The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/846301
106 ■ THE WOLFPACKER FOOTBALL PREVIEW 2017 SPECIAL TEAMS Getting To Know: Tyler Griffiths NC State junior long snapper Tyler Griffiths understands that the only way people know his name is if something negative happens. That is the nature of his position. Griffiths has avoided the fan base getting to know his name too well in his first two years, whether snapping to junior punter A.J. Cole III or on field goals and extra points. Griffiths impressed enough during the recruiting process to earn a scholarship from the Wolfpack out of Monroe (N.C.) Sun Valley High, but has successfully faded into the background since. "I like being anonymous," Griffiths said. "That means I am doing my job. Basically, long snappers have to be perfect. "If a quarterback throws an interception, it can be different than me snapping the ball over the punters head because it changes the whole swing of the game." Griffiths played linebacker in high school, but had a turning point where he understood that his best chance at a Division I scholarship would be through long snapping. "I always dreamed of playing at a D-I school in high school," Griffiths said. "I was a linebacker, tight end and fullback. I realized that I wasn't athletic enough or big enough to do it at this level. I was always the backup long snapper." The long snapping dream took off when Griffiths attended a Chris Rubio camp, and he won top honors. He went on to be ranked the No. 7 snap - per nationally and No. 1 in the state of North Carolina by Rubio. "I got a free trip to the national showcase in Las Vegas and ended up getting ranked real high, and it snowballed from there," he said. Griffiths refers to long snapping as a "science," noting it is harder than it looks. "It is all about muscle memory," Griffiths said. "If you get the technique right, anyone can be a long snapper. "With punts, you use your full power. On field goals, you take your legs out of it, but you still snap it as hard as you can with your upper body." Griffiths particularly tried to snap the heck out of the ball in the crazy weather in the win over Notre Dame last year. Hurricane Matthew provided the worst conditions he has snapped in, but was quick to note weather conditions simply "can't matter" with what he's trying to achieve. "I have to tell myself it doesn't matter and just get the snap there any - way," said Griffiths, who is majoring in political science and criminology. The "specialists" usually arrive about 30 minutes before practice starts to stretch and get warmed up. Griffiths has a routine where he'll practice three five-yard snaps, three 10-yard snaps and three 15-yard snaps. He'll follow up with some snaps to the punters and then field goals. After getting warmed up, he joins the whole team for field goal and punting periods. Griffiths will help out the offensive scout time from time to time, usu- ally just standing. Toward the end of practice, the specialists will congre- gate and watch the offense and defense perform. Griffiths thinks back to NCSU head coach Dave Doeren offering him a scholarship quite often, and wants to continue to repay the faith of his head coach. "That was one of the best days of my life," Griffiths said. "I remember sitting in his office with my family there. They had offered me as a pre- ferred walk-on a couple of weeks before. Then I came back for a visit and he told me they wanted to offer me a scholarship. "I think I smiled for two weeks straight and my mom was crying." — Jacey Zembal Junior Tyler Griffiths was rated as the No. 7 long snapper nationally by Chris Rubio Long Snapping coming out of high school and earned a scholarship to NC State. PHOTO BY JACEY ZEMBAL Quick Facts Position Coach: Eddie Faulkner (fifth season) Returning Starters: KR Nyheim Hines, K Kyle Bambard, P A.J. Cole and LS Tyler Griffiths Starters Lost: PR Bra'Lon Cherry FYI: Phil Steele's College Football Preview ranked NC State's special teams unit No. 36 in the country … Phil Steele's listed junior long snapper Tyler Griffiths second- team All-ACC and rated junior A.J. Cole III the No. 11 punter nationally … Junior Nyheim Hines was slotted as the No. 4 kick returner in the nation and fourth- team All-ACC by Phil Steele's … Lindy's selected Carson- Newman graduate transfer kicker Carson Wise as the Wolfpack's "top newcomer" … Junior kicker Kyle Bam- bard connected on a career-long 48-yard field goal, plus a 20-yarder, in the 2016 win over Wake Forest … Cole's two different 72-yard punts tie for the ninth-longest kicks in NCSU history … Hines ranks fifth in NCSU history with 1,702 career kickoff return yards and seventh in kick return average at 25.4 yards per attempt … Red - shirt junior wide receiver Maurice Trowell returned one kickoff for a score his senior year at Southern Durham, where he finished with 2,190 all-purpose yards in 2013.