Major: English
Hometown: Saint Paul, MN
Career Highlights: Three-sport athlete; 1956-1958 Football Team Captain
Biography: A three-sport athlete, Griffin played men’s basketball, football, and track and field team at USF. He excelled in football and was named the USF football 'Back of the Year' in 1958. Griffin was captain of the football squad from 1956-1958 and was a Co-Head Coach in 1959. He was a member of Alpha Sigma Nu (National Jesuit School Honor Society), and Chapter President for the University.
Why Griffin Chose USF: "Due to family connections, earning an academic scholarship, and my love for San Francisco - a great place for an English major in the 1950s."
Favorite USF Memories: "My dominant memories involve Bill Russell. He blocked the first shot I ever took in college in a Frosh-Varsity preseason game. I wrote my weekly composition for my English class on that chastening experience. That year, for a freshman playing in the basketball prelims to the sold-out varsity basketball team's undefeated season and just being part of the overall Woolpert-Giudice program - that was a stroke of good fortune. A few months later, as Russell's teammate on the track team, I had the privilege of watching him compete, week after week, coming increasingly close to breaking the world record in the high jump. He finished the season among the top-ranked high jumpers in the world. It was an extraordinary experience to be in the presence of that standard of excellence. And being on the scene to watch the sheer athleticism of Russell in track competition was to me a privilege. I made many friends through sports at USF, and I think that all of us now realize that we came along just in time to have taken part in one of the great eras in Dons history."
The USF Student-Athlete Experience: “In my freshman year, I had two great coaches--Ross Giudice (frosh basketball) and Bill Magner (varsity track and field). They were outstanding teachers; I improved dramatically under their patient instruction, and I have borrowed some of their teaching style in my own profession. I learned to think strategically and to develop time-management. There was lots to do and not much time to waste if you are a serious student and a serious athlete.”
Did You Know?: Griffin played football on the Hilltop just four years after USF dropped the sport following the famous 1951 "undefeated, untied, and uninvited" season. He was on the scene when Professor Robert "Sarge" Mackenzie--a USF professor, former college football coach, and West Coast scout for the Cleveland Browns, created a small scale program enabling USF to return to football.
Life After USF: He served in the United States Army as a Lieutenant of Artillery from 1959 to 1962. A few years later he earned MA and PhD Degrees as a Danforth Fellow at Stanford University. He taught English and American Literature at the University of Minnesota, from 1966 to 2010, with visiting appointments at USF, Stanford, the University of Salzburg, Austria, and the University of Amsterdam. He taught senior citizens as a volunteer at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, at the University of Minnesota. In 2005, he was named University Distinguished Professor.
