Georgia Tech hires Al Groh to be defensive coordinator

[Reno Paul]

Updated: January 15, 2010, 11:36 AM ET
Groh to go to Yellow Jackets


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By Heather Dinich
ESPN.com
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Former Virginia head coach Al Groh will become the next defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech.
Groh said Friday that he and the school have an agreement in principle, but did not disclose terms of the contract.

"I'm pleased about it," Groh said. "It was my intention right from the start to continue to be actively involved. I have a lot of energy and a lot of ambition and I feel I have as much to prove as I did 30 years ago. So we're ready to go."
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Groh, fired following the Cavaliers' 3-9 season, replaces Dave Wommack, who was dismissed last week after two seasons under coach Paul Johnson. Groh, 65, has not been an assistant since 1988, when he was the offensive coordinator at South Carolina.
The Yellow Jackets allowed at least 30 points in six games but still finished the season with an 11-3 record.
Georgia Tech had one of the nation's most prolific offenses with Johnson's trademark triple-option, averaging nearly 34 points and more than 295 rushing yards per game. But the defense struggled, leading to high-scoring games such as a 49-44 victory at Florida State, a 30-27 loss to rival Georgia and a 39-34 win against Clemson for the ACC title.
Georgia Tech concluded the season with a 24-14 loss to Iowa in the FedEx Orange Bowl.
Groh, who was 59-53 in nine years at Virginia, interviewed for the defensive coordinator position with the Miami Dolphins on Wednesday and was reportedly a front-runner for the position there.
There was speculation he wanted to reunite with Bill Parcells, who is the Dolphins' executive vice president of football operations. The two have a long history together -- Groh was an assistant under Parcells with the New York Giants and New England Patriots.
"Bill's not the coach," Groh said. "And the coach is the person you work with on a daily basis. Bill is very disciplined as he explained it to me to be non-intrusive in that process and let the coach coach the way he wants to, just as Bill always wanted it to be when he was the coach. . . . There was just a set of criteria there that I thought that Paul's program and Georgia Tech met very well."
Heather Dinich covers the ACC for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

[Dirty]

This was a great Hire for Ga Tech