Archie's son joins OSU recruiting class

[danwismar]

from official OSU site...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Adam Griffin, a terrific all-around athlete from St. Francis DeSales High School in Columbus, Ohio, has signed a national letter-of-intent to attend The Ohio State University.

A 5-9, 185-lb. running back, defensive back and return specialist, Griffin helped DeSales advance to the 2009 state championship game. An all-district and all-Columbus metro selection playing for Coach Ryan Wiggins' Stallions, the honor roll student is also a basketball starter at DeSales.

"Adam Griffin has a passion to be an Ohio State Buckeye," says Coach Jim Tressel. "He will add a great deal to our football family on the field, in the locker room and on our campus. Adam clearly understands the privilege of being an Ohio State Buckeye."

Adam is the son of Bonita and Archie Griffin; Archie, a Buckeye Hall of Famer and the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, lettered from 1972-75 at Ohio State.

---

speculation is that he'll be a DB and possibly a kick returner for OSU

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Great to hear. He's kinda small for DB but people said that about his old man playing RB too. Archie is still the most loved athlete to ever suit up in the Scarlett and Grey.

[JCoz]

from official OSU site...

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Adam Griffin, a terrific all-around athlete from St. Francis DeSales High School in Columbus, Ohio, has signed a national letter-of-intent to attend The Ohio State University.

A 5-9, 185-lb. running back, defensive back and return specialist, Griffin helped DeSales advance to the 2009 state championship game. An all-district and all-Columbus metro selection playing for Coach Ryan Wiggins' Stallions, the honor roll student is also a basketball starter at DeSales.

"Adam Griffin has a passion to be an Ohio State Buckeye," says Coach Jim Tressel. "He will add a great deal to our football family on the field, in the locker room and on our campus. Adam clearly understands the privilege of being an Ohio State Buckeye."

Adam is the son of Bonita and Archie Griffin; Archie, a Buckeye Hall of Famer and the only two-time winner of the Heisman Trophy, lettered from 1972-75 at Ohio State.

---

speculation is that he'll be a DB and possibly a kick returner for OSU

On schollarship?

Whoa, this one hit me from the blindside, I hadn't even read whispers about this....how the hell did this fly under the radar like that?

Been a few days since I was online, but you'd think something would have been mentioned months ago....

[danwismar]

It came out of nowhere, Coz. Even the beat writers and self-styled recruiting experts never saw this one coming.

In fact, the story I heard yesterday is that Griffin called Tressel and told him he wanted to walk on. JT thought about it, and decided to go him one better...since he had an "extra" scholarship this year...and offer it to him.

Whether or not you think it was a smart move...(I guess we'll see)...you have to admit it was a classy one.

[JCoz]

It came out of nowhere, Coz. Even the beat writers and self-styled recruiting experts never saw this one coming.

In fact, the story I heard yesterday is that Griffin called Tressel and told him he wanted to walk on. JT thought about it, and decided to go him one better...since he had an "extra" scholarship this year...and offer it to him.

Whether or not you think it was a smart move...(I guess we'll see)...you have to admit it was a classy one.

I like the offer, I'm willing to wager he makes a mark at OSU, although his ceiling is probably in the Shaun Lane/Antonio Smith arena.

[JCoz]

It came out of nowhere, Coz. Even the beat writers and self-styled recruiting experts never saw this one coming.

In fact, the story I heard yesterday is that Griffin called Tressel and told him he wanted to walk on. JT thought about it, and decided to go him one better...since he had an "extra" scholarship this year...and offer it to him.

Whether or not you think it was a smart move...(I guess we'll see)...you have to admit it was a classy one.

I didn't even know Archies son was a senior.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Here's some video, quality is not great.

[danwismar]

Ken Gordon's article from the Dispatch...

http://bit.ly/9H9vNB

[jb]

It came out of nowhere, Coz. Even the beat writers and self-styled recruiting experts never saw this one coming.

