Gary Griffin knows what it means to pay his dues.
Whether it has been as a volunteer coach, an assistant coach, or as a middle school coach, Griffin has bided his time, watched, and learned. Many of those years came under former Columbus High School boys basketball coach Sammy Smith. Through it all, Griffin sat calmly in the third or fourth seat from the right and shuttled players in and out of the game. He hardly ever raised his voice or cocked his head and stared at officials the way Smith used to do when he wasn’t pleased with a call.
Don’t worry, though, because Griffin isn’t going to adopt those idiosyncrasies. Nearly three weeks into his new job as Columbus High boys basketball coach, Griffin hasn’t figured everything out, but he is getting to know his players so he can help build on the program’s first state championship earlier this season.
“It has been sort of a roller coaster ride, but at the end of the day this is where I have been 16 out of my 17 years,” Griffin said. “In terms of commitment, dedication, and loyalty, it is just a part of it, and I have been a part of it for a while. I know the nature and the aspect of the business sometimes. At the end of the day, it is about doing what is best for kids all of the time.”
Griffin was named interim Columbus High boys basketball coach on July 29, when he was moved from a physical education teacher at Columbus Middle School to a P.E. teacher at Columbus High. He also saw his roles as athletic supervisor/assistant varsity baseball coach/cross country coach/assistant volleyball coach change to athletic supervisor/cross country coach/varsity boys basketball coach.
On Aug. 8, the rate of pay for Griffin’s supplement for those roles was changed from $14,900 to $13,900.
Griffin said he was contacted and offered the job to replace Luther Riley shortly after Indianola Gentry High boys basketball coach Alfrico “Chico” Potts declined a job offer to become Columbus High’s new boys basketball coach in July.
Potts’ decision to remain at Indianola Gentry High followed a series of events that saw the Columbus Municipal School District vote to void Riley’s employment contract because he failed to sign it within 10 days of receiving it. The board then voted to re-hire Riley as a teacher without a coaching supplement. A motion to bring Riley back as the school’s boys basketball coach failed, as did a motion to remove Potts’ name from the list of coaching supplements up for approval.
Riley helped make history in Columbus by leading the boys basketball team to a 37-33 victory against Starkville in the Mississippi High School Athletics Association (MHSAA) Class 6A State title game for the program’s first state championship.
Griffin, 42, who was born in Jacksonville, Florida, grew up in Columbus. He doesn’t feel like he needs to mend fences after the coaching change and the turmoil surrounding Riley and Potts. He said he has seen plenty of people come and go and that he is proud to be still working hard for what he considers his biggest priorities: the kids.
“These are kids I have been around since they have been in elementary and junior high school, so we were hurting the kids,” Griffin said. “At the end of the day, I knew it was best for this program to step in at this time and move forward and build off of what we did this past season.”
Griffin played point guard for Smith at Lee High. He played an integral role in leading the boys basketball team to the state semifinals in his junior and senior seasons. He went on to play basketball at Porterville College in California and Mid Plains Community College in North Platte, Nebraska. He returned to the area to become a teacher and eventually found himself a place on the sideline with Smith.
“He stayed the course and did a really good job as an assistant coach,” said Smith, who is the athletic director at Columbus High.
Smith said Griffin was “disciplined” as a player and a “hard worker.” He said Griffin wasn’t the fastest or the quickest player, but he was a smart player who was a great leader and the “glue” that held everybody together.
Smith said Griffin earned that ability to be a team leader by setting a quiet example his teammates could follow. He said Griffin practiced hard, never missed a practice, was on time, came early and stayed late, and took the wrath from him because he was hard on his point guards.
“He never did flinch because he knew this work was going to make us a better program and a better team and that he had to do what coach expects from me to the best of my ability,” Smith said.
Smith feels Griffin will be able to make the same kind of mark on the program now that he is its head coach.
Griffin said discipline and hard work will be key elements of his program. He also said he will take the lessons he learned from Smith and incorporate into his style. She said he is own man and that he wants to “add his own twist” to how things are done.
“I played basketball in this district. I was a part of two teams that made it to the semifinals of the state playoffs,” Griffin said. “I just wanted to do something for the community and be a part of the community. Many jobs have become available to me and I have been offered jobs across the area and the state and I have turned them down.
“A lot of people ask me that. Sometimes you’re too loyal. However, I just felt like this is where I am supposed to be.”
Smith agrees and knows Griffin has the mind-set to be able to outwork other coaches. He also believes Griffin will run a disciplined program.
“If you do the right things and work hard and be coachable, good things will happen and your time will come,” Smith said. “I tell people patience is a great virtue, and Gary has shown patience. He is going to make the best of it. Coming of a state championship, the expectations are going to be high, but he doesn’t need to put the burden on his back. He just has to do what he does to develop a program like he wants to develop it and I think he will be fine. I am proud of him, just like I am of any of my former players.”
Griffin admitted it as a difficult decision to take the job, but he believes he and Phillip Morris, who played for Smith and was promoted to eighth-grade basketball coach to ninth-grade coach and varsity assistant coach, will be able to establish a foundation that will make people proud.
“I always am a big believer of you have got to know where you have been to get where you are going,” Griffin said. “Last year’s season was so successful, so we don’t want to forget what we did last year. However, we realize we lost 12 seniors. With that said, we’re coming in with a lot of fresh faces and kids who are inexperienced. The expectations are still the same. Once you reach that highest plateau, it makes you hungrier. The kids are hungry as well. From that standpoint, we are trying to get better every day.”
Griffin understands that process will take time, especially after losing a talented senior class. But he will rely on pillars like discipline and hard work to make sure Columbus stay on top.
“We’re a work in progress,” Griffin said. “At the same time, we have some guys who are pretty athletic and we have some quickness, so we are going to do some things to be a little more up tempo. We may press a little more. More than anything, we are going to run the floor more and get a lot more easy baskets. We want to make the game exciting because you start playing this game to have fun, and I want them to win but have fun while they’re doing it, and always do it with respect.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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