Video: Grantham, English Share Similar Philosophies on New MSU Defensive Staff

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – With the start of spring football practice less than a month away, new Mississippi State defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and safeties coach Ron English met with members of the media on Wednesday and set the tone for a 2017 defense that is expected to feature a “fast, physical and aggressive” identity.

“That’s how we’re going to approach everything that we do,” Grantham said. “I have a lot of appreciation for the fans here and the passion that they have. I understand that this is a very competitive league from top to bottom and that it will be challenging every week. I embrace the passion that our fans have to be a good team and to be a good defense.”

Grantham since accepting the job in January has been on a rapid schedule from recruiting, traveling, learning personnel and living out of a hotel room. His family was heading to Starkville this week.

“We’re certainly excited to become a part of this community,” he said. “When you look at my family, I have a son that’s going to be a sophomore. It’s important to me to be somewhere that he can be for his high school career. When the opportunity like this came up, it was a place that I felt would allow me to see him graduate from high school here. That’s the approach that I’ve taken.”

Grantham’s distinguished career has featured 10 years as a defensive coordinator and 11 years at the NFL. He takes over a defense that returns 22 letterwinners and seven starters.

“This program has won, and it wasn’t too long ago that we were No. 1 in the country,” he said. “We have had a history of having good defensive players here. If you look at the past few years here, we have had a lot of NFL draftable guys here. We want to re-establish that and get back to that. Being a part of re-establishing that identity, being able to be a part of the most competitive league in the country and being with a head coach that had done it before were all things that were appealing to me.”

English arrived in Starkville Monday and said he followed Mullen’s teams closely. He and Grantham have a combined 45 years of coaching experience.

“I knew him, and of course because of that I followed him at Mississippi State and he has done a wonderful job here,” English said. “This program has now made bowl games an expectation. They have been No. 1 in the country for several weeks and they have had great players. I just think there is an opportunity to win here.”

English discussed having a physical defense and laying a footprint in recruiting.

“Recruiting is about time and effort, and really doing what you say you are going to do,” he said. “If your reputation is to do what you say you are going to do, and you spend the time and put the effort in I think you will have a chance to be successful.”

The Bulldogs are coming off a school-record seventh straight bowl appearance, and since 2010, MSU ranks second in the SEC in bowl victories with five. MSU opens spring practice on Thursday, March 2.

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Todd Grantham Press Conference
February 8, 2017

Opening Statement

“Well, thanks to everyone for being here. I’m certainly excited to get moving. We’ve obviously got a lot of hard work to do. It’s been going well so far. I’m looking forward to getting to spring practice and getting out on the field and seeing what we have and what we need to do to improve. We certainly have a lot of work to do, but we’re excited about the process. We’re excited by the effort from the guys so far. To be honest, we understand that there isn’t really a magic wand. When you look at it, it’s going to come down to a few things. No. 1, it’s going to come down to preparation. We have to make sure that we prepare for the things that we are going to see throughout the course of the season. Then it’s going to come down to practice. You know, getting on the field and practicing the things that we talk about in meetings. And then it’s also going to come down to execution. Those are the three main things that we are going to have to focus on to get us to where we want to be.

“I can tell you that I have a lot of appreciation for the fans here and the passion that they have. I understand that this is a very competitive league from top to bottom and that it will be challenging every week. I embrace the passion that our fans have to be a good team and to be a good defense. We are certainly going to work our tails off over the next few months to reestablish the identity that we need to play with in order for us to be successful. I’ve always said that our identity will be fast, physical and aggressive and that’s how we’re going to approach everything that we do. We have to understand that every time that we get on the field, that’s an opportunity for us to get better. We have to make those improvements over the next few months in everything that we do.

“My family is certainly excited. They’re actually on their way here now. We’re certainly excited to become a part of this community. Moving is always a transition for your family.  I can tell you that my wife and kids are very excited to get here, to be a part of this community and be a part of what we’re going to be doing moving forward.

“It’s interesting. It wasn’t that long ago that Coach Mullen and this staff were No. 1 in the country. This program has been built by him and has had a lot of success and I fully expect for us to work to reestablish that identity and get us back to where everybody wants to go.”

