Matt Griffin (Sixth Season)
Head Coach / Assistant Athletic Director
Matt Griffin is now in his sixth season as head coach of the
Southern Polytechnic State University Hornets and his second year as
Assistant Athletic Director. Griffin recorded his first ever
collegiate win on 31 January 2004 when the Hornets defeated Thomas
University 7-2. Griffin’s first season proved to be memorable as his
team captured the University’s first ever Georgia-Alabama-Carolina
Conference Tournament Championship. Along with the championship
title, the Hornets secured an automatic bid to the Region XIII
Tournament, which the Hornets have not been to since Griffin’s
playing days in 1997.
Starting with the 2004 season, Griffin began to build a program that
is now known nationally as a NAIA elite program. The Hornets have
won two Conference Tournament Championships and have advanced to the
NAIA Regional Tournament three times over the past five years under
Griffin’s leadership. In 2007, the Hornets broke the all time single
season win total with 47 victories, and Coach Griffin was named the
Southern States Athletic Conference Coach of the Year as well as the
Georgia Dugout Club Coach of the Year. In 2008, the Hornets recorded
the highest NAIA National Ranking at number 7 in the country. The
Southern Poly Baseball program has averaged 37 wins per year since
2004, and Coach Griffin’s winning percentage currently stands at
.640.
Formerly, Griffin was a North East Georgia All-Star shortstop at
Stephens County High School in Toccoa, Georgia. Following his senior
year, Griffin signed to play for the Georgia State University
baseball program. After one season, Griffin transferred to SPSU and
had a stellar career. In his junior and senior seasons, Griffin was
named to the GAC All-Conference team as a shortstop. Griffin’s
resume as a collegiate player has him the holder of several Hornets
hitting records, and is currently second all time in home runs for a
single season.
In the 1998 Major League Baseball Draft, Griffin was picked by the
Chicago Cubs and reported to the short-season A-ball affiliate in
Williamsport, Pennsylvania. During Griffin’s first season of play,
he saw most of his action as a middle infielder in the New York Penn
League. For Griffin’s second season, he was sent to Michigan to play
for the Lansing Lugnuts as a utility infielder of the Midwest
League.
Griffin, 32, is originally from St. Marys, Pennsylvania, but grew up
in Toccoa, Georgia. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Business
Management from Southern Polytechnic State University. He and his
wife Leslie, a civil engineer at Geosyntec Consultants, have a
daughter named Grace and a son named Luke; they reside in Dallas.
As a Head Coach:
Southern Polytechnic State University
- (Head Coach)
Year
Post Season
W L
Pct.
2008
SSAC Tournament
39 17
.696
Region XIII Tournament
2007
SSAC Tournament Champions 47
18 .723
Region XIII Tournament
2006
SSAC Tournament
35 20
.636
2005
SSAC Tournament
34 21
.618
2004
GACC Tournament Champions 30
28 .517
Region XIII Tournament
Head Coaching Totals:
185 104 .640
Head Coaching Highlights:
• Recorded highest ranking in SPSU Baseball History (7th) (2008)
• 5 Straight (30+) win seasons
• Received Coach Of The Year SSAC (2007)
• Received NAIA Dugout Club Coach of the Year (2007)
• Won SSAC Tournament Championship (2007)
• Set school record for wins in a season (47) (2007)
• Ranked in top 25, 6 out of 8 polls (2007)
• Won 9 games against teams ranked nationally in the (NAIA) Polls
(2005)
• Beat Kennesaw State University in 1 hit shutout (2005)
• Won GACC Tournament Championship – First in School History (2004)
• Upset Kennesaw State University (Division II National Powerhouse)
(2004)
Summary of Coached and Developed Players
• Professional Players – 7
• All-Americans – 4
• First Team All-Region XIII – 7
• Second Team All-Region XIII – 2
• First Team All-Conference – 12
• Freshman of the Year – 2
• Second Team All-Conference – 5
• Academic All-Conference – 25
The Griffin
File
Education:
Stephens County High School (1994)
Southern Polytechnic State University (1998)
Playing Experience:
1991-94 Stephens County High School
1995 Georgia State University
1996-98 Southern Polytechnic State University
1998-99 Chicago Cubs Organization
Coaching and Professional Experience:
2004 – Present Southern Polytechnic State University, Head Coach
2007 – Present Southern Polytechnic State University, Assistant
Athletic Dir.
2000 – 03 Southern Polytechnic State University, Assistant Coach
Titles Won:
2004 GACC Tournament Champions / Region XIII Tournament
2007 SSAC Tournament Champions / Region XIII Tournament-3rd Place
2007 SSAC Coach of the Year
2007 Georgia Dugout Club Coach of the Year
2008 Region XIII Tournament – 4th Place
Personal:
Born in Ridgeway, Pennsylvania on 24 December 1975
Married to the former Leslie Engel
Daughter Grace / Son Luke
To contact Coach Griffin, click name.
