Eddie Griffin is a former American collegiate

athletic director An athletic director (commonly "athletics director" or "AD") is an administrator at many American clubs or institutions, such as colleges and universities, as well as in larger high schools and middle schools, who oversees the work of coaches and ...

and collegiate wrestling coach. He served as the athletic director at the

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO or Central State) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with more than 17,000 students and approximately 434 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founde ...

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States, and a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in the central part of the state. The population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States Census, making it the fifth largest cit ...

from 2017 to 2020. Prior to this Griffin served as the athletic director at

Northeastern State University Northeastern State University (NSU) is a public university with its main campus in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. The university also has two other campuses in Muskogee and Broken Arrow as well as online. Northeastern is the oldest institution of high ...

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; ''Cherokee'': ᏓᎵᏆ, ''daligwa'' ) is a city in Cherokee County, Oklahoma located at the foothills of the Ozark Mountains. It is part of the Green Country region of Oklahoma and was established as a capital of the 19th-century ...

, and the head wrestling coach at Central Oklahoma, and

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

Early life

Griffin attended U.S. Grant High School in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

. He studied at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of th ...

from 1967–1972 and was a member of the Cowboy wrestling squad. During his time in Stillwater OSU won two

NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships have been held annually since 1928, except for a hiatus in 1943–45 during World War II and in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 1928 and from 1931–1933, there was only an unofficial team tit ...

. After graduation, Griffin began his coaching career at Ardmore High School, then moved to coach at Del City High School. His final season of coaching the Eagles he coached freshman standout and future wrestling legend John Smith to third place in the state tournament.

Central Oklahoma

In 1978 Griffin became the head coach at

Central State University Central State University (CSU) is a public, historically black land-grant university in Wilberforce, Ohio. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-year program for te ...

(UCO). During his four years in Edmond his Bronchos won three NAIA national championships in 1979, 1981, and 1982. He also notably defeated several NCAA Division I programs. While coaching at UCO, his teams produced 26 All-Americans and 11 individual national champions. He decided to resign from CSU after the 1982 season.

Clemson

After a year removed from coaching Griffin accepted the head coaching position at

Clemson, South Carolina Clemson () is a city in Pickens and Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is home to Clemson University; in 2015, ''the Princeton Review'' cited the town of Clemson as ranking #1 in the United States for " town-and-gown" ...

. He led the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on un ...

from the 1983–1984 season until 1991. His Tigers finished second in the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

his first season. Clemson remained nationally ranked for several seasons under Griffin's tenure. In 1991, the Tigers won their first ACC regular season championship, and the conference named Griffin co-ACC coach of the year. He retired after the 1991 season.

Post-Clemson coaching

From 1992 to 2000 Griffin served as the athletic director for

Oklahoma City Public Schools The Oklahoma City Public Schools, abbreviated OKCPS, is a multicultural public school district serving most of the urban area of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It is the second largest primary and secondary education district in the state of Oklahoma, ...

. He then became the athletic director at

. During his tenure Northeastern State won the 2003

NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship The NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament (officially styled by the NCAA as a "Championship" instead of a "Tournament") is an annual championship tournament for colleges and universities that are members of NCAA Division II, a grouping of ...

. Also, Northeastern State changed their mascot from the Redmen to the RiverHawks in a proactive move to avoid possible sanctions from the

NCAA Native American mascot decision In 2005 the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) distributed a "self evaluation" to its member institutions for teams to examine the use of potentially offensive imagery with their mascot choice. This examination was done in accordance ...

. In 2008, Griffin resigned as athletic director and became the executive director of the

Jim Thorpe Association The Jim Thorpe Association is a civic and charity organization based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Its parent corporation is the Jim Thorpe Athletic Club. It is named in memory of multi-sport legend Jim Thorpe. Jim Thorpe Award The organization has ...

. Effective October 1, 2008, Griffin stepped down from his post NSU to become the executive vice president and chief executive officer of the Jim Thorpe Association and Oklahoma Hall of Fame. He held this position until October 1, 2017, when he received an opportunity to return to UCO.

Return to UCO

In October 2017, Griffin returned to Central Oklahoma as the school's athletic director, under University President

Don Betz Don Betz is an American retired academic administrator, serving as both the University of Central Oklahoma (2011–2019) and Northeastern State University's presidents (2008–2011). Background and career Before becoming President of Northeastern ...

, who also worked with Griffin while Betz was president of Northeastern State. Griffin retired on April 30, 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Eddie Living people Central Oklahoma Bronchos athletic directors Central Oklahoma Bronchos wrestling coaches Clemson Tigers wrestling coaches Northeastern State RiverHawks athletic directors Oklahoma State Cowboys wrestlers Oklahoma State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)