On what was attractive about the MSU defensive coordinator position…

“First of all, as a coach, you always look for challenges. Those things always intrigue you. The SEC, from top to bottom, is the most competitive, challenging conference in the nation. If you look at our schedule next year, we’re going to play some of the top teams in the country. It’s really easy to get where you want to go, to beat the teams on your schedule and then win your conference championship and then you have the ability to go play for a national title. This program has won, and it wasn’t too long ago that we were No. 1 in the country. We have had a history of having good defensive players here. If you look at the past few years here, we have had a lot of NFL draftable guys here. We have had good players here. We want to re-establish that and get back to that. Being a part of re-establishing that identity, being able to be a part of the most competitive league in the country and being with a head coach that had done it before were all things that were appealing to me. As I got involved in the process and was around Coach Mullen and his wife a little bit more, there was a natural fit. There was a lot of comfort with what he wanted from his defense and what I was looking for. It was a match that I felt was right.”

On the process of becoming MSU’s defensive coordinator…

“First of all, everyone always does their evaluations at the end of a season. And certainly we wanted to re-establish what we thought the identity of this program should be. As all of that was going on here. We started hearing rumors of changes and things like that. So the communication started that there might be an opportunity here. It was more of a discussion about my philosophies of how we need to play and those sort of things along with what he was looking for. It was a very good match with what he was wanting to do and the way that I want my defenses to play. So it really just started off with learning that there may be an opportunity. Once that came about, the conversation was about my philosophy, his philosophy and my teaching background.  It was something that honestly excited me a lot the more that I talked to him.”

On learning about MSU’s current players…

“It’s a new day for everybody, defensively. So whether you had a great year last year or not as good as you wanted, you’re really all on the same track. I’m going to evaluate what each player does while I’m here by looking at what they do on the field. I have asked the graduate assistants that we make a 25 to 30 play cut-up of each guy to try to give me a summary or idea of where they are or their abilities. That doesn’t necessarily always define the player but it gives you a starting point. So all we’re doing is trying to get a starting point with our players and from there, we will develop our team. Some guys are going to have to play more than one position. Some guys are going to have to move from the position that they are in right now. So the big thing that I have told them is ‘Don’t worry about where you’re playing or worry about your position on the depth chart. Just make plays.’ And if they make plays, we will find a way to get them on the field. Because at the end of the day, defense is about defeating blockers, tackling the guy with the ball and making plays. If they can do that, we will find a way to get them onto the field. We are going to give everyone a fair opportunity to showcase their talent. Based upon the guys that I have seen here, I like our work ethic. We are working to develop the habits that you have to have to be consistent. Football is a grinding game. Your consistency and performance throughout the year is critical and that really starts in practice. That starts with how you approach every day. So right now we are working on making sure that we compete every day. Because you really have to learn how to compete to win a position before you can help us compete to win a game. We’re in the initial phases of what we want to get done which is basically learning how to compete every day to showcase our talents. And if they can do that, then they can help us win games.”

On his defensive philosophy…

“The objectives that we have are that we have to prevent points and force turnovers. We always want to get the ball back. We want to be hard to score on and create turnovers and get the ball back to the offense. And there’s nothing that says you can’t score if you get the ball. From a philosophical standpoint, the No. 1 thing that we have to do is stop the run. We can’t let people run the ball on us. If they can’t run the ball on you that creates an advantage for you in the sense that they become one dimensional. Once that occurs, then you have to find a way to affect the quarterback. In other words, we have to find a way to make the quarterback play badly. Really if we do that while being fast, physical and aggressive, we’re going to be in every game. Now every game won’t be perfect from a scoring standpoint. One week it might be 10-7 and the next week it might be 33-30, but at the end of the day we have to keep playing. And if you keep playing for four quarters, the team that plays the hardest is the team that’s going to win. We want to re-establish that. We have to stop the run and we have to make the quarterback play bad. I’ve been doing this a long time and the guy that turns the ball over the most on any level, is the quarterback. So we have to find ways to get him to turn the ball over. And if you look at the history of our defense we have done that pretty well over the past seven years. We will continue to do that by emphasizing stop the run and pressure the quarterback. I think those are areas right there that we have to improve upon. If you look at where the program was last year, that’s something that we definitely have to improve for us to win the games that we want to win. So it starts with stopping the run and there are a lot of factors that go into that. That’s gap control and tackling. That’s running to ball and playing with a physical mindset. There’s a lot of things that go into that, but we want to stop the run and affect the quarterback.”

