Georgia’s players finally ran into Todd Grantham in person on Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But it wasn’t exactly a hug-fest. In fact, Amarlo Herrera chose to say nothing at all.
“I saw him,” the senior inside linebacker said. “I didn’t speak to him.”
Asked why, Herrera tilted his head and looked as if he was hearing a foreign language.
“I’ll definitely talk to him after the game,” he said with a menacing grin.
That’s representative of an interesting dynamic heading into Tuesday’s Belk Bowl game between Georgia and Louisville. Most of the UGA’s defenders have a strong relationship with Grantham. Many were recruited to the school by the Bulldogs’ former defensive coordinator.
And while his presence on the other sideline makes for a cool storyline for the bowl game, as kickoff draws ever closer, so does the reality that Grantham is now the enemy.
“I’m motivated to beat him because he’s the opponent, not because he used to coach here,” senior center David Andrews said. “He’s in our way. That’s motivation enough.”
Senior defensive back Damian Swann was one of the few Bulldogs that talked to Grantham.
“It was just a greeting,” Swann said of the impromptu run-in at lunch. “He was in line and I was trying to get back to my food. So it was just, like, ‘hey, what’s up, Coach? How ya doing?’ Just a cordial greeting.”
Mark Richt has interacted with his former subordinate a few times, including Friday evening at the coaches’ reception at Quail Hollow Country Club.
Richt said he shook Grantham’s hand and he and wife Katharyn chatted with Grantham and his wife Paige
“It’s a business,” he said. “We understand that. People have to do what they think is best for themselves and their families. I understand that.”
Grantham has declined interviews since the Cardinals arrived in Charlotte for the Belk Bowl. He spoke to reporters on a teleconference call a few days after the matchup was announced.
But Grantham is definitely fired up about facing his former team, his current players say.
“He wants us to get after them,” Louisville senior outside linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin said. “He feels like we have the right kind of players to get after Georgia and (Nick) Chubb. He wants us to play hard. You can just tell by how he’s coaching on the field he really wants to beat Georgia.”
Obviously both parties are intimately familiar with their respective schemes. There won’t be much mystery when it comes what Louisville’s defense and Georgia’s offense are trying to achieve.
“We’ve got to execute our game plan better than they execute theirs,” Swann said.
Said Herrera: “Everybody watches film. They know what we’re gonna do; we know what they’re gonna do. You’ve just got to try to stop it.”
