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 a ...

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

University of Central Oklahoma The University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) is a public university in Edmond, Oklahoma, United States. It is the third largest university in Oklahoma, with almost 13,000 students and approximately 430 full-time and 400 adjunct faculty. Founded in ...

Edmond, Oklahoma Edmond is a city in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, United States. It is a part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, located in Central Oklahoma. Its population was 94,428 according to the 2020 United States census, a 16% increase from 2010. maki ...

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 hig ...

Tahlequah, Oklahoma Tahlequah ( ; , ) 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 Cherokee Nation in 1839, as p ...

, and the head wrestling coach at Central Oklahoma, and

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

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 List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. He studied at

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater is the tenth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, Payne County. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177#Oklahoma, U.S. Route 177 and Oklahoma S ...

from 1967–1972 and was a member of the Cowboy wrestling squad. During his time in Stillwater OSU won two NCAA wrestling team championships in 1968 and 1971. 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, United States. It is a member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Established by the state legislature in 1887 as a two-y ...

(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 County, South Carolina, Pickens and Anderson County, South Carolina, Anderson counties in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Clemson is adjacent to Clemson University, - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university pr ...

. He led the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

from the 1983–1984 season until 1991. His Tigers finished second in the ACC 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 (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, after Tul ...

. 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 ha ...

. 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, 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)