say this and I will probably be in the minority but his assessment of Wiggins has not been really off base so far...but we are 2 games in and still a long season ahead for both Wiggins...Grantham and the rest of the program

 

[Steelers2012]

Fair enough to all responses. Maybe I have a slightly different definition of "troll," which is fine--I think the guy posts earnest opinions about football that just don't happen to align with perceptions of most on this board. If that's a troll then I'm probably considered a troll as well. I'm not sure what he would have been expected to post as follow up during much of last season--he specifically said he thought 2014 would be the best defensive year you'd have with Grantham as DC.

I stand by the notion that the jury is still out on Wiggins and very much in on JHC--he is a player.

For all of the tumult to start the season, a win tonight and you're back on track for a potentially big year. Will be interesting to compare how you guys do with Watson this year after snuffing him out pretty good last year in Death Valley.

My personal definition of a troll is a visitor who only posts in the negative. Grumpy is obviously a knowledgeable and articulate poster. But his initial presence on our board was to tell us how glad UGA was to get rid of Grantham. And his only follow on contributions have been to show up after a poor defensive effort to reemphasize his negative narrative and say "I told you so". For example, he didn't show up after the Auburn game to post in the positive on JHC's 2 interception, or, as mentioned previously, after any exceptionally good defensive effort last season. I've read his posts on your board, he does possess the ability to post positively; he simply doesn't use that ability on our board towards our program. And BTW, he offers his anti-Grantham narrative frequently on your board as well, which plays very well over there. Anyways...all negative, no positive equals trolling in my mind.

 

[Pike 96]

The four OOC teams on the 2014 LPT football schedule barely broke .500; and that's with U of L included. The six teams on the first half of the LPT schedule last year finished a combined six games UNDER .500.

LPT has come close to mastering the art of dummying down the schedule--esp. in the early season--to get enough wins to keep their coach and AD gainfully employed. Congratulations are obviously in order.

LPT Football: We'll just settle for our $25 million check...

talking about the 2014 OCC Schedule? Wasn't that last year...got it. I'd do that too if my team was 0-2 and looking 0-3 right in the face with the fan base in melt down mode.

Being that you are the consummate Petrino cheerleader and apologist, you have to be loving a big chunk of your fanbase doubting in game decisions, clock management, and personnel choices from your favorite coach.

 

[Pike 96]

I noticed that Vatuvei was having problems against Houston. At one point early in the Houston game, he walked off the field very slowly - like he didn't know where he was. He played later in the game, but he wasn't very effective.

Of course, in the fourth quarter Rankins and Brown weren't very effective either, because they had to defend nearly all 92 snaps against Houston. To me, that issue is where Grantham deserves some criticism. We needed to use our depth more. Our top defenders were on the field for too many snaps in that game, and it showed during Houston's last two drives, where they scored TDs both times.

He appears to be a pretty good defensive coordinator so far. It is important to realize that even good defensive coordinators can look bad when going against great offenses. Last year, we were probably ranked higher than we deserved, because we faced a number of opponents who were ranked middle of the pack or lower on offense. This year we have faced two really good offenses, and we will face another really good one tomorrow night.

UL's first string defense is good...but I think depth is a definite issue. Especially so on the DLine. I was really shocked to see how many snaps Brown and Rankins played in the Houston game. they were both very good and even dominant the first 60 or 70 snaps of that game(especially Rankins who i think will be playing in the NFL for a VERY long time). I think you could count how many snaps Shortridge and the Juco Dlineman played on one hand. I think the lose of Richardson as the backup Nose pre-season is a much bigger issue than discussed.

 

[tdcat]

To be objective I believe you have to say the verdict is still out on Grantham.

Fact of the matter is, his defense has allowed a 100+ yard rusher in six of the last seven games.
a. FSU/Cook 9 for 110 yards
b. BC/Alston 2 for 43 yards
c. ND/ Folston 18 for 134 yards
d. UK/Williams 18 for 126 yards (career best since surpassed)
e. UGA/Chubb 33 for 266 yards (career best)
f. Aub./Barber 24 for 115 yards (career best since surpassed)
g. Hou/Farrow 27 for 109 yards
per stats found on Rivals.

That isn't a good stat. Further in the seventh game against BC his D allowed one player to have two rushes for 43 yards: so that is giving up at least one explosive play.

His D also trended down over the course of last season. Now a lot of that had to do with the strength of the offenses he was facing.

