ATLANTA — Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch jokes that he got his mental toughness from the constant, never-ending jibes he still endures to this day about his last name — especially at this time of the year.
“Most people that say it act like they’re the first ones to say it, which is exciting for them,” Grinch said Tuesday with a smirk.
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The jokes, of course, revolve around the 1957 Dr. Seuss book “How The Grinch Stole Christmas!” that was adapted into a 1966 animated TV special, a 2000 film starring Jim Carrey and a 2018 film starring Benedict Cumberbatch. In the story, The Grinch is a green, grouchy creature with a heart two sizes two small who hates Christmas and lives on Mount Crumpit. The Grinch becomes so irritated with the Christmas joy emanating from nearby Whoville that he schemes to disguise himself as Santa Claus and steal everyone’s Christmas presents and decorations. After realizing that the Whoville residents still are celebrating Christmas without all the gifts, he returns the gifts and joins in the festivities.
So you can imagine the jokes getting old throughout the years. His father, Greg, says he was subject to many of the same ones when he was a teenager, around the time the “Grinch” TV special hit the airwaves.
“My wife, she married into it,” Alex Grinch said. “Her last name was Blaser. And the places I could’ve gone if my last name was Blaser. I should’ve taken her last name.”
But if not for his great-great grandfather and a century-old mistake on some paperwork, Alex might have had a different last name. Greg Grinch said the family story goes that Stephen Michael Gruich, his great-grandfather, enlisted in the Marines in 1918 during World War I. He was underage at the time and while filling out his paperwork, he flipped the middle two letters and turned the “u” upside down. So Gruich became Grinch, 39 years before Dr. Seuss published the book that made “Grinch” synonymous with a miserly, green anti-Christmas critter.
Alex Grinch said some of the worst times are when he is out recruiting, when he’s constantly renting cars and checking into hotels. “You’re constantly seeing new faces and you’ve got to show your ID,” he said.
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Grinch himself has been a pretty great Christmas present for Oklahoma football fans this season. When he was hired in January, he took over a defense that ranked among the worst in major college football in just about every statistical category. Thirteen games into Grinch’s OU tenure, the Sooners defense is vastly improved. Oklahoma has even won several games this season because of its defense rather than in spite of its defense.
He transformed the culture on the defensive side of the ball because of his ability as a tactician, sure, but also as a motivator.
“I say this all the time but I truly do mean this: He’s a guy I’d run through a wall for … I’d run through three walls for,” junior linebacker and team captain Kenneth Murray said Tuesday. “He’s just that phenomenal type of coach that you dream to play for. He has a unique approach to the game.”
Quarterback Jalen Hurts said of Grinch, “I think he’ll be a great head coach one day. Hopefully he hires me one day.”
Grinch and the Oklahoma defense certainly have their work cut out for them Saturday in the Peach Bowl. The Sooners face LSU, with Heisman-winning quarterback Joe Burrow and his bevy of weapons that include Biletnikoff Award winner Ja’Marr Chase. And Oklahoma will be without two of its best defensive players because defensive end Ronnie Perkins was suspended and safety Delarrin Turner-Yell broke his collarbone in practice earlier this month.
Oklahoma is a two-touchdown underdog and the betting line hasn’t moved much. Bettors, it seems, don’t want to touch Oklahoma with a 39-and-a-half foot pole.
But Grinch has Oklahoma’s defenders doing something they weren’t doing much of the past few years — truly believing in themselves. You might even say their hearts have grown three sizes.
Shockingly, Grinch said he hasn’t seen the “How The Grinch Stole Christmas!” movie, although he did say his wife and kids love it. “There’s other good ones,” he said, adding that “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is his favorite Christmas movie, “hands down.”
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But despite all of his eye-rolling and mild irritation with the jokes throughout the years, Alex Grinch smiled and laughed throughout the media’s Tuesday questioning about this aspect of his identity.
And, really, would it be the same if Oklahoma’s defensive coordinator was named “Alex Gruich”?
(Top photo of Alex Grinch: Brett Deering / Getty Images)
