Nov. 19, 2001
by Matt Ellison – Host Communications
Perhaps no position on the football field requires more intensity than the running back spot. Consider this: whenever you touch the ball, 11 angry men are looking to reduce you to nothing more than a speed bump. You need an edge, a certain amount of intensity in order to make it as a running back.
Wesley McGriff knows a thing or two about intensity. During practices, you won’t find him lounging back on a golf cart or standing up in a tower overlooking the field. You’ll find him in the huddles, getting in his players’ faces, dishing out compliments and criticisms with equal measures of fire.
“It (my intensity) probably comes a bit naturally, because I’m just really excited about what I’m doing,” McGriff said. “It’s difficult to come in, day in and day out, and just practice if you’re a player. If you want your guys to play with some intensity, you’ve got to coach that way.”
As the running backs coach for UK, McGriff, in his first year as a Wildcat, is in charge of guiding a segment of the football program that hasn’t been a point of emphasis the last few years. Case in point: UK attempted nearly 100 fewer running plays last season than its opponents, and registered only nine rushing TDs versus 22 for their adversaries.
“We’re still a passing team,” McGriff said. “We’re still going to put the ball in the air. But we need to be able to run the ball when we get into a situation that requires the offense to run. I know our guys are excited about it. It made them say, ‘Hey, now we get an opportunity to carry the ball like most of the offenses in the SEC.’ ” McGriff has slowly worked his way up the ladder – “the food chain,” he jokes – in the world of coaching football. After spending several years at his alma mater, Savannah State, he came to Kentucky in 1995, helping engineer a turnaround at Kentucky State.
In 2000, he joined the staff at Eastern Kentucky, helping craft a defense that ranked among the top 10 in Division I-AA that season. Now, he’s back on the offensive side of the ball, although he claims the switch from defense to offense isn’t as dramatic as you would normally think.
“Whether I’m coaching offense or defense, I go back to my high school days,” McGriff said. “I had really good coaches, and the biggest thing they taught us was to be fundamentally sound, playing hard on every play. Fight through adversity.”
McGriff can also draw on his personal playing experience in making UK’s running backs that much tougher to defend.”I go back to the fundamentals I was taught – ball security, staying low, being patient, letting the block get set up before you make your decision, playing behind your shoulder pads,” he elaborated. “If you can get these guys to play with fundamentals, combined with the God-given skills they have, and you’ll get some good running backs.”
And UK has three of those – juniors Martez Johnson and Artose Pinner, and sophomore Chad Scott. Although Scott has shown the most so far, no one has emerged as the bell cow – the center of attention worthy of all the attention, not to mention carries.
“It’s a blessing to have a host of talent back there, but I’ve told our guys several times, ‘I’m waiting for one of you to just step up and take the job.’ Sometimes I think when you have a lot of depth at a position, guys can get comfortable, thinking ‘I’m going to play in the game regardless of what happens.’ I’d like to see one person step up and absolutely be ‘the man.’ “
McGriff was certainly “the man” at Savannah State, having gone straight from a helmet to a headset, first as a graduate assistant, then as an assistant coach before becoming the defensive coordinator. But he felt as if his career could advance more if he were to leave and go someplace where his reputation as a player wasn’t more important than his credentials as a coach.
“When you graduate from a school, no matter how much coaching success you have there, they still look at you as, ‘Hey, it’s Wesley McGriff, the guy who played here.’ I wanted to go someplace where I could get my career going on solid ground. By solid ground, I mean a place that was struggling – Kentucky State was struggling at the time – and help turn things around.”
Fortunate enough to live in the same house at all three coaching jobs in the Commonwealth, McGriff says his family – wife Karen and daughter Jaylen – have embraced life here.
“The people here are just like they were back home, very warm and hospitable,” he said. “Despite what some people might say about football being secondary in this state, it’s not true. I’ve enjoyed my time here both personally and professionally. It’s a great place to coach football. It’s been a great place to meet people. And it’s a great place to have your family.”