1. Murray State was Murray State.
2. Sure the Cards held Wake Forest to 7 first downs and 100 total yards of offense. While that sounds absolutely great, consider that Louisiana Monroe held WFU last year to 5 first downs and 94 yards of total offense. WFU was just awful (ranked dead last in total offense last year at 125) and was nothing but a stat stuffer for the D.
3. Florida International was another stat stuffer ranked #120 in total offense and # 98 in scoring offense.
4. Syracuse was another stat stuffer ranked #113 in total offense and #118 in scoring offense.
5. Virginia was no juggernaut either, ranked #87 in total offense and #85 in scoring offense.
6. In view of the above, the early season results last year could be fools gold but that is yet to be proven.

Grantham also had the good fortune of facing a freshman Miami QB in his first college game. If I recall correctly, wasn't the Clemson QB also hurt? These factors also tend to make it easier on the D.

All that said, I believe the D bounces back and the Cards beat Clemson tonight. By the end of the year, we will all have a better view of where Grantham stands.

I

 

[tdcat]

Well I thought the Cards would pull it out. Holding Clemson to 20 points is a great effort but the same problems persist. Add Gallman to the list at 24 carries for 139 yards and make it 7 of last 8 games. With talent like Rankins,, Kelsey, Brown and Fields going against a rebuilt OL, I did expect better. To top it off, they split the safeties on two long TD tosses.

 

[BPGhost]

To be objective I believe you have to say the verdict is still out on Grantham.

Fact of the matter is, his defense has allowed a 100+ yard rusher in six of the last seven games.
a. FSU/Cook 9 for 110 yards
b. BC/Alston 2 for 43 yards
c. ND/ Folston 18 for 134 yards
d. UK/Williams 18 for 126 yards (career best)
e. UGA/Chubb 33 for 266 yards
f. Aub./Barber 24 for 115 yards
g. Hou/Farrow 27 for 109 yards
per stats found on Rivals.

That isn't a good stat. Further in the seventh game against BC his D allowed one player to have two rushes for 43 yards: so that is giving up at least one explosive play.

His D also trended down over the course of last season. Now a lot of that had to do with the strength of the offenses he was facing.

1. Murray State was Murray State.
2. Sure the Cards held Wake Forest to 7 first downs and 100 total yards of offense. While that sounds absolutely great, consider that Louisiana Monroe held WFU last year to 5 first downs and 94 yards of total offense. WFU was just awful (ranked dead last in total offense last year at 125) and was nothing but a stat stuffer for the D.
3. Florida International was another stat stuffer ranked #120 in total offense and # 98 in scoring offense.
4. Syracuse was another stat stuffer ranked #113 in total offense and #118 in scoring offense.
5. Virginia was no juggernaut either, ranked #87 in total offense and #85 in scoring offense.
6. In view of the above, the early season results last year could be fools gold but that is yet to be proven.

Grantham also had the good fortune of facing a freshman Miami QB in his first college game. If I recall correctly, wasn't the Clemson QB also hurt? These factors also tend to make it easier on the D.

All that said, I believe the D bounces back and the Cards beat Clemson tonight. By the end of the year, we will all have a better view of where Grantham stands.

I

Wow - thanks for all of your exhaustive research on the subject. I would go back into the archives to find similar research where you cite positive statistics explaining how Louisville was the #6 defense in the country last year under TG but then I remembered that you're a Yut troll who is only hear to spread their miserableness.

Hope the Gators whip that yut azz for the 29th time. Thanks though for your continued interest in Louisville athletics!

 

[thecycle21]

Two things the defense probably wasn't as good as we thought last year. It was great early in the year then faded because they started playing better offenses. The only offense that wasn't really good was UK but they had an extra week to prepare. On top of that they lost a bunch of good players.

Good spread offenses are extremely difficult to stop. Add in the pace and the added number of plays defenses have to defend one bad read or angle ends up in a big play.

This was a really tough year for a team that has a bunch of new faces on both sides of the ball. They are going to have same problem again next year. They are going to lose 3 or 4 underclassman an to the draft. Louisville is not in a position where they can lose underclassman in large numbers.

 

[Senore2006]

Check out the UK fans displaying football wisdom. It's truly awesome. Undoubtedly, they are here to teach.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

The OP is a troll.

The Dawg grump may not be a troll, but he's full of enough butthurt to last a lifetime. His exisitence here is the equivalent to any UofL fan trashing Strong on the TX board. I'd guess none of our guys are doing that, but if they are... they are trolling.

