Matthew Jude Griffin (born May 9, 1968) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former collegiate player. He served as the head football coach at the

University of Tennessee at Martin The University of Tennessee at Martin (UT Martin or UTM) is a public university in Martin, Tennessee. It is one of the five campuses of the University of Tennessee system. UTM is the only public university in West Tennessee outside of Memphis ...

(UTM) from 2003 to 2006, and

Murray State University Murray State University (MSU) is a public university in Murray, Kentucky. In addition to the main campus in Calloway County in southwestern Kentucky, Murray State operates extended campuses offering upper level and graduate courses in Paducah, H ...

from 2007 to 2009, compiling a career

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

record of 21 wins and 58 losses.

Coaching career

Early positions

Griffin began his coaching career from 1992 to 1993 at

Plymouth State College Plymouth State University (PSU), formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in the towns of Plymouth and Holderness, New Hampshire. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students (3,739 undergraduate students and ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. From there he joined the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

in 1994, and then was at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

from 1995 to 1996. With the

Huskies Husky is a general term for a dog used in the polar regions, primarily and specifically for work as sled dogs. It refers to a traditional northern type, notable for its cold-weather tolerance and overall hardiness. Modern racing huskies that mai ...

he oversaw the

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

s and the

offensive backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage. The offensive backfield can also refer to members of offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including any backs on the field, such as the q ...

. From 1997 to 1998, Griffin served as

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

at the

, where he also coached the Skyhawks quarterbacks and wide receivers. In 1999, he joined the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

, working with the

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

s during his first year. Griffin coached the Black Bears

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

for the next three seasons, assuming additional duties as

recruiting coordinator Recruitment is the process of filling job vacancies with people. Recruitment or recruiting may also refer to: *Recruitment (biology), the process of developing the next generation of organisms *College recruiting, the process in college athletics ...

in 2002.

Tennessee–Martin

Griffin was named head football coach at the

on December 10, 2002. The Skyhawks had not won a conference game in six years prior to his arrival. Under Griffin, the team improved to 4–4 in

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

(OVC) play and a 6–5 overall record by his third season in 2005. This was the first winning season for the Skyhawks since 1993. Griffin was subsequently honored by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association as Tennessee's College Football Coach of the Year.

Murray State

Griffin was named head football coach at

on December 12, 2005. In his first season, the Racers went 1–10 overall and 0–8 in OVC play. In 2007, the team minimally improved to 2–9 overall and 1–7 in conference play. Griffin's third season was his best, leading the Racers to a 5–7 overall record and a 4–4 mark in conference. In his fourth season, the Racers slipped back to 3–8 overall and 2–6 in OVC play. Following four straight losing seasons and an overall record of 11–34, Griffin was fired on November 16, 2009.

Post-Murray State

In 2011, Griffin was offensive quality control coach for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

of the NFL. The following year, he was offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the

Omaha Nighthawks The Omaha Nighthawks were a professional American football team based in Omaha, Nebraska, which played in the United Football League, joining the league as an expansion team in 2010. During their first season, the Nighthawks played their home gam ...

of the UFL. Griffin returned to the college level in 2013 as director of player personnel at

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

. Griffin was fired from Georgia Tech in May 2014 after he was accused of abusing his expense account.

Personal life

Griffin graduated from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

in 1992 with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Matt 1968 births Living people American football quarterbacks Jacksonville Jaguars coaches Maine Black Bears football coaches Murray State Racers football coaches New Hampshire Wildcats football players Northeastern Huskies football coaches People from Gardner, Massachusetts Players of American football from Worcester County, Massachusetts Plymouth State Panthers football coaches Richmond Spiders football coaches UT Martin Skyhawks football coaches Coaches of American football from Massachusetts