University of Tennessee Athletics
Q&A with Coach Eddie Gran
April 15, 2009 | Football
April 15, 2009
1. Why did you choose to come to Tennessee?
I had some people that know Coach Kiffin, and I hounded him for about five weeks and kept grinding him trying to get here. I wanted to be with this staff and wanted to be at the University of Tennessee.
2. What has the transition to UT been like?
It's been fast and furious and that's usually what happens when you are involved in a transition of a new staff, but it's everything I expected.
3. What does Spring Practice mean to you?
For me, it's about learning a new offense and learning about the players and the personnel. To me spring practice is so valuable to teach kids how to practice, to see what they retain, how much football means to them. As a coach, me learning this new offense, I'm excited about that opportunity and going against Monte Kiffin's defense.
4. What has your impression of Knoxville been so far?
It's kind of a big little city. I really like it. My family has been up here a couple of times and they've enjoyed it. They are excited about getting here. I'm an outdoors guy, I love the mountains and hunting, so it really looks like its going to be a place we can call home.
5. What do you think is the #1 reason recruits choose Tennessee?
Tennessee is located so that you can get to it from pretty much everywhere. It gives you everything you want academically and a football program wise with tradition. For over seventy-five years in the SEC we've been the winningest program and you couple that with the stadium and the facilities, and the resources are awesome.
6. What things do you like to do outside of football?
First is spend time with my family. I enjoy my family, my girls, but other than that it's hunting and fishing.
7. How did your children react to the idea of moving?
I think excitement at first. The four-year-old and the 12-year-old, they're really excited. My oldest took it hard, she's a sophomore and that's a tough age, but she understands. I think them moving here right after spring break and being able to go to school here for the last nine weeks so that they can start to make friends has really helped.
8. Tell us about the Sydney Gran Foundation.
It's a foundation my wife and I set up in April of 2005 right before my daughter Sydney passed away. She was born with a rare disease called Holoprosencephaly that caused her brain to stop developing during her first three months in the womb. The doctors did not expect her to live past six months and she lived almost to her sixth birthday. We spent a lot of time at Children's Hospital in Alabama with her, so we know how special that place is. At the hospital we talked to many parents coping with the stresses of everyday life while also trying to help their sick child heal. We wanted to have a foundation where we could help others and that is what the foundation is doing - helping others whether they need money for food or for gas or shelter, whatever it may be.
9. How do you plan to stay involved in Knoxville?
We're working on that right now. There was a book that was written about Sydney and we're going to try to do something maybe after the spring where we can sell the book here and all the funds go right to the Sydney Gran Foundation. The book costs $10 so we're going to try to do it that way and sooner or later we'll figure out whether or not we're going to have another dinner. In the past we've hosted two galas that have raised over $130,000; we may do a golf tournament but we're still talking about it.