If the Grump is glad the guy is gone, we get it, we got it the first time champ. Spare us the analysis of your cherry picked games. We understand how important it is to the grump to see Grantham do poorly. We get it. We do not care about Grump's feelings or his repetitive "analysis".

 

[wilkie01]

All I know, if this defense cannot dominate Samford Saturday, Petrino is going to have make some tuff decisions about staffing ifor 2016.

 

[nccardfan]

I don't know. At this point CBP better be looking in the mirror and figure out something on the offensive side of the football.

 

[wilkie01]

I don't know. At this point CBP better be looking in the mirror and figure out something on the offensive side of the football.

He cannot replace the current quarterbacks. I bet he does by this time next year's football season starts. None of these guys are a Petrino style quarterback or are the offensive linemen.

 

[The Public Enemy]

He cannot replace the current quarterbacks. I bet he does by this time next year's football season starts. None of these guys are a Petrino style quarterback or are the offensive linemen.

Do we even know what is a Petrino style QB now...in case you haven't notice from Jackson, Oden and Pass all of them are mobile QB...Not the same as Brian Brohm or a Hunter Cantwell.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

I don't know. At this point CBP better be looking in the mirror and figure out something on the offensive side of the football.

Agree completely. Abandoning the run is a flawed approach. BR is a North/South type and I'd rather see him plunge into the line straight ahead to keep defenses honest even if it gains minimal returns than get a predictable doomed pass play. The deep pitch runs were low success rate with the line and average speed of BR. He's got to send him straight ahead.

I also don't know whatever happened to the screen pass to the backs out of the backfield - those are good plays to slow down a pass rush or burn them for blowing up our line.

Really, as much as people look @ the D the problem with the team is clearly on the offensive side of the ball.

 

[nccardfan]

Wilkie,

Replace the QB? He had 5 QBs on the roster, two of them mobile and 3 conventional. How many QB's does he need? You don't get a TB every year.

 

[zipp]

talking about the 2014 OCC Schedule? Wasn't that last year...got it. I'd do that too if my team was 0-2 and looking 0-3 right in the face with the fan base in melt down mode...

Because the 2014 schedule is the last LPT schedule that we can accurately evaluate. You don't know how good or bad your schedule is until the games are played.

Only a slapd!ck would need that explanation.

The U of L defense has looked worse in the last 6-7 games because the offense has as well. When your offense goes three-and-out too many times, your defense suffers.

A slapd!ck oughta understand that firsthand as well.

As far as Grumpy, he took his worthless Bulldog a$$ elsewhere last year when the Grantham defense started clicking. Now he reemerges. Where's he been in the meantime? An LPT $hithole?

LPT Football: Safe harbor...

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

It's rather incomprehensible that Pike would be over here handing out lectures about a potential fan meltdown. The team he roots for hasn't finished a season ranked in 30 + years. He roots for a team that gave a coach a gatorade bath and stormed the field in a game they lost. How old could Pike have been in 1984, inquiry minds want to know. The fans of the team he roots for have been in meltdown mode for 30 years. How can any fan of a program like that be talking trash? It's just rather unbelievable, yet it goes on and on and on and on.

They are so incredibly out of touch with reality they have gone from touting Towles as the top QB in the SEC to begging for him to be benched the first loss into the season.

Zipp crushing Pike with schedule evaluation talk. The UK schedule is ideal. Home game against a mediocre FLA has come and gone. Up next, a tilt with former SEC E champs who are fresh off a 3 pt win @ home vs UCONN in a game they failed to score a TD. It's there for the taking. If they win it will be like, the best win ever! If they lose, the SEC is just so tough.

I'd say let us know your thoughts before the game, but then again, we don't care about your thoughts.

The bottom line is many of them just have no idea what they are talking about. They are fans of a bottom feeding program and any passive aggressive insults, or direct insults they dish out should only be laughed upon.

We are laughing at you Pike. You're a simpleton.

And again, Grumpy is pretty much a complete loser. He has no credibility as discussed, his disappearing act during the # of successful defensive games played by Louisville show he's just got too much emotion invested to be taken seriously also. He's just mad the DC didn't "get it done" in Athens, and wants to see the guy fail at his next stop. That's a really great agenda to have - but the problem with that on these grounds is, nobody gives a crap that Grumpy is mad the DC "didn't get it done" at his school because this is not a Georgia board.

So take your tired act back to the GA board or go rub elbows with the UK guys on their site Grumpy. I understand why you like those guys, given the H2H record over the years. Me guesses you aren't the same type of guy on the FLA board. That said, I don't care. Be gone.