Mike Griffin (2014) - Hall of Fame - Troy University Athletics

Mike Griffin

Induction:
2014

Walk into a clubhouse at any golf course in the Southeast and start talking about “Griff” and there will be no doubt the conversation is about former Troy golfer and national championship coach Mike Griffin.

The numbers that tell the story of Griffin’s coaching career are staggering. He led Troy State to national championships in 1976, 1977 and 1984, he amassed a 1,581-642-22 record during his 11-year career leading the Trojans and he totaled 4,571 wins over his 36 years at Troy and Auburn. As a show of how dominant the Trojans were, Troy won its first national championship by 31 strokes over second-place UC Irvine.

“He was really advanced and ahead of his time as a golf coach in the mid-70s,” former Troy golfer Collin McCrary said. “He wanted us to be in top physical condition and was really advanced when it came to offseason and winter workouts. A lot of the football, basketball and baseball players, who were close friends of mine, would remark about how the golf team was in the weight room as much, if not more, than they were. It really made a difference on the course when we had to play 36 holes in one day.”

In addition to winning three NCAA Division II National Championships, Griffin’s teams claimed one national runner-up and finished no worse than fourth in eight of their nine NCAA Championship Tournament appearances.

“One of the best things I can say about Coach Griffin is we always knew what his expectations were,” McCrary said, who named his son Griff after Mike Griffin. “He didn’t want to hear any excuses from us, he just wanted to see results. Also, school was very important to him, there were no excuses for not doing well in class.”

Griffin was famous for saying, “Success requires no explanations, failure demands no alibis.”

Not many explanations were needed during his career as 32 of his former golfers at Troy earned All-America honors and seven of his 11 teams won Gulf South Conference titles. Griffin was named Coach of the Year in all but two of his years at the helm of the Trojans.

“We are extremely proud of him and he is very much deserving,” McCrary said. “He has had such an incredible career in golf not only as a coach, but also as a player. Not that many people realize how great of a golfer he was before taking over as the head coach at Troy.”

Griffin played as Troy’s No. 1 player in three of his four years as a student-athlete and won the 1968 and 1969 Alabama Collegiate Conference individual championship. Following his collegiate playing career, Griffin won more than 30 major amateur titles before joining the professional mini-tour for two seasons.

Immediately following his professional career, Griffin returned to Troy to take over as head coach and his impact was immediate. Griffin coached 15 All-Americans, two Gulf South Conference championship teams, won two NCAA National Championships and a national runner-up all before his 30th birthday.

Following his 11 seasons at Troy, Griffin made the short trip to Auburn to take over the head coaching duties for the Tigers. Griffin led Auburn to 18 NCAA Regional appearances over his final 20 seasons on the Plains and was named the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year on four separate occasions.

Already inducted into the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame (2000), Griffin’s name will always be synonymous with collegiate golf not only in the state of Alabama, but also throughout the nation.