In fact, the story I heard yesterday is that Griffin called Tressel and told him he wanted to walk on. JT thought about it, and decided to go him one better...since he had an "extra" scholarship this year...and offer it to him.

Whether or not you think it was a smart move...(I guess we'll see)...you have to admit it was a classy one.

+ google

[noles1]

This is a wasted ride, IMO.

Period. No way around it.

Kid was an above average D-2 player. Nothing more.

All for Tress being classy but not at the expense of a class next year that could be epic. You want to throw a random scholarship out hit Erick "I'm too lazy to read a book" Howard. At least you may be able to get a premier LB out of it when all is said and done (albeit unlikely to get eligible). Archie II is a special teams guy.

[gnati]

This is a wasted ride, IMO.

Period. No way around it.

Kid was an above average D-2 player. Nothing more.

All for Tress being classy but not at the expense of a class next year that could be epic. You want to throw a random scholarship out hit Erick "I'm too lazy to read a book" Howard. At least you may be able to get a premier LB out of it when all is said and done (albeit unlikely to get eligible). Archie II is a special teams guy.

Um...

Is it lame to say....

Rack it?

[danwismar]

This is a wasted ride, IMO.

Period. No way around it.

Kid was an above average D-2 player. Nothing more.

All for Tress being classy but not at the expense of a class next year that could be epic. You want to throw a random scholarship out hit Erick "I'm too lazy to read a book" Howard. At least you may be able to get a premier LB out of it when all is said and done (albeit unlikely to get eligible). Archie II is a special teams guy.

I don't think anyone...including Jim Tressel...is disputing your assessment that Griffin is "an above average D2 player...nothing more".

That's the whole point. Tressel doesn't consider it a "wasted ride" even if the kid never sees the field in four years. He's basically saying he'd give a scholarship to a pet dog if it was Archie Griffin's pet dog. He sees the kid as the anti-Erick Howard...in other words, his football ability is secondary to intangibles and character and PR value to the program...not the other way around.

There's no claim by Tressel to having special knowledge about Adam Griffin's talent....that he knows better than the recruiting experts (or the message board posters) do about what he can do on the field. He's saying that doesn't matter in the bigger picture.

He clearly has no regrets about recruiting Dionte Johnson, Stan White Jr. or Shaun Lane, even though those guys never became prominent starters at OSU. There's no way we can sit at our vantage point and say those guys' scholarships were wasted rides any more than we can sit here and say this one is.

There's a reason they call them "intangibles".

[gnati]

He clearly has no regrets about recruiting Dionte Johnson, Stan White Jr. or Shaun Lane, even though those guys never became prominent starters at OSU. There's no way we can sit at our vantage point and say those guys' scholarships were wasted rides any more than we can sit here and say this one is.

There's a reason they call them "intangibles".

Stan White was a nationally recruited player.

Dionte Johnson was less so but still had numerous MAC offers and was offered early after demonstrating he could fill a specific niche - fullback

Shaun Lane was the #9 player in the state according to Rivals

All had early offers from OSU and other D1 schools.

This is plain and simple a waste of a scholarship and in the limited scholarship era that is unacceptable. It is one thing to commit to a kid who has walked on and give him a scholarship his senior year when/if you have one - it is another to commit 4 or 5 years to someone because of who their dad is.

[danwismar]

Stan White was a nationally recruited player.

Dionte Johnson was less so but still had numerous MAC offers and was offered early after demonstrating he could fill a specific niche - fullback

Shaun Lane was the #9 player in the state according to Rivals

All had early offers from OSU and other D1 schools.

gnati, your point that these other legacy recruits had higher recruiting profiles than Griffin is a fair one.

But citing that also helps me make my point...that (despite Lane's solid year on special teams as a senior) these guys did not really make major contributions as Buckeyes despite their higher rankings as recruits...proving it's not all about high school rankings. But the bigger point is that only their coaches and teammates can assess their overall value to the program off the field...not you...not me.