On the challenge of creating a top defense in the SEC

“I’m very excited by the challenge. I certainly like the intensity of our players. We’ve obviously got some work to do, but that’s why we’re at work. That’s why the players are in the weight room and on the field conditioning. That’s why we’re in meetings right now putting in the playbook and evaluating our players. It’s a whole process. The enjoyment is in the journey meaning developing relationships with the players. It’s fun to watch a player develop. It’s fun to watch a player believe because belief is a powerful tool. When the players believe in you, you see the improvement. That’s what we’re really working on right now, is to develop that relationship between coach and player and players and other players. We want them to understand that trust factor. I think that that’s the way that you have to coach. Every guy is not going to be the same. Every guy isn’t going to see things the same way. Sometimes you have to change your teaching to the players that you have to make sure that at the end of the day that we’re all playing to our identity.”

On reuniting with secondary coach Terrell Buckley…

“Anytime when you have a new staff and anytime that staff has continuity, it’s good. The continuity thing is important because everyone understands everyone so fortunately for Coach Buckley and I, we have worked together in the past and he understands our system and he understands the things that we want. So the learning curve in that area is maybe not as great in that position as maybe it is at other positions. I think that helps us moving forward with there being continuity as far as what we’re looking for out of our corners and our secondary to allow us to be productive in our play.”

On what he wants to see from each individual position…

“Up front, we want to disrupt the play. Your front guys have to be physical. You have to have size, inside particularly. We want to have an aggressive style. We’re a one-gap team. We’re going to be a penetrating team. We’re going to find ways to create negative yardage plays. Anytime that you can get the offense behind the sticks, it’s gives the defense the advantage in the sense that second and 10 is easier to call than second and four. So we want to be aggressive in our play up front. We want to be physical. We want to play with our hands because defense is about playing with your hands and being able to get off blocks. We want to be able to stop the run doing those things. Then after that, we have to find ways to disrupt the quarterback with our rush. Now the rush up front isn’t always about sacks. It’s about disrupting the quarterback and a lot of times that can just be pushing the pocket. We want to be able to find ways to use our rush to disrupt the quarterback and get legal hits on him because quarterbacks don’t like it when they are uncomfortable in the pocket.”

“Linebackers have to be able to run and hit. In our scheme, our linebackers are also going to be blitzers. They’re going to be doggers. They have to have the ability to beat a one-on-one block whether it’s against a back or a tight end coming off the edge. So from that standpoint, we want to look for speed on the field. We want guys that can run and hit that are sure tacklers. We want them to have a nose for the ball. We want them to have the ability to affect the quarterback even if they are being blocked.”

“Safeties are the guys that we put into space. So our safeties have to be good tacklers. You have to be a guy that can pattern match. We are a pattern match zone defense which means that we are playing zone but based upon route distribution, we’re going to match it. So our safeties will get a bunch of keys that way. So they have to understand the keys and the guys that they are looking at. And from there, they have to have the ability to make a play on the ball. Because in our defense, our safeties will have the ability to get their hands on a lot of balls relative to the pressure and based upon what they see.”

“Our corners are going to have to be guys that can play physical, that can press and challenge the outside throws and make plays on balls that are thrown downfield.”

As you go through as look at the depth chart, I wouldn’t be concerned where guys are right now because we will be moving guys around. We’re just giving them a starting point. Obviously that will change throughout the course of the summer and fall.

On what the defense can do to improve from last season…

“I always look at defense as a team defense. When we’re good at stopping the run, the secondary is involved in that too, because they don’t give up explosive plays. And those guys are going to have gap fits and other things. I look at passing defense as a team defense also. When the other quarterback can hold the ball, that’s not a good thing. So we have to find ways to force the quarterback to get rid of the ball. I don’t care who you are from a coverage standpoint if the quarterback can sit back there without getting hit. If they get comfortable in the pocket, the can make pretty much any throw. What we want to do is work to put them under duress from a standpoint of where maybe what they see pre-snap is not the same thing they see post-snap. Because every quarterback is going to have a picture before they get the ball. If that picture stays the same throughout the entire down, they are going to execute at a pretty high rate. What we like to do is let them get that picture, but then change the picture as the play develops into something other than what the quarterback thought it would be. Which forces you to hold the ball a little bit longer and that brings the defense’s rush into play. When we talk about pass defense, it’s not only the back-end guys but it’s the front end guys too. Because we’re a team. We have to find ways to make the quarterback throw the ball a little quicker or find ways to put doubt into his head that way they can’t execute at the level that they did last year. Those are the things that we are going to work on in the next few months.”

