Todd Grantham Responds to Greg Brown’s Comments

Mark BlankenbakerFebruary 16, 2016

On Monday evening departed Safeties Coach Greg Brown spoke with the Columbia Daily Tribune’s David Morrison that the defense was like ‘the neglected stepchild’ at Louisville. Brown recently left the Louisville staff for the new staff at Missouri.

Greg Brown says he’s glad to be on a team with a defensive head coach: said defense was like “the neglected stepchild” at Louisville.

— David Morrison (@DavidCMorrison) February 16, 2016

On Tuesday Louisville defensive coordinator Todd Grantham spoke with ESPN’s Andrea Adelson (please read the entire story here and look for Adelson’s mic drop at the end), Grantham responded to Brown’s comments in the following way: “I’ve been here two years, and since I’ve been here, we’ve been sixth in total D and 18th in total D. Coach Petrino gives me full autonomy to run the defense the way I see fit. I do all the game plans with our defensive staff, and if you look, we’ve had a lot of success, and we really got a lot of energy moving forward. We beat two SEC teams at the end of the year, and we’ve got some guys that chose to come back. Things are moving in the right direction, and we’ve got a lot of energy moving forward.”

Louisville Defense has actually been in the Top 25 each year since 2010……that is SIX years in a row. With Keith Kelsey, Devonte Fields, DeAngelo Brown, and Josh Harvey-Clemons returning for their senior seasons passing up an opportunity at the 2016 NFL Draft it’s a good bet that the 2016 Louisville Defense will be a Top 25 unit as well.

Louisville’s offense on the other hand hasn’t posted a Top 25 effort since the 2007 season. UofL’s recent gridiron success has been because of its defense. The offense is on its way to living up to the Petrino standard, but Greg Brown’s comments can be chalked up to nothing more than a highly paid adult being unable to exit gracefully to make way for an up and coming talent like Cort Dennison.

We wish you well at Missouri Coach Brown. Good luck.