Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 11, 2021 19 But Kelly explained that while waiting for Griffith's awareness and understand- ing to line up with his talent and promise, a coach's reluctance beat out a coach's trust, and snaps became limited. "That has to be taken into consid- eration, because he didn't get as many reps as he's getting now," Kelly ex- plained. "This football awareness piece is really starting to show itself as to why he can continue to excel and ascend." Playing primarily at nickel back, Griffith enjoyed a solid freshman sea- son in 2018, recording 14 tackles and two passes broken up with one start, 11 appearances and 197 snaps, the most of any player in his recruiting class. The good times stopped there, and d u r i n g t h e p a s t two seasons while Griffith searched for a position he could call his own, this ace recruit was relegated to special teams and seldom-used sub packages without a definitive role. The opportunity for Griffith to fill graduated senior Alohi Gilman's vacated starting safety spot last season didn't pan out when Crawford moved over from cornerback and secured that job at the same time then-junior DJ Brown locked down the starting nickel spot. Relegated last season to mainly special teams and dime packages as a sixth defen- sive back on obvious passing situations, Griffith recorded 215 snaps and made two emergency starts as an injury and COVID fill-in. He recorded a modest 14 tackles — bringing his career totals to 36 games, 33 tackles, one tackle for loss and three passes broken up — not the planned pro- duction after three seasons from a player many projected as a future NFL star. In the same way starting senior Irish wide receiver Avery Davis played po- sitional musical chairs during his first three seasons in the program, Griffith's early development also may have been delayed while bouncing between safety, dime, cornerback and nickel back dur- ing his first three years. "I've felt like two things needed to happen for Houston, opportunity and making the best of opportunity," Kelly explained. "What is making the best? What does that equal? For me, a lot of that has been awareness of the situation that he's in and using what I think is outstanding athletic ability and apply- ing it to a particular situation." With a fresh start and a starting spot secured, Griffith said it's time to look forward and leave any transfer injuries behind. "I appreciate the question," Griffith said this offseason when asked about his time in portal limbo, "but really, right now, my focus is being present where my feet are." THE ROAD TO SOUTH BEND A gifted athlete, Griffith excelled at running back in youth football and was in line to become the starting option quarterback as a junior at football pow- erhouse Mount Carmel High School in Chicago before deciding to transfer to IMG Academy for his junior and senior seasons. In addition to playing against better competition and gaining more recruit- ing attention at IMG, Griffith's transfer also brought an opportunity to graduate high school a semester early and im- mediately enroll at his new school in January 2018 to get a head start on his college career. Griffith originally com- mitted to Florida State but had a change of heart during the recruiting process and flipped to Notre Dame. Kurt Hinish, a 2021 Irish team cap- tain and three-year starter at defensive tackle, as well as former Notre Dame tailback Tony Jones Jr., are two other re- cent Irish players from the IMG football powerhouse. Their success at IMG and their fine college careers helped attract Griffith to Notre Dame. Eyeing his future — and with some nudging from family and coaches — Griffith switched from offense to de- fense at IMG and became what Rivals rated as the No. 4 safety in the country. His 33-school offer sheet included Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama. Griffith's father Howard, now a Big Ten Network analyst, won two Super Bowl rings with the Den- ver Broncos during an 11-year NFL ca- reer, so fatherly advice was credible and well-received in getting Houston back to where he started. "My whole thing in 2021 is to be fo- cused on my future, worry about being a better safety today, be worried about being a better safety tomorrow," Griffith added. "I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and just continue to work on my game and my football IQ , and just translate that to the football field and help lead my guys on Saturdays." ✦ One-Two Punch Once the two-deep had settled and senior Houston Griffith had beaten out senior DJ Brown for the start- ing stud safety spot, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly highlighted just how important this position will be for the Irish defense. With junior safety Kyle Hamilton patrolling one side of the field as the free safety, Kelly explained that the stud safeties opposite his All-American are going to be challenged by opposing offenses early and often. "Where Kyle Hamilton is going to be, most people are not going to be so that [other safety] position is crucial relative to getting the ball on the ground," Kelly said of what's presumed to be rotation of Griffith and Brown on the stud side. "That's a tackling position for us and so those guys have to tackle the football. They've both had really good camps. "You're going to see them both playing and they're going to be on notice because most teams know where Kyle Hamilton is and they're going to attack both of those guys, and I think they're up for the task." Statistically speaking, the work in the Irish secondary last season slipped dramatically from the previous two seasons. After finishing in the top six nationally in pass efficiency defense in 2018 and 2019, Notre Dame dropped to 34th in 2020. Last year's ranking was still respectable, given where the Irish were with pass coverage before Clark Lea took over as defensive coordinator in 2018. But given the aggressive and active style new Irish defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman intends to play with — and the history of success his pass defenses showed at Cincinnati — 34th would be considered a disappointment in 2021. "We talk about swarming to the football and just playing with a nasty attitude, because we want teams to feel us every time," Griffith said of the tempo and style Freeman has already instilled. "And we're going to bring a lot of pressure. It's going to be exciting. I look forward to playing in this defense this season." — Todd D. Burlage "Having this leadership role is something I enjoy. It's something that's been able to challenge me. That's something that I have tried to embrace and just continue being a leader and help the young guys." GRIFFITH