On the large number of junior college signees in the 2017 recruiting class…

“We’re all first-year players. It’s a new system. So whether you were in JUCO or played here last year, it’s all the same. So in a lot of ways, the JUCO guys are on the same playing field as the guys that were here last year because the system that we’re putting in is totally different. So that’s not going to be a really big factor. Defense is about playmakers. Defense is about athletes. Defense is about getting your best 11 players on the field. What we have to do is find a way to get our best 11 players on the field. That means that guys are going to have to play more than one position. We’re going to have to train guys. We’re going to move guys throughout spring to find ways to get the best combination of players. I don’t think those guys coming in from JUCO will be at a disadvantage. Because it’s going to be a new system for everybody. I think the advantage is that I’ve seen a lot of quality midyear guys that have the things that we look for. I think adding that talent is going to allow us to be a better team.”

On duplicating previous success…

“Defense, as a coach, you always find situations to put your players in one-on-one situations. Defense is about trying to understand what the other team is doing and making them beat you left-handed. Once you know what the other team is doing, I have to find ways to put our players in positions to make the most plays. So I think it’s both. I think you have to have players that can win one-on-one matchups. You have to have players that prepare, practice and execute. As a coach, you try to take the players that you have and play to their strengths and that’s what we’re going to do here. We’re going to play to our strengths are I fully expect us to have similar success here based upon what I’ve seen so far and the way that I want us to play.”

On his how long he plans to be in Starkville…

“When you look at my family, I have a son that’s going to be a sophomore. It’s important to me to be somewhere that he can be for his high school career. When the opportunity like this came up, it was a place that I felt would allow me to see him graduate from high school here. That’s the approach that I’ve taken.”

On the perception of Dan Mullen’s offense around the country…

“There are a lot of people that have tried to emulate his offense because of the success that he’s had. The other thing is, there’s no one else in the country that’s better than him at developing quarterbacks. If you look at the quarterbacks that he’s developed and the success that they’ve had, not only in college but in pro football, it shows that he has the ability to develop quarterbacks. And that’s not just what he’s done here, but throughout his career. Any time you have a coach that has the ability to develop quarterbacks, you’re going to play well. You’re going to have the ability to have success. His ability to develop quarterbacks along with the commitment to run the ball and the commitment to have multiple formations and take shots down field allows us to be the kind of offense we have been over the past few seasons. When you look at it, he has really built this program and he has built it through the things that he believes are fundamentally what you have to do to win, and I certainly agree with everything that he’s talked about. And I look forward to being a part of the tradition that he has here and looking forward to us being the kind of team that we want to have moving forward.”

Ron English Press Conference
February 8, 2017

Opening Statement

“I’ve been around a bunch of places, and I am really happy to be here. I was just saying to a guy a couple of weeks ago, I have been out West and I said there are really only two places I want to coach, the Big Ten and the SEC. I am very fortunate to be here and very happy to be here with a great head coach and a great defensive coordinator. I am excited and ready to go.”

On why he chose Mississippi State…

“(Coach Dan Mullen) and I coached against each other a number of years ago when he had Tim Tebow down at Florida. They averaged a boat load of points, and we played pretty good that day and won that game. So I kind of knew about him. When he came here, he offered me a job here but at the time I had committed to another job. I knew him, and of course because of that I followed him at Mississippi State and he has done a wonderful job here. This program has now made bowl games an expectation. They have been No. 1 in the country for several weeks and they have had great players. I just think there is an opportunity to win here. I think this conference has been outstanding for many years, and I think this town is going to be good for my family. Those are some of the reasons.”

On the veteran leadership in the defensive backfield…

“You don’t know until you know. I haven’t coached these guys on the field in terms of drills and stuff like that. My job is really to make them the very best they can be, and hopefully to be better then they think they can be. I am excited because there is some ability there. I think Coach Todd Grantham does a fabulous job, and I am just excited to work with the guys. I think we are going to have a system that allows them to make some plays.”

On improving the defense…

“To play defense, you have to leverage the ball. Kids have to know exactly what they are doing and what they should be looking at. You have to finish plays and you have to get a pass rush. Really, I think it starts with the staff knowing exactly what we are doing, and being able to teach what needs to be taught in a consistent way so that players will be able to understand and execute.”

On recruiting in the South…

“I have spot recruited in the South a little bit. I know there are great players here. There are great big guys that can run around. I am excited to get into it. I think recruiting is hard work and relationships. That is the reality of it; to evaluate players, and then to develop relationships and to work hard to find out who the decision makers are around the players. I don’t think that has changed, and I have had success recruiting all over this country and I would imagine it to be the same. Recruiting is about time and effort, and really doing what you say you are going to do. If your reputation is to do what you say you are going to do, and you spend the time and put the effort in I think you will have a chance to be successful.”