Coach Griff retires after 34 years on the court

Published June 12, 2015
By John Parker
Staff Writer

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, okla. -- In 34 years of coaching basketball, Clarence "Griff" Griffin was known for keeping his cool, courtside or off.

That's why Kathy Smith, one of his former star players and a women's All Air Force Team alumna, says one of her favorite player memories was when coach Griff lost it.
Early in what would become 28 years of coaching at Tinker, Griffin was guiding the Tinker Air Force Base Lady Hawks in a military grudge game against a Fort Sill Army team in Lawton, Oklahoma.

It gradually became apparent, however, at least in the minds of Griffin and the Lady Hawks, that the officials were hitting them with questionable calls, or no calls at all against their opponent. It didn't help that the Lady Hawks were a powerhouse other teams dreamed of beating.

"We felt we were being 'disadvantaged' by the officials, but coach told us to just play and let him worry about them," said Smith, a 72nd Air Base Wing Protocol Officer.
Griffin had engaged the officials shortly before an Army player inflicted a hard foul on a Tinker player. Nonetheless, no whistle.

"Griff had seen enough," Smith said. "He is not known to blow his top or ever yell, but we turned to see him having some passionate words with an official, who in turn motioned a technical foul against Coach Griff, who then literally released a towel that found its way to the official's personal space.

"By the time the official motioned that coach Griff was out of the game, he was halfway to the locker room," she said. "We were in utter astonishment, shock and quite pleased all at the same time. I do not recall who won the game, but after that moment you better believe we gave it all we had and then some!"

Coach Griffin, 66, recently decided that the men's Tinker Hawks 2014-15 season, which ended last month, would be his last. He loves basketball, but his coaching duties have become more like a job, he said.

Coaching during the fall-to-spring regular season involves two practices a week, games, planning, logistics and travel in and out of state for tournaments.

"I've been very fortunate to be successful," Griffin said. "I don't take that for granted. I appreciate what I've accomplished, and I appreciate the guys who played with me and for me."

Griffin has been married to Tinker Sports Director Patricia Griffin for 44 years.

"It takes a lot of time away from your family," the coach added. "I have grandkids now, so you want to sit there and spend time with them because that's a priority. Basketball is just a game."

In fact, Griffin often tells his players there are four things more important than hoops: church, family, education and a last item specific to the types of players he coached.
"I've told them you're here because you're in the military," he said, "and if you're not doing your job, you won't be on the team."

The retired Air Force master sergeant began coaching while on active duty at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. With a change of station, he brought his skills to a Royal Air Force base in England after that.

"That was a challenge because you had guys who for the most part didn't really understand basketball," he said. "They were heading the balls with their heads and blocking it with their body. I said it doesn't quite work that way."

Griffin spent most of his years coaching Tinker women's teams, starting in 1987. He's been the men's head coach for about eight years.

Griffin said his coaching philosophy is centered on constant study of the game.

"You have to be a student of the game, and you have to continue to learn," he said. "I tell the players when they first come out to play, I don't have all the answers. It's going to be a case where we're going to learn, but I've been around the game long enough that there are things that I can tell you to make you a better team."

Coach doesn't know how many championships his teams have won, but all of them racked up winning seasons and at least 400 wins over the years, he said. Griffin's recent team triumphs include back-to-back Central U.S. Military Basketball Conference championships in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

Griffin's teams were championship caliber early in his career, too. In the 1990s, the dominating Lady Hawks won several tournament championships.

"My goal as head coach was to make Tinker not just a good competitive team, but I wanted Tinker to be in the upper echelon," he said. "We accomplished that and surpassed it. We became the team to beat."

Smith said Coach Griff is a great guy, a dedicated coach and "truly an advocate for women's basketball at all levels."

"Air Force sports at the base level and beyond has changed with a shrinking budget, among other challenges," she said. "Those changes did not make coaching any easier. His longevity speaks volumes of how much hard work, late nights, long weekends, multiple duties and personal sacrifice he was willing to make to dedicate himself to the game -- no doubt. I salute him!"

'Simply the best,' star player says

Retiring basketball coach Clarence Griffin calls Reggie Huffman "a coach's dream."
The 6-foot-7-inch Huffman, who rose from Tinker Hawks varsity ball to the All Air Force team to the European pro leagues, feels much the same way about his former coach.

Huffman played for "Coach Griff" from 2002 to 2005, leaving that year to play on scholarship at Western Oklahoma State College. He later played for the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the Allianz Swans in Austria.

"I feel if it wasn't for Coach Griff's influence I would have not experienced the success I did as a basketball player," he said. "Playing under coach while at Tinker had the greatest impact on me, not only as a player, but also as a man. Coach was simply the best.

"I was very raw back then as player," Huffman recalls. "When I met coach I only knew how to run and jump. Coach had a wealth of knowledge on the offensive and defensive ends of the court that began to mature me as a player."

Griffin also helped Huffman understand the mental side of the game, he said.

"He was a coach that understood timing and spacing on the floor," Huffman said. "One of the greatest things that stood out to me was that he knew how to manage a game as it progressed and knew how to stay calm in tight games under pressure. His maturity in these areas definitely influenced me greatly."

Playing for Coach Griff was fun, too, he said.

"Coach was a really laid back and comical guy," he said. "He always kept us laughing in practices or even during games in timeouts. He was definitely one of my favorite coaches to play for."