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Football
Bob Griffin to receive George C. Carens Award
Nov. 30, 2011
KINGSTON, R.I. - Longtime University of Rhode Island football coach Bob Griffin - the school's all-time leader in victories - will be honored with the George C. Carens Award for lifetime contributions to New England College Football. Chosen by the New England Football Writer's Association, Griffin will be honored at the New England Football Writers Annual Captains and Awards Banquet on Thursday, Dec. 8 at the Montvale Plaza in Stoneham, Mass. He is just the second URI-connected person to be chosen for the award, joining Harold Koop, who won the Carens Award in 1989. It is the latest in a long line of honors Griffin has received through the years. A 1996 inductee into the Rhode Island Athletics Hall of Fame, Griffin also is enshrined in the Providence Gridiron Hall of Fame. While head coach of the Rams, he was the New England, Yankee Conference and Words Unlimited Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1985 as the Rams posted a 10-3 record in both seasons. "I've been fortunate to be involved in football for all of my adult life," said Griffin, who returned to URI in 2008 in his current role as the tight ends coach and special consultant. "Like anyone else in any line of work, I wanted to do something that I loved. I spent 17 seasons as head coach at Rhode Island, then I was gone for 15 years. Now I am back, and everything has come full circle for me." It has been quite a journey for Griffin, who started playing football in ninth grade student in Milford, Conn. His college career started at the University of Delaware, where he played freshman football before leaving school to work for a year. He transferred to Southern Connecticut, where he played quarterback. His coaching career began at URI in 1966 as an assistant under Jack Zilly. Griffin spent four years with the Rams before going to Idaho State as the offensive coordinator in 1971. He became the head coach eventually was named the head coach in 1972. After four seasons, he returned to Rhode Island has the head coach in 1976. In 17 seasons as URI's head coach, Griffin won 79 games, more than any other coach in school history. The next closest is the legendary basketball coach Frank Keaney, who also won 70 games as the football coach. Griffin guided the Rams to back-to-back Yankee Conference Championships in 1984 and 1985 and a share of the title in 1981. All three of those squads qualified for the NCAA Playoffs. Following his run at URI, Griffin's coaching career took him overseas to the German Football League, where he coached for two seasons. While preparing for his third training camp there, Griffin got a call from Paul Pasqualoni asking him to join the staff at Syracuse as the passing game coordinator. While with the Orangemen, Griffin was paired with quarterback Donovan McNabb, a red-shirt freshman. Over the next four years, Syracuse won three Big East titles and competed in the Orange Bowl in 1998. In addition to McNabb, Griffin coached several future NFL players Marvin Harrison, Kevin Johnson, Tebucky Jones, Roland Williams and Donovin Darius. Griffin decided to retire following the 1998 Orange Bowl, and he managed to stay retired for 16 months before he got a call from Dan Allen at Holy Cross. Allen asked him to coach part-time. Instead, Griffin became the fulltime offensive coordinator from 2000-06, a role he served under both Allen and Tom Gilmore. After another brief retirement, Griffin got a call from Darren Rizzi, who played for Griffin from 1989-92. Griffin joined his former All-American tight end on a part-time basis. He stayed when when Joe Trainer took over a year later and remains with the program today. "When I first became the head coach in 1976, my wife and I bought the house we live in today," Griffin said. "We kept it through the years even through the different coaching stops, and we are glad to be here today. There have been many great experiences along the way."
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