I'm inclined to agree with you that it seems silly to use 1/85 of your total scholarships on a guy who would have walked on anyway. Fact is, OSU pays this guy 4 million a year to make decisions like this. You may think this offer proves Tressel is stupid...or is sucking up to Archie or OSU administration. Maybe somewhere along the way someone will point out to Coach Tressel that gnati considers this move "unacceptable". From where I sit, he's earned a little latitude to do what he thinks is best for the program.

[noles1]

Maybe I am being short-sighted here but what are you talking about? Academically, we are fine as a team in the Big Ten, what else are you saying, that we can parade the kid around because he is Archie 2. Or is it that Tress is beyond the point of being questioned? We should just blindly follow? C'mon. Your take on this is paper thin, IMO.

He got a football schollie, right?

Let him be a preferred walk-on, etc. but don't burn a schollie on the kid when you clearly don't have to or need to.

As for the others, those points were perfectly stated. You are comparing this kid to kid's that had the potential. There is no potential with Archie 2.0. If we didn't have schollie limits then this is fine. With what is out there next year, I just think it's a waste and there isn't any benefit to it whatsoever.

[danwismar]

I've agreed with you guys that I think it's silly to give the kid a scholarship when he would have walked on anyway, right? What else do you want from me?...to say before I ever see him play as a collegian that he's a complete stiff?...with "no potential" to ever help the team in any way? ...that him making all-district and all-Columbus metro means nothing?..that there's no comparison to the "potential" of the great Dionte Johnson?

sorry...I'm just not ready to make all those leaps...yet.

And of course I'm not saying Tressel is beyond criticism. I do my share of criticizing him for any number of things.

You guys are officially on record here in the TCF message boards that this offer is completely out of line and unacceptable to you. I guess all I'm saying is...BFD. I could name half a dozen or more other kids on the current roster that the staff guessed wrong on, that chewed up scholarships for four or five years, and nobody bats an eye about it.

The OSU football program might still somehow limp on with 84 meritorious players and one ceremonial stiff. Your outrage at this affront to common sense is duly noted. Rant on.

[GameTimeAllTheTime]

Sorry to sound like a homer but, It's not a wasted ride or at least I believe/hope strongly that isn't. Archie's son reminds me of another Ohio d-2 prospect now playing for UT who wasn't given many opportunities. Eric Page ended up being the leading freshman at WR in the nation who played as a dual threat qb in highschool. His running style looks identical to Archie's son. I see him converting to slot wr making an impact eventually.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmDWJW0wmVI&feature=PlayList&p=55734529A308E6AD&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=31[/youtube]

[Cerebral_DownTime]

I've agreed with you guys that I think it's silly to give the kid a scholarship when he would have walked on anyway, right? What else do you want from me?...to say before I ever see him play as a collegian that he's a complete stiff?...with "no potential" to ever help the team in any way? ...that him making all-district and all-Columbus metro means nothing?..that there's no comparison to the "potential" of the great Dionte Johnson?

sorry...I'm just not ready to make all those leaps...yet.

And of course I'm not saying Tressel is beyond criticism. I do my share of criticizing him for any number of things.

You guys are officially on record here in the TCF message boards that this offer is completely out of line and unacceptable to you. I guess all I'm saying is...BFD. I could name half a dozen or more other kids on the current roster that the staff guessed wrong on, that chewed up scholarships for four or five years, and nobody bats an eye about it.

The OSU football program might still somehow limp on with 84 meritorious players and one ceremonial stiff. Your outrage at this affront to common sense is duly noted. Rant on.

Amen.

If the guy pans out to be a decent player there will be many foots lodged in mouths.

[GameTimeAllTheTime]

He could be above decent also.

[jb]

This is a wasted ride, IMO.

Period. No way around it.

Kid was an above average D-2 player. Nothing more.

