Todd Grantham staying at Georgia, spurns consideration from Saints

Todd Grantham announced Friday he will not be leaving Georgia and has withdrawn his name as a candidate to become the defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, according to Marc Weiszer of the Athens-Banner Herald. Grantham has spent the past three years as the defensive coordinator for the Bulldogs, who have had very good to great defenses each year he was there, despite making the shift from a 4-3 to a 3-4.

Prior to taking the Georgia job, Grantham spent most of the 2000s working in the NFL. He worked for the Houston Texans and Dallas Cowboys as a defensive line coach, and served as the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns from 2005-2007. In his three seasons in charge of the Cleveland defense, the team finished 17th, 27th, and 30th in total defense.

Grantham came to Athens in 2010 to serve as Mark Richt's defensive coordinator. He overhauled the defense and implemented a base 3-4 scheme, which led to some growing pains at first. The Bulldog defense finished the 2010 season ranked No. 23 in total defense, an improvement over the No. 38 finish the year before. The Dawgs finished fifth in the nation in 2011 (a year that also featured this postgame excitement from Grantham), which built huge expectations for the 2012 season.

Those expectations were largely unmet during the first half of the season, but Georgia finished the regular season on a defensive tear, allowing 14 points or fewer in each of the final five games of the regular season. The Bulldogs finished the season ranked No. 32 in total defense. Still, SB Nation's Dawg Sports has been consistently uneasy with the idea of Grantham again expressing NFL interest.

Grantham was believed to be in the running for Chip Kelly's defensive coordinator spot with the Eagles, with Bleeding Green Nation naming him its top choice for the job.