Pete Thamel: Todd Grantham is 'logical in-house' candidate for Alabama defensive coordinator

Alabama is in the market for a new defensive coordinator with former DC Pete Golding off to take the same job at Ole Miss. But who the Crimson Tide might hire remains a bit of a quandary, one ESPN’s Pete Thamel discussed with Paul Finebaum on the latter’s SEC Network show.

Part of the reason there isn’t a shoe-in candidate for the gig, Thamel said, is the pipeline of defensive assistants under Nick Saban has dried up, with talent getting plucked elsewhere. This leaves few names on staff in viable position to get promoted.

“The tree has a little bit run out of branches,” Thamel said. “It would be interesting to see — does he go outside of his own tree? Never discount the people inside the building. Todd Grantham has been in the so-called ‘rehab program’ there.”

The “rehab program” Thamel alluded to is the system the Alabama football program has in place where coaches, often after being fired elsewhere, have joined the staff as analysts or assistants under Saban. Lane Kiffin, Mike Locksley and numerous others rolled through Tuscaloosa before moving back to other coaching pursuits.

Grantham was hired as an analyst for Alabama in May of 2022. He got his start with Saban in the 1990s at Michigan State before going on to a decades long career coaching defense at the college and pro levels. He was most recently the Florida defensive coordinator from 2018-2021.

“And he’s coordinated a lot of good defenses in the SEC. He’s driven a lot of fans nuts along the way too but that’s the logical in-house candidate,” Thamel said. “From there, if it’s not him, it would be someone from the outside.”

Grantham being elevated to defensive coordinator is certainly a possibility, and a role that Grantham has found success with in seasons past — but that doesn’t mean this won’t draw some strong responses from SEC fans.