All for Tress being classy but not at the expense of a class next year that could be epic. You want to throw a random scholarship out hit Erick "I'm too lazy to read a book" Howard. At least you may be able to get a premier LB out of it when all is said and done (albeit unlikely to get eligible). Archie II is a special teams guy.

Hypothetically, if TSV has a good recruiting year in the future and not this year's epic fail on paper, couldn't Griff renounce and open it up? He's on a staff bennies free ride anyway if he wants.

Again, silly move, but a classy move.

[GameTimeAllTheTime]

Disagree I think this kid is under looked and has potential to be a starter on Saturday's regardless of size.

[noles1]

Is next year critical for OSU to score with some key regional players? Yes.

Archie II is literally no different then 10 other marginal prospects (maybe even worse) that OSU didn't bother with a schollie but at least dropped by to build up the name. They do this to build up a rep for future recruitment. This is just going too far, IMO. I guess it is classy but more so perplexing.

Kid played for a loaded program that never seemed to stand out at the level he played. Easy to align with a take that the kid could surprise. I guess I could too. Then when with the 98% chance he does nothing, it isn't putting anything out there. Meanwhile he is taking up a ride that he absolutely shouldn't. Then again most of the folks on here are going by name and have only seen the kid a couple times. Call it a rant if you want, but all I am calling out is that if folks want to blow TSV for this story, one has to consider the potential consequences.

And JB, as for your point it is fair and possible but the fact is that type of stuff rarely happens. Once you earn it (especially a Griffin) you are likely to keep it.

[Cerebral_DownTime]

Then when with the 98% chance he does nothing,it isn't putting anything out there. Meanwhile he is taking up a ride that he absolutely shouldn't.

Alright......... He only has a 2% chance of doing "anything". Glad we established that..... Without ever seeing him suit up in the Scarlett and Grey.

[gnati]

Disagree I think this kid is under looked and has potential to be a starter on Saturday's regardless of size.

Based on what?

He has offers from a couple service academies and a backwater MAC school, a couple weeks after all D1 signings wanders into OSU to walk on so clearly not on OSU's radar, Tressel says WTF, I've had a few cocktails, this seems like a good idea, you are Arch's kid, here's a scholarship instead...

So based on the fact that nobody of any consequence in D1 thought he was even worthy of a scholarship...we are supposed to now think he can start for Ohio State?

Really?

I mean, I get it happens...Pete Garcon, past performance doesn't dictate future success and all that - but what is the point of allocating resources in this way if you don't have to? To make people feel warm and fuzzy about Arch? This is business, not pre-school.

[gnati]

You guys are officially on record here in the TCF message boards that this offer is completely out of line and unacceptable to you. I guess all I'm saying is...BFD. I could name half a dozen or more other kids on the current roster that the staff guessed wrong on, that chewed up scholarships for four or five years, and nobody bats an eye about it.

The OSU football program might still somehow limp on with 84 meritorious players and one ceremonial stiff. Your outrage at this affront to common sense is duly noted. Rant on.

Holy straw man...

If Tressel had come out early in the process, hell DURING the process and targeted him, then I would give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhopas he saw something nobody else did. The fact he went weeks beyond the process (with no additional offers by other D1 schools) and then offered to walk on is what is wrong with this, not that Tressel thinks he is the smartest guy in the room when it comes to talent evaluation. The Domincone offers, etc...fine by me, even if they don't work...there is a history of Anderson Russellesque players being worthy of having a scholarship....but that is not what this is.

As for the blue chip guys who effed up....yeah, it happens, but that doesn't mean I take my limited funds and invest in crappy companies instead of blue chips because enron happens and it also doesn't mean in the era of limited scholarships who throw one away, and yeah if a kid is offering to walk on and you say no you are throwing one away, for no reason other than who his father is.

