Senior Signing Spotlight: Jake Griffin

This is No. 11 in a month-long series of profiles of Arizona high school seniors that signed with four-year colleges. Here's the full list (currently totaling 281) of players from within the state moving on to the next level.

SPOTLIGHT: 2/18/20

A difference maker on both sides of the ball for a team that played for a 6A Conference championship, Jake Griffin signed to play football at BYU earlier this month.

Every year, it seems, there is that player (quite often a lineman), who wasn't a Division I recruit, but after that senior film comes out in midseason, the offers come flying in. That's what happened for Griffin, a 6-6, 265-pound lineman from Red Mountain.

It wasn't until the first week of last October that he received his first Division I offer (from Weber State). Over the next two months, Griffin accumulated a dozen more. He narrowed that list down and took official visits to Washington State, Arizona, Oregon State, and Brigham Young.

As Griffin visited each school, he had three questions in his mind.

Can I see myself playing at that school?
Does the school have everything I need and want to fulfill my educational goals?
If football goes away, would I be happy attending the school I chose?

"While visiting BYU, I could answer 'yes' to all of the questions," Griffin said in an e-mail interview. "I felt like I had a place there. I felt a connection to the players and the coaches. Also, the school would fulfill all of my goals I have for myself."

BYU was the last of those four visits and shortly afterwards, in the last week of January, Griffin committed to the Cougars. BYU has told Griffin it likes him as an offensive tackle, but he is willing to play wherever the team needs him.

It's important to note that Griffin wasn't always an offensive lineman. As a junior, he played in seven games for the Lions and had seven sacks. Last season, Griffin was active on both sides of the football. With his big frame, he's also a physical player.

On offense, Red Mountain (12-2) was prolific. The Mountain Lions averaged 250 rushing yards per game. Griffin brought his D-line mentality into the other side of the ball and he also credits the assistant coaches, Doug Dietrich (OL) and Matt Kelly (DL) for his training, both physically and mentally.

"I love to hit and dominate the guy or ball carrier in front of me," Griffin said. "As I've grown into an offensive lineman, I've taken the nasty mentality of the D-line and learned I can still physically dominate and punish the guy in front of me, whether I'm run blocking or pass blocking. Getting set in pass protection doesn't mean you are the punching bag. You can still punish people even while pass blocking."

Griffin refers to attending BYU as a dream come true. After Washington State head coach Mike Leach left for Mississippi State and took some of the staff with him, they reached out to see if he'd consider playing in the SEC. The Cougars may not be referred to as a "Power Five" school, but the D-I Independent defeated both USC and Boise State last season. More than 60,000 fans turned out in Provo for the home games against the Trojans and Washington.

"I know some people may wonder why I didn't go to the Pac-12 or Big Ten with some of my offers," Griffin said. "I believe BYU can compete with anybody they play with and we are going to have our chance to show people, playing schools from these conferences every year. I'm super excited to be a part of that challenge and compete with the best every year."

Taking a look at the Cougars' schedule for 2020, they will play Utah, Michigan State, Arizona State, Missouri, and Stanford. Going out further from 2022-2026, BYU has Baylor, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina State, Minnesota, and Virginia Tech on the slate.

We go out that far because Griffin is planning to take a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He is hoping to leave shortly after graduation in May. The destination is not known yet, but he has an older sister that served in Taiwan and a brother that did the same in Mexico. The mission is two years, which would put Griffin in Provo for the 2022 season.

In addition to Griffin, BYU signed three other Arizona players in this class. Basha cornerback Micah Harper, ALA-Queen Creek cornerback Dean Jones, and Chandler linebacker Tate Romney will also be Cougars. Romney is the third from his family to join BYU. His older brothers Baylor and Gunner are on the team currently.

The versatile Griffin also played basketball at Red Mountain. He said playing multiple sports really helped him and one sport really did help with skills for the other and made him a better overall athlete.

In closing, Griffin is thankful to many and wanted to show his appreciation to those that have helped him along the way.

"I just feel grateful," Griffin said. "Grateful to all of my previous coaches who kept believing in me. I'm grateful to all the coaches that recruited me. And I'm grateful to my future coaches at BYU. I'm beginning to see this is all way bigger than football and the things I've learned, and will learn, from playing this sport will carry through everything I do in my life."