Downloadable image

JONESBORO, ARK.- Paul Griffin, who spearheaded South Florida's ascension into Division I-A football as well as being a driving force in the formation of Conference USA while at USF, has been named as the ninth Director of Athletics at Arkansas State University.

Griffin was introduced by ASU President Dr. Les Wyatt and Board of Trustees Vice Chairman Mike Medlock to a gathering of media and ASU supporters in an announcement ceremony Thursday morning at the Fowler Center on the ASU campus.

Griffin, who is leaving a post as a special consultant to the athletic director at Georgia Tech, officially takes over the ASU program January 1, 2002. Griffin has been acting as a consultant to Dr. Wyatt throughout ASU's search for a new director of athletics. Dr. Wyatt said Griffin will continue in his consultant role until January, and will identify candidates for ASU's head football coaching position.

Medlock opened the announcement by re-stating the Board of Trustees' commitment to the continued development of a quality, NCAA Division 1-A program for student athletes at ASU, and expressed confidence that the new director of athletics will help ASU reach that goal.

While at Georgia Tech, Griffin was involved with the management of the 2002 Men's NCAA Basketball Championship and 2003 Women's NCAA Basketball Championship, both scheduled to be played in the Georgia Dome. He also was a consultant in the planning and implementation of construction projects which included a $9 million baseball stadium and a $70 million expansion and renovation of GTU's Bobby Dodd Football Stadium.

"I consider it a privilege to be named the director of athletics at Arkansas State during this critical time in the university's athletic history," said Griffin. "The athletics program has a lot of promise and a bright future at Arkansas State, and I look forward to being a part of its continued growth."

As he introduced Griffin, President Wyatt reflected about the university's need for a director of athletics with knowledge and experience dealing with the challenges of meeting National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) requirements.

"Paul Griffin has the level of expertise we want at Arkansas State University," Dr. Wyatt said. "He has been successful as a director of athletics at three institutions and brings with him the wealth of experience we need. In particular, we were impressed with his record in developing a Division 1-A program at the University of South Florida, and his leadership in forming Conference USA."

Wyatt continued that several individuals nationwide recommended Griffin to ASU, and rated him very highly. He shared comments from many of those, including Kevin White, director of athletics at Notre Dame, who said "on a scale of 1-10, Griffin is a 14." Jerry Ann Winters, former women's basketball coach at ASU and at South Florida, said Griffin is the "most visionary athletic director she has ever met. He is an ideal leader for the athletics program -- he's tough, but he's concerned and involved."

At Arkansas State, Griffin will oversee eight women's and seven men's NCAA Division I intercollegiate sports. In addition, ASU is currently undergoing some changes in athletic facilities including construction of a new football complex and a track and field complex. ASU's women's soccer program played on a new field in 2001 and will enter a new office complex this spring.

Prior to joining the Georgia Tech staff, Griffin spent 15 years as the director of athletics at the University of South Florida where he oversaw 18 men's and women's sports. While there, he was instrumental in South Florida's charter membership in Conference USA. Griffin was also responsible for developing the plan which initiated the sport of football at USF as a Division I-AA program and then readied the young program for Division I-A status in 2001. Part of his strategic plan resulted in the sale of more than 21,000 season tickets and national Division I-AA attendance records.

"Arkansas State has hit a home run," said Wright Waters, Commissioner of the Sun Belt Conference, in which ASU is a member in all sports. "He is a pro. I think the people at Arkansas State will be very happy to have him as their director of athletics."

While at USF, Griffin also developed a partnership with ESPN Regional, a subsidiary of ESPN/ABC/Disney that focuses on the marketing of USF athletics and produces game telecasts, coaches shows, game programs, radio broadcasts and other special events.

Under his direction, South Florida won 59 conference championships and the school's first-ever NCAA Championship appearances in men's basketball, men's and women's cross country, women's track and field, and women's fastpitch softball. For his efforts, he was named the 1999 Southeast Region Athletic Director of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.

He was also selected by Conference USA to represent the league to the NCAA Championships Cabinet. He was subsequently appointed to the subcommittee for football certification which certifies all bowl games and preseason football events.

Griffin also served as the director of athletics at Jacksonville University in Florida for five years and in the same role at Roanoke College in Virginia for four years. He also was a successful lacrosse coach at Roanoke before being named the school's AD in 1977.

Griffin received a bachelor of science degree in 1969 from the University of Maryland-College Park and a masters of science degree from Long Island University in 1972. He and wife Maureen have been married 33 years and have one son, Michael, who works in broadcast television in Florida.

— This and other releases are online at http://ASUIndians.com and

NewsPage: asunews.astate.edu/newspage.htm  |  Back to TOP  |