On Monday, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets held a press conference to announce the firing of Al Groh, the defensive coordinator since 2010.
Groh's defense has been struggling mightily thus far in 2012, ranking 89th in points allowed (30.2) and 90th in yards allowed with 431 per contest. Coach Paul Johnson explained why he felt it was time for a change, per From The Rumble Seat:
"This morning, I took some time and watched the game tape and went over it. There's no question Al knows defense, but the communication part wasn't transcending to the field. Lots of errors, struggles getting lined up, errors that kept repeating themselves. As I said a couple weeks ago, I don't think he forgot everything he knows about defense."
Johnson went on to talk about the future of the defense, saying that multiple coaches will be involved.
"Charles Kelly will probably run meetings, Andy McCollum will coach inside linebackers, Dave Walkosky will coach the defensive line, Joe Speed will coach the outside linebackers."
Groh has plenty of experience, once the coach of the New York Jets and more recently, the Virginia Cavaliers. However, Johnson felt it was time to move on.
"Al's very smart. The problem was what was in Al's head just wasn't transcending on the field."