Report: Todd Grantham Returning to the NFL

Despite reports that Grantham had interviewed for the defensive coordinator position at Alabama, he has reportedly opted to return to professional football.

Joey Blackwell | Feb 3, 2023

Report: Todd Grantham Returning to the NFL /

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Alabama Crimson Tide

Scratch one more name off of Nick Saban's list for potential defensive coordinators for Alabama football.

According to a report by ESPN's Chris Low, Alabama analyst Todd Grantham has opted to return to the NFL. Grantham will be heading to serve as an assistant with the New Orleans Saints, per Low.

Todd Grantham, who interviewed for the @AlabamaFTBL DC job, has decided to return to the NFL as an assistant with the New Orleans Saints, sources tell ESPN. Grantham was an analyst at Bama last season. He worked in the NFL for 11 seasons and was DC at three different SEC schools.
— Chris Low (@ClowESPN) February 3, 2023

Grantham reportedly interviewed with Saban earlier this week for the open position of defensive coordinator. The position has been open since former Crimson Tide DC Pete Golding left for the same position at Ole Miss back in mid-January.

Grantham started his coaching career at Virginia Tech in 1990, where he coached various defensive positions through the 1995 season. From there, he joined Saban's staff at Michigan State, where he was the defensive line coach before being promoted to assistant head coach.

In 1999, Grantham headed to the NFL as the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts, then served the same position for the Houston Texans from 2002-04. He then coached for the Cleveland Browns, then the Dallas Cowboys before returning back to college as the defensive coordinator for Georgia in 2010.

From 2014-16, Grantham was the defensive coordinator for Louisville, then at Mississippi State in 2017. His final college spot before Alabama was for the Florida Gators, where he was the team's DC from 2018-21.

Grantham will have left Alabama after serving only one season as a defensive analyst.

Joey Blackwell is an award-winning journalist and assistant editor for BamaCentral and has covered the Crimson Tide since 2018. He primarily covers Alabama football, men's basketball and baseball, but also covers a wide variety of other sports. Joey earned his bachelor's degree in History from Birmingham-Southern College in 2014 before graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama in 2020 with a degree in News Media. He has also been featured in a variety of college football magazines, including Lindy's Sports and BamaTime.

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