Johnny Griffith (coach)
Biographical details | |
---|---|
Born | Crawfordville, Georgia, U.S. | May 27, 1924
Died | April 28, 2003 Duluth, Georgia, U.S. | (aged 78)
Playing career | |
1946 | Georgia |
Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
1949 | South Georgia (assistant) |
1950–1954 | South Georgia |
1956–1960 | Georgia (assistant) |
1961–1963 | Georgia |
1964–1966 | Georgia Tech (assistant) |
Head coaching record | |
Overall | 10–16–4 (college) 32–6 (junior college) |
Accomplishments and honors | |
Awards | |
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame (1997) | |
Johnny Griffith (May 27, 1924 – April 28, 2003) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at South Georgia College (1950–1954) and the University of Georgia (1961–1963).
Early life and playing career
Griffith was born in
Coaching career
Griffith's coaching career began at the junior college level at South Georgia College in Douglas, Georgia. He was an assistant there in 1949 before becoming the head coach in 1950. In four years as the head football coach at South Georgia College, Griffith compiled a 32–6 record and took his team to four bowl appearances.
Griffith's coaching career with the Georgia Bulldogs began in 1956, when he became an assistant under head coach Wally Butts. He replaced Butts as head coach in 1961. Except for a Southeastern Conference championship in 1959, the Georgia Bulldogs struggled in the last few years under Butts. Things did not get any better under Griffith and he was only able to compile a 10–16–4 record during his three-year term as head coach. While there were few successes during this time as head coach, he did have two big victories, a 30–21 upset win over Auburn in 1962 and a 31–14 win over heavily favored Miami in 1963. Griffith was replaced after the 1963 season by Vince Dooley.
While coaching at Georgia, Griffith became embroiled in the controversy created when the
After Georgia, Griffith did some assistant coaching at
Head coaching record
Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Georgia Bulldogs (Southeastern Conference) (1961–1963) | |||||||||
1961 | Georgia | 3–7 | 2–5 | 9th | |||||
1962 | Georgia | 3–4–3 | 2–3–1 | T–7th | |||||
1963 | Georgia | 4–5–1 | 2–4 | 9th | |||||
Georgia: | 10–16–4 | 6–12–1 | |||||||
Total: | 10–16–4 |
References
- ^ Smith, Loran (April 29, 2003). "Former coach Griffith always was gentleman". Athens Banner-Herald. Morris Communications. Retrieved April 5, 2008.