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Less than a month ago, Matt Griffin was celebrating a Tennessee-Martin victory over Murray State for the first time since 1992. Today, Griffin exchanged his blue and orange for blue and gold.
Athletics Director Allen Ward announced Griffin as the new head coach of the Racer football program to a standing room only crowd at the Murray Room in the Regional Special Events Center.
During his tenure at UT-Martin, Griffin turned around a program that had not won an Ohio Valley Conference game in its six years prior to his arrival. This season was the bright spot for the Skyhawks and Griffin as his team went 6-5 and 4-4 in the conference.
It was just the second time in the Division I-AA program's existence that it finished with a winning record, and it was the first since 1993.
Griffin said being named as the Racer's new head coach was one of the greatest moments of his life.
"The days of my life that are the most exciting, outside of my marriage to my beautiful bride Lisa and witnessing the birth of my three children, this is it," Griffin said. "This is unbelievable. I'm excited. I'm going to be honest, I can't wait to get through this thing so I can start working and recruiting to get this thing right."
UTM produced on both sides of the ball compared to other OVC teams this season. The Skyhawks led the league in total defense (324.3 yards per game) and were second in scoring offense (27 points per game) and rushing offense (193 yards per game).
The Skyhawks' performance on the field led Griffin to be named one of 16 finalists for The Sports Network's Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award. Griffin will find out if he is the recipient Thursday, on the eve of the Division I-AA national title game.
Griffin will now face another rebuilding task as the Racers went 2-9 and 0-7 in the OVC this season. It marked the first time since 1966 that Murray State did not win a conference game. That year they did not win a game in coach Don Shelton's last season.
Like Shelton, former coach Joe Pannunzio did not get a new contract after failing to win a conference game. Athletics Director Allen Ward wasted little time finding a replacement.
"When I began this process several weeks ago my goal was to find a coach that could bring passion, enthusiasm and stability to our program," Ward said. "I wanted a coach that knows what it takes to win and a coach that will bring the energy and the level of intensity necessary to rebuild this program."
As a quarterback for the University of New Hampshire, Griffin led his league in passing efficiency as a senior. He graduated in 1992 and left with several school passing records.
As a coach, Griffin has had stints at Plymouth State College, the University of Richmond, Northeastern University and the University of Maine. Griffin served as an assistant coach for four seasons at Maine, helping lead the team to the I-AA playoffs in 2002.
Tennessee-Martin hired Griffin in 1997 as the offensive coordinator before he went to Maine. He came back to Martin for the head coaching position in 2002.
The new coach promised Murray State fans will see a success on and off the playing field.
"This is something that is important to me," Griffin said. "You will have a quality football program, but most importantly, you'll have young men of character that represent you on and off the football field."
Griffin's first game as head coach of Murray State will come against Missouri on Sept. 2, 2006.
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