[furls]

Silly argument. The offer is obviously a legacy offer to a kid that it would be generous to refer to as "borderline," but that is not the point. The point is that what sets OSU apart from most of the other johnny come latelies is the tradition, and this is obviously a nod back to that tradition. Tressel obviously does not need to suck up to Archie, or the administration, he did the right thing to acknowledge a guy that has given the last 38 years to OSU as one of its finest ambassadors.

For those that are penny pinching schollies, there are 22+ available for next year assuming no juniors go pro (doubtful) and no one transfers. NCAA max is 25, Tressel really doesn't like to go considerably above 20 in a year, it causes the classes to become disproportionate. This is why he typically banks a couple of schollies to give to walkons every year. Now if you want to be critical of his habit of putting his O-Line eggs in one basket (Henderson, James, Moses) and not signing enough "filler" 3Star OL, well I am in. If you want to be critical of this offer, well, I am out. The Rocco Pentello offer was way sillier.

[gnati]

Silly argument. The offer is obviously a legacy offer to a kid that it would be generous to refer to as "borderline," but that is not the point. The point is that what sets OSU apart from most of the other johnny come latelies is the tradition, and this is obviously a nod back to that tradition. Tressel obviously does not need to suck up to Archie, or the administration, he did the right thing to acknowledge a guy that has given the last 38 years to OSU as one of its finest ambassadors.

To me there are three parts to this, and having each one in place makes it unacceptable (obvious hyperbole, I am an avid supporter of the vest...)

1) He clearly isn't tOSU material based on every objective standard we know of (offers from other schools, indication from insiders and the like that he was being looked at, etc.) This flies in the face of what Tressel has always said about not recruiting guys because they are legacy if they can't play because it isn't fair to the team and it isnt fair to the player to bring in someone who cant cut it. I agree with him - and he didn't back down on this approach for Ken Fritz's kid (and others...) I am OK with taking fliers, I am OK with them targeting guys that perhaps other D1 schools don't...you don't make that your bread and butter, but sometimes it works, especially if it is targeted for a specific niche position.

2) the fact he offered to walk on. If he really is good enough (here's hoping) let him earn it.

3) timing. he comes in a week after the fact. clearly tressel wasnt hot on his tail trying to get this done, in fact based on reports there was no contact at all, he just sort of walked in a week after signing day to say he was walking on and a lightbulb went off with tressel. This smacks of JBesque impulsiveness... not a way to run a program.

[danwismar]

gnati, good to hear you qualify the "unacceptable" talk as hyperbole...otherwise it seems like way too big a deal to make out of this issue. It's a done deal, and no amount of second-guessing is going to reverse the decision.

...plus I think there's still way more we agree on than what we don't. For example, I too think this reveals a certain impulsiveness by JT (which probably is conspicuous because it is so rare) and you're right that this is probably not a good quality in a CFB coach...all things considered.

...and I'm sure we both hope that someday the kid breaks a big punt return for a score in a tight game...or makes any kind of big play, just one time...and gets to help the Buckeyes win, and live his personal dream.

That's not a prediction...or even my expectation...but wouldn't it be sweet?

[aoxo1]

If they are going to give out schollies to be "classy", I would think that there are far "classier" ways they could go about handing them out than giving it to someone who already has the ability to attend a particular University and didn't earn it through merit.

Is it also "classy" when a legacy gets into Harvard with a 3.2?

[jb]

Disagree I think this kid is under looked and has potential to be a starter on Saturday's regardless of size.

Based on what?

SAN DIEMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!

[jb]

Will Andy Katzenmoyer be consulted to see if he's OK with Adam using his retired number?

[Lubber]

Will Andy Katzenmoyer be consulted to see if he's OK with Adam using his retired number?

Adam has already stated he does not want to wear #45

[gnati]

Will Andy Katzenmoyer be consulted to see if he's OK with Adam using his retired number?

Adam has already stated he does not want to wear #45

He didn't want a scholarship either, but that didn't stop Tress...