Vols T logoKNOXVILLE -- If any of Tennessee's 10 football early enrollees needs help getting around Knoxville, they don't even need to go outside of their own.
They can just ask Stephen Griffin.
The Volunteers plucked the defensive back out of North Carolina, but the 6-foot-2, 185-pound three-star recruit lived in Knoxville during his childhood and goes way back with rising sophomore safety Todd Kelly Jr.
"Me and Todd used to go to preschool together," Griffin recalled this past week. "We've always kind of kept communicating, but it really didn't play a factor whether or not I wanted to go to Tennessee. The chips fell where they did, and it just ended up like that. We happened to end up at the same college, and that's pretty cool."
Griffin was born in Augusta, Ga., but he and his family lived in Knoxville for a spell and then moved to Charlotte. His father, Steve, played running back at Clemson, where newly enrolled defensive end Andrew Butcher's father, Brian, played on the offensive line in the early 1980s.
Early in his recruiting process, Stephen Griffin believed following his father's footsteps and playing at Clemson was his dream, and though the Tigers offered him a scholarship, they didn't really recruit him hard.
Tennessee did, however, and landed a commitment from the South Mecklenburg High School star last March, with tight ends coach/special teams coordinator Mark Elder spearheading the Vols' increased recruiting emphasis on their neighboring state under third-year coach Butch Jones.
"They're just building a program," Griffin said. "Just the players also, they've really bought into the system. I really liked that and wanted to be a part of it. That's what really made me come. The players do a lot of the recruiting, but players do recruiting as well."
Once he'd committed, Griffin said most programs "pretty much eased off" in their pursuit of him, but North Carolina wasn't one of those, as the in-state Tar Heels kept recruiting him and convinced him to take two visits to Chapel Hill, including an official visit for their regular season finale against N.C. State.
"I just had to re-evaluate my decision," he said, "and sometimes you've got to take a look at other options to reaffirm your first decision. That was kind of what I was going through. It was a little stressful, but I ended up making the right decision.
"I did go through the pros and cons," Griffin continued. "I just really wanted to make sure I was making the right decision for me and my family. North Carolina being close to home, it was kind of hard to immediately put out the window, but I love it here. It's not far from home, either. This was the best decision for me, and this is where I felt most comfortable at."
Griffin was the Charlotte-area defensive player of the year as a senior at South Mecklenburg. He made 73 tackles, including six for loss, and intercepted three passes in 2014. As a junior, Griffin played quarterback and ran for 543 yards and three touchdowns on offense and made 80 tackles, broke up 11 passes and picked off three passes.
His strengths, Griffin said, are his athletic ability, ball skills, range and physical play.
Only Kelly can say what early signs of those attributes Griffin showed during his preschool days, when they would play a disorganized version of backyard tackle football.
No, really.
"People don't believe it, but we really were," Griffin told one incredulous reporter.
"We were both pretty good athletes for our age," he added with a laugh.
Griffin and Kelly are still friends, and the newcomer sought some advice from his older teammate.
"He was just telling me to stay down, keep grinding," Griffin said. "It's going to get hard at some times, but just keep pushing. You've got your brothers around you to guide you through it, so stay focused and do what you've got to do."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com