ATHENS, Ga. - Todd Grantham walked the home sideline inside Sanford Stadium as Georgia's defensive coordinator from 2010 to 2013.
Grantham will make his first appearance in Sanford as the visiting defensive coordinator Saturday night when No. 17 Mississippi State faces No. 11 Georgia in a Southeastern Conference showdown that will be televised by ESPN. Mississippi State will enter the game with a top-10 national defense after repeatedly stymieing LSU this past weekend in a 37-7 rout.
"I think Todd does a tremendous job," Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said Monday. "He's very smart, very knowledgeable, and he knows how to attack protections. He's a guy who is constantly working on getting better. He's got these guys believing and playing really hard and really physical. He's got some good players and some big guys up front.
"They just seem like they have a lot of guys they play, and they use them well and to their strengths."
Mississippi State defensive coordinator Todd Grantham speaks to reporters about team goals this upcoming season during Media Day in Starkville, Miss., Tuesday, July 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)Grantham spent the past three seasons at Louisville before returning to the SEC, and he may be on his way to his finest year. Mississippi State was atrocious defensively last season, ranking 12th in the league in total defense (allowing 459.1 yards per contest) and 13th in scoring defense (yielding 31.8 points a game).
Through three games this season, Mississippi State ranks fourth nationally in total defense (206.0) and sixth in scoring (9.3), and Grantham insists he's not surprised.
"I expected us to play," he said in a recent news conference. "We still have work to do. We've made progress, but I fully expected us to play. That's why we work and prepare.
"We still have a lot of football ahead of us, but I'm pleased with our energy, effort and mental toughness."
Leading Mississippi State's defensive charge is sophomore lineman Jeffery Simmons, who arrived in Starkville last year amid controversy after punching a woman while in high school. Simmons already has 17 tackles and 2.5 sacks through three games, and he helped the Bulldogs hold LSU to 270 yards and 3-of-13 futility on third-down tries.
Simmons was good last season under former MSU defensive coordinator Peter Sirmon but has taken noticeable strides under Grantham.
"Coach Grantham gets after us in practice," Simmons said after the win over LSU. "He's in your face, but after that he'll come back to you and say, 'You understand why we're doing this?' That's why I like him.
"He makes sure all 11 of us are getting to the ball."
Georgia had the nation's No. 5 defense in 2011, when the Bulldogs made their first SEC title-game appearance in six seasons, but they were a little more erratic in 2012 despite having an overwhelming majority of starters back from the year before. The 2012 defense had the likes of Jarvis Jones, Alec Ogletree, Kwame Geathers, John Jenkins, Cornelius Washington, Shawn Williams, Bacarri Rambo and Sanders Commings, but they were all in the NFL in 2013, when the youthful Bulldogs struggled in Grantham's final year.
The 2013 Bulldogs gave up the memorable fourth-and-18 "Prayer in Jordan-Hare" against Auburn, which was a 73-yard touchdown pass from Nick Marshall to Ricardo Louis that was made possible by two Georgia players colliding. They also allowed a 99-yard touchdown pass in a Gator Bowl loss to Nebraska.
Grantham left for Louisville, but he and the Bulldogs would be linked months later when Georgia hammered the Cardinals 37-14 in the Belk Bowl. Current senior running back Nick Chubb was a freshman for the Bulldogs in 2014, and he shredded Grantham's defense in Charlotte for 266 yards on 33 carries.
Smart was Alabama's defensive coordinator under Nick Saban in 2012, when the Crimson Tide outlasted Georgia 32-28 in a thrilling SEC title game, but he and Grantham have a history that dates well beyond that.
"I've known Todd for a long time," Smart said. "He used to come and talk ball with us when I was at LSU on Nick's staff. We would share ideas about pressures when he was in the NFL. I communicated with him when we played like opponents when he was here, trying to help each other back and forth.
"He's got those guys believing in each other, and they're playing really hard."
Their bond has not been lost on Georgia players, who began preparations Monday for Mississippi State. Senior tight end Jeb Blazevich said it's "glaringly obvious" that Smart, Grantham, former Georgia and current Alabama defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt and current Georgia defensive coordinator Mel Tucker have similar concepts.
"They kind of all run in the same circle," Blazevich said.
Odds and ends
Georgia's Sept. 30 game at Tennessee was picked up Monday by CBS, which will televise it at 3:30 p.m. ... The Bulldogs picked up an in-state commitment Monday from Hinesville defensive tackle Tramel Walthour, a three-star prospect who is rated No. 47 nationally at his position by 247sports.com. ... Sophomore quarterback Jacob Eason (knee sprain) returned to practice Monday, but Smart offered no specifics as far as what he would do or when he would play again. ... Smart also did not have a timetable for senior Malkom Parrish (foot), who has yet to play this season but also practiced Monday.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.