By Doug Doughty
It would seem that Todd Grantham will not be out of work for a long time following the news that he has been let go as defensive coordinator at Florida.
His history would suggest that.
Since 2017, Grantham had been the d-coordinator at Florida after holding the same position at Mississippi State.
At Mississippi State, Grantham worked for Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen, who brought Grantham with him to Florida.
Prior to that, Grantham had been the defensive coordinator at the University of Georgia and Louisville.
After going 29-9 over the past three seasons, Florida has been 5-5 this year.
Grantham, 55, played at Virginia Tech and spent time as an assistant under Frank Beamer at Tech (1990-95) and under Nick Saban at Michigan State.
Grantham is a graduate of Pulaski County High School, and his father and mother still live in the area, which might spark the possibility of returning to his home turf.
Mullen, by the way, currently stands second on the coacheshotseat.com site. Three ACC coaches are on the top 10 – Georgia Tech’s Geoff Collins at No. 6, Duke’s David Cutcliffe at No. 9, and Miami’s Manny Diaz at No. 10. Florida State’s Mike Norvell is 23rd.
Not alone
Grantham wasn’t the only dismissal at Florida over the weekend. The Gators also let go of offensive-line coach Jon Hevesy, Mullen’s longest-tenured assistant. Paul Pasqualoni, the head coach at Syracuse from 1991-2004, is helping Mullen, a fellow New England product, during the season’s final weeks.
First-year South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer on the Virginia Tech opening:
“I went to high school there. I coached there. My parents still live there. So, I have special memories of my time in Blacksburg, but this is where I want to be. When I said (South Carolina) was my dream job, I wasn’t just saying that to make it sound cool in a press conference or to get the job.”
Transfer portal
North Carolina State junior Casey Morsell, who averaged 4.2 points in 53 games at Virginia over the past two seasons, had 22 points in the Wolfpack’s 77-74 victory over Colgate.
When Morsell was a senior at St. John’s in Washington, D.C., he was rated one of the top 50 prospects in the country and was named D.C. Player of the Year by both USA Today and Gatorade.
Another N.C. State newcomer, 6-foot-7 Greg Gantt, transferred from Providence.
Scheduling
Virginia will be welcoming the Coppin State Eagles for the third time in school history on Friday at 7 p.m. In the first meeting, UVa beat Coppin 63-61 in 1993, followed by a 97-40 in 2018. The 1993-94 UVa team lost its home opener 77-36 to Connecticut.
