stephen griffin

Name: Stephen Griffin
Position: Safety
Ht/Wt/40: 6'3" / 187 lbs. / 4.5
Location: South Mecklenburg High School – Charlotte, NC (2015)
Offers: Clemson, Tennessee, Charlotte, Duke, Georgia Tech, Michigan, North Carolina, NC State, Old Dominion, Wake Forest
Rating: ★★★ .8444 (247 Composite)
Ranking: #807 NAT (247 Composite)
FILM

Michigan has a couple of legacy offers on the table in the 2015 class, one that’s already reeled in a commitment from Jon Runyan Jr., and the other looks like a real possibility from Tryone Wheatley Jr. The coaching staff also looked outside of the Wolverine family tree and offered former Clemson Tiger running back, Steve Griffin’s (1982-'86) son, Stephen Griffin. The younger Griffin plays mostly on the defensive side of the ball as a ball-hawking, rangy safety, but does play wildcat quarterback occasionally and displays running skills like his dad.

At Michigan, legacy offers usually carry a lot of weight, possibly more so than at other institutions. Clemson’s tradition isn’t on a Michigan-level, but they aren’t slouches. Griffin’s father played at Clemson just a season or two after the Tigers won a national title, which makes for good memories, but Stephen told me that just because his dad wore the orange and purple doesn’t mean he’s going to.

Clemson doesn’t have a better chance with me because of my dad. I’m going to go wherever I feel the most comfortable. My dad also wants me to go where the best fit for me is.

Griffin is another prospect recruited by Coach Manning, and the trend continued as he spoke about the newly minted cornerbacks coach.

My coach said I needed to call Coach Manning in his office. I got on the phone and Coach Manning and I talked for a little bit and that’s when they offered. I like him a lot. It’s really cool that he’s going to be one of the secondary coaches now too.

As you’d expect Griffin is well learned when it comes to Clemson history. As for the Wolverines, he admitted to not knowing much about the Maize and Blue.

Right now I don’t know too much about Michigan but I’m definitely interested. Overall I’m still open to all schools. I hope to take a visit to Michigan, maybe late this spring or during the summer. I don’t have any type of top order yet but after I finish the rest of the visits I have scheduled, I will.

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My conversation with Stephen was short but he made a good first impression on me. He’s a humble kid who’s just taking the process slowly to ensure his decision is correct. He’s probably a bit underrated at this point and that may be the case throughout his recruitment but some pretty solid programs have taken notice of his length, athleticism, and versatility.

Griffin said he was “definitely interested” in Michigan and if he decides to visit Ann Arbor late this spring or during the summer like he said he might, the Wolverines might slide into a first cut for him.

THE VIBE

Explanation: After speaking with recruits I try to convey a sense of how interested they are in Michigan, and now that I've been through a recruiting cycle I thought it time to debut a (-n extremely  tentative, completely unscientific) metric for gauging that interest. Your thoughts/criticisms are welcome, but remember I'm not the guy whose job it is to be cute around here.* Here goes:

0 - Passing interest or none
1 - Let's see if he visits before we talk
2 - Among large (8-15) group under consideration
3 - Contender in a top 3-7
4 - Tentative lead or solidly in a top 2-3
5 - Trending blue.

Based on our limited communication I think there is some legitimate interest but I believe this relationship needs some TLC to blossom into anything serious.

*  [That job belongs to Seth's & BiSB's and Center_Ice's respective inbound offspring--my job is to interview them when Class of 2032 offers are going out.]

Yup, Still Want

Damien Harris headlined last weekend's Best of the Midwest combine, and for good reason—no matter where you look, he leads off the list of top performers. Scout's Allen Trieu broke down his overall combine MVP performance:

One of the headliners was Madison Southern (Ky.) running back Damien Harris, a four-star junior who will challenge to be the top running back in the country on Scout. We all know Harris is fast and he proved that again by clocking in the 4.3s in his 40 yard dash. But he also showed grit, toughness and great technique when it came to the pass blocking drills. He took on some of the camp's most physical linebackers and won his reps. We also had a chance to see him catch the ball a little bit, something we had already known he could do from past events. He has shown time and time again that he is a complete all around back and did nothing to diminish his standing as our top prospect in the Midwest.

247's Barton Simmons called Harris "dominant" and stated Michigan and Ohio State are on top in Harris's recruitment right now. Another program recently entered the picture, however. Harris is slated to visit this weekend for Michigan's Junior Day; his other planned trip is to the latest school to enter the picture, Alabama, per Trieu ($):

The Wolverines are one of the schools he will visit in the near future. The other school is Alabama, his most recent offer.

"I'm going up to Michigan on the 23rd of this month then I'm taking a visit to Alabama on March 1st but after that I don't really know. I haven't made any plans for spring or who I'm going to check out for spring ball. I'll probably do that soon."

With Harris planning to extend his recruitment until Signing Day, the Tide have plenty of time to work their way towards the top of his list. Based on the quotes Harris has given since his decommitment, however, including this one to Land Grant Holy Land (SBNation's OSU outlet), Michigan will still be the team to beat going forward:

"Like I said earlier, my interest in [Michigan] hasn't gone down. I don't not like them as much as I did before, there's really nowhere I like more than that. But with coach Borges being gone, it's hard going somewhere with someone who didn't recruit you."

The latter part is why Harris took a step back; if he develops the a similar comfort level with Doug Nussmeier as he had with Al Borges and sees improvement in Michigan's offense, he should end up back in the fold.

Meanwhile, Michigan is making a strong push for 2015 Cass Tech RB Mike Weber, who visited campus last weekend. He said as much to 247's Steve Wiltfong ($):

"Yeah," Weber said on Wednesday when asked if the Wolverines are trending with him. "They are on me hard."

The Wolverines looked to be the clear leader early in Weber's recruitment before Harris committed and interest between both parties seemingly waned, allowing Michigan State to become Weber's leader; he even considered committing to MSU back in November. With Michigan redoubling their efforts to land Weber, however, the battle between the two in-state powers is pretty even at this point.

One 2015 running back you can cross off your wish list is recently offered TX four-star Ronald Jones II, who gave this refreshingly honest quote to Scout's new Midwest intern, Eric Rutter ($):

“[Michigan] probably won’t [be visited] to be honest,” said Jones.  “If there is a great opportunity away from home then I would take it, but I would say location would be a factor.”

[Hit THE JUMP for new offers, visit reactions from last weekend, Shaun Crawford runnin' real fast, and more.]