The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Two minutes with Michael Griffin
05.19.2004 | Football
Safety Michael Griffin enters his second season with the Longhorns after a solid freshman season in which he played in 12 games and started two. Griffin was the leading special teams tackler in 2003 with 21, while finishing seventh on the team in overall tackles with 65. An Austin native, Griffin will contend for the starting strong safety position in the fall. He took time out to talk to Mack Brown-TexasFootball.com about the offseason, the state of the secondary and his mindset heading into the 2004 season.
How did the offseason program go for you? The offseason program went well, we got to meet our new coaches and we got to work on a new defense, which I think should be good going into next year especially in helping us do a better job of stopping the run.
Being that this was your first off-season, how intense was it for you? I would have to say, I haven't been there that long, but it was very intense compared to high school and just knowing that you have to push yourself. You might get away with letting up a little in high school, but you have to be going full-speed all of the time now.
What progress do you think you have made? I feel that I have learned my position better, learned how to read the offense better, got stronger and gained more weight. I still have a lot to learn and I can't just fall down. I have to continue over the summer. I feel like I learned a lot more than I knew before going into last season.
How much stronger have you gotten? I am about sixty to seventy pounds stronger in the bench press and just a lot stronger overall.
How much weight did you gain? I came in weighing between 178 (pounds), and now I weigh between 198 and 200. So, I gained about twenty pounds.
You are making a name for yourself at Texas as a "big bitter," how did the offseason program translate into better tackling for you and the team? It helped the whole team out just learning the techniques of tackling from former NFL coaches (Greg) Robinson and (Dick) Tomey. They taught us more how to tackle with correct form. 'Big hitter,' I wouldn't say all that about me, but I just know that my weakness is covering so I have to make a name for myself trying to get a big hit or making sure I get the man down. I just make sure I'm a good tackler and continue to work on my cover skills.
What do you think about Coach Robinson and the new defense? Coach Robinson is a great coach, I like how, instead of being off to the side calling plays, he's more on the field commenting on everything. He always has us in the meeting room watching ourselves, which is better because we can all learn from our mistakes by watching ourselves more than him just telling us. Some of us always think that we did it right the first time but when we actually see it on film it's different. You can tell he brings a lot to the table since he's from the NFL. Knowledge is everything so, it's good working with him since we know he has been there and he knows what the next level wants and expects out there. So, it's great having him out there.
How does the secondary look for next season? The secondary looks great. I mean, everybody has things to work on; I have a lot of things to work on, but we all came together more as a team in the spring. We are all young. We are going to have one senior starting, Phillip Geiggar. The corner positions and strong safety position are still up for grabs, there's no telling who's going to come in starting next year. Coach Akina said anybody could start. If somebody goes down we have depth and experience now. I think the secondary is going to be better than last year's. We lost Nate (Vasher), but we're going to have more experience overall coming into next season.
How do you feel about your spring overall and your role for next year? I feel I did pretty good for my first spring. I have a lot more to work on with my cover skills. I still have to get stronger. I can still put on a little more weight. I still have a lot more to learn. Coach Akina gave us tapes to study, so basically I'm going to work on the mental game.
What it Michael Griffin's "key to success" for next season? My key to success for next season is to practice hard and try to get out all the wrinkles ironed out in my game. I'm going to work on my cover skills over the summer. We can't let down, knowing that every year coaches are recruiting to find something better than what they have and not letting down. Also, just realizing that there is always somebody out there trying to work harder than the man in front of him, so just knowing I can't let down. I can't let anything go to my head, I have to stay level-headed, keep competing and help the team out.
