Posted by: Josh Kendall on January 31, 2013

The Philadelphia Eagles still haven't hired a defensive coordinator, and Todd Grantham is not talking about the job.

Not even to the coaches he's interviewing at Georgia.

The Bulldogs hired Chris Wilson away from Mississippi State to be their defensive line coach, but Wilson has heard nothing about any involvement Grantham has or has not had with the Eagles.

"We haven't discussed it to be honest, and to me that says a lot. The one thing everybody in our building has been focused on is this (recruiting) class. That's it," Wilson said.

Grantham, Georgia's defensive coordinator, is one of several coaches, from both the collegiate and professional ranks, to be linked to Eagles top defensive job. The most recent name mentioned for the job was Cleveland Browns linebackers coach Billy Davis, who interviewed according to Adam Schefter.

Wilson is just focusing on his new job, he said.

"The great thing about Todd is he's an out of the box thinker," Wilson said. During the interview "we really focused on defensive line play, what type of teacher I was. What we talked about then were ideas. We all face the same problem defensively, everybody is spreading you out, stretching the field. We talked about the things that are really affecting you defensively right now."

After calling the plays for Mississippi State most of last season, he was replaced in that role by Geoff Collins shortly before leaving for Mark Richt's staff. Still, he called his time in Starkville "tremendous."

"I really enjoyed my time there," he said. "The biggest thing I hope we did over our time there was make it better than when we got there."

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Josh Kendall is a staff writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered the SEC for more than 15 years for papers such as the Athens Banner-Herald, Macon Telegraph, and The State. He’s the father of two boys who he’s hoping don’t inherit his wide receiver frame and offensive guard feet. Follow @EyeOnCoaches on twitter and send your feedback to josh@coachingsearch.com

Posted by: Josh Kendall on January 31, 2013

Jim Harbaugh "is not maybe the most well-liked guy in the media or across the league," but the San Francisco 49ers love him, team CEO Jed York told 95.7 The Game in San Francisco.

"Ultimately, I'm going to judge Jim on whether he wins or loses and if he's getting us to compete for Super Bowls and win Super Bowls.  I don't think Jim is as bad as what some people think he is in the media," York said.

"He's just himself, and he has no interest in promoting himself," York added. "He has no interest in doing anything that's not about the team. ... Could he be better and could he be more generous in the media? Yeah, I'm sure he could. But that's not who he is, and I respect who he is, and I don't want to put our coach or any of our players in a position that they're not comfortable with."

York got Harbaugh to San Francisco by appealing to what he thought Harbaugh was all about, he said.

"Jim is very comfortable being himself. And I think the way we approached it, very early on, you had colleges and you had pro teams sort of setting deadlines and ultimatums. ... And then they'd come back when he didn't respond, 'Well, we'll raise the number and do this for you.' I looked at it as Jim lived in Palo Alto, or outside Palo Alto ... his wife had just given birth to their second daughter and he wanted an opportunity to compete for Super Bowls. And when we sat down with him, it wasn't, 'We'll give you everything that you want; here's all this money,' ... it was, 'This is a team effort. I don't think you want to leave and go across the country. ... We have a talented team that has underachieved. You need to choose that you want to be here as much as we need to choose you,'" York said.

The hire, obviously has worked out well as Harbaugh has the 49ers two days away from the Super Bowl.

"I think there is a good group of people in the locker room, first. What he's gotten them to do is he's gotten them to perform to their peak performance ... not just on the field, but off the field," York said. " And he's gotten them to come together as a group of people, where it really is a family and they treat each other like that. And that doesn't mean that they always get along. Sometimes there are fights. Sometimes you have a quarterback change in the middle of the season that not everybody is fired up for at the point, and now it shows why he made a quarterback change. ... You have a very unique dynamic on this team that's special."

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Josh Kendall is a staff writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered the SEC for more than 15 years for papers such as the Athens Banner-Herald, Macon Telegraph, and The State. He’s the father of two boys who he’s hoping don’t inherit his wide receiver frame and offensive guard feet. Follow @EyeOnCoaches on twitter and send your feedback to josh@coachingsearch.com

Posted by: Josh Kendall on January 31, 2013

It's easy to see now that John L. Smith's one season at Arkansas was not a success.

Paul Petrino could have told you it didn't have much of a chance from the start.

Smith's 10-month contract made it impossible for the coaching staff to properly handle the team and some of the players eventually quit on the coaches, former Razorbacks offensive coordinator Petrino and former defensive coordinator Paul Haynes both told the Sporting News.

"I don't think an A.D. should ever hire somebody for 10 months," Petrino said. "Players know what that means; they understand that. It hurts the power of the head coach and the assistants. They should've hired (Smith) for two years or hired someone else for two years, or just (expletive)-canned all of us."

Both coaches added they do not hold a grudge against Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long after the 4-8 season that led to the dismissal of Smith and the staff.

"Even if they had a plan to get rid of us no matter what, which I think they did, you say two years and I think the kids dig in," Haynes said. "When you give 10 months, everyone is on eggshells."

Smith agreed although he didn't go as far as his two former assistants.

"You look back and, yeah, a little more time would've been nice," he told Sporting News. "Does that give you more teeth? Yes."

The uncertainty of the situation made it difficult for the assistants to give Smith their best effort, Petrino added.

"It was also hard for John L. with assistants," he said, "maybe even with me. And I love John; outside of my brother and my dad, that's the person in football I love the most. ... I don't necessarily know if he was ever able to be himself all the way."

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Josh Kendall is a staff writer for CoachingSearch.com and has covered the SEC for more than 15 years for papers such as the Athens Banner-Herald, Macon Telegraph, and The State. He’s the father of two boys who he’s hoping don’t inherit his wide receiver frame and offensive guard feet. Follow @EyeOnCoaches on twitter and send your feedback to josh@coachingsearch.com