Three coaches set for Georgia debuts

ATHENS, Ga. — An English Bulldog mascot, the Redcoat Marching Band and competing “Between the Hedges” are timeworn college football traditions at the University of Georgia.

Yet they’re all new for three defensive assistants.

Defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, inside linebackers coach Warren Belin and secondary coach Scott Lakatos will be coaching Georgia in a game for the first time Saturday when the No. 23 Bulldogs host Louisiana-Lafayette. Grantham and Lakatos are new to the Southeastern Conference and its sizable venues, while Belin is more than doubling the size of his previous home stadium after spending the past eight seasons at Vanderbilt.

“I’m a Division III guy,” Lakatos said, “so I’m used to dogs running around on the field during games.”

Georgia’s three new assistants are the most under Mark Richt since he rounded out his inaugural staff in 2001.

Lakatos is a 1988 graduate of Western Connecticut State University and got his first job coaching defensive backs at his alma mater. There were stints at New Haven and Maine before he got his first Bowl Subdivision opportunities at Rutgers in 2001 and Connecticut in 2004.

“The first time I saw Tennessee (with Rutgers in ’02) and the 100,000 people in there was pretty awesome for me,” he said. “Notre Dame was a great experience, and West Virginia was always exciting. The passion they had for football was very similar to here at Georgia.”

Because he will be so consumed with responsibilities during his debut in the pressure-packed SEC, Lakatos doesn’t think he’ll be able to soak in the atmosphere until Saturday’s game is over.

Belin hopes to do so before the game.

As part of Bobby Johnson’s staff, Belin helped the Commodores achieve victories at Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, Ole Miss and Kentucky. One of the personal traditions he plans to bring from Vanderbilt is making one trek around the stadium long before kickoff.

“It’s going to be crazy Saturday,” Belin said. “I can’t wait to see the enthusiasm that Bulldog fans bring. I was even amazed at our spring game and the amount of fans (38,742) who came. To see that game and be involved with that — I can only imagine what this weekend will be like.”

Grantham is a college coach for the first time since 1998, when he served as Michigan State’s defensive line coach under Nick Saban.

His only experience at an SEC venue occurred in 1994, when he was Virginia Tech’s defensive line coach, and it was less than electric. Only 62,200 attended the 1994 Gator Bowl between Tennessee and the Hokies at Florida Field, which served as the site due to reconstruction in Jacksonville.

As the defensive line coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Grantham got to experience last September’s debut of Cowboys Stadium, which housed an NFL regular-season record crowd of 105,121.

“It’s a pretty good setup there the way they sell those tickets,” Grantham said. “They sell you a ticket and you come in and stand, but you’ve got to buy their drinks and their food, so it’s a pretty good concept. You pay me, and then you come in and buy my food. It’s why Jerry [Jones] is Jerry.”

Grantham is looking forward to the SEC circuit after earlier trips in his career to notable locales such as Michigan and Penn State. All three newcomers are excited, because they recognize they are joining an SEC with fervor and success at an all-time high.

“It’s going to be nice,” Belin said. “In our last scrimmage that we had, I kind of got away by myself and just thanked the good Lord above for this opportunity to have a chance to work for a great head coach and a good staff and have a chance to have an impact on these kids’ lives both on and off the field.”

Said Lakatos: “That’s why it was so attractive to come here — to have an opportunity to coach at a place like this and an environment like this. This is what this sport is all about.”