Austin Griffin

It was just over a year ago that Austin Griffin was working at Verizon as a sale consultant and playing rugby.

Now, the 6-foot-7, 250-pound Griffin is committed to play football at the University of Louisville. Griffin called his crazy ride from three and a half years without football to a decision to make a commitment to U of L a “very special moment.”

The 23-year-old Griffin is from St. George, Utah, and is preparing for his second season at Walnut, Calif., Mount San Antonio College. He’s rated as the No. 1 junior-college tight end in the country and the No. 11 JUCO prospect overall.

“I took a different route,” Griffin told Cardinal Authority. “But it was a very special moment for me and my family, just to see your hard work pay off and opportunities open up. I just took a different route to get here.”

Griffin, a graduate from Snow Canyon High School in 2013, has five scholarship offers and a lot of other interest. He made an official visit to U of L over the weekend and made his commitment public on Monday.

He said it was “obvious” when he was on campus where he should attend school.

“It was definitely the coaching staff,” Griffin said. “The facilities were great, the town was great and the players were great but just how genuine the coaches were - especially coach (Chris Klenakis) the tight end coach. I felt like I can be successful with him as my coach.”

Griffin said U of L coach Bobby Petrino and Klenakis sat him down and showed him video of how former U of L tight ends Gary Barnidge and Cole Hikutini - among others - were used in the Petrino system.

“It’s very exciting to know there could be four tight ends on the field at one time,” Griffin said. “In my opinion, that’s scary for the defense.

“We not only talked about how they have used tight ends, but we watched some film. I enjoyed the visit and am excited about the future.”

In high school, Griffin played a wide receiver in football and a wing in rugby. He started playing tackle football in the fourth grade and began playing rugby in the eighth grade and said “it just stuck and I loved it.”

As a senior, Griffin said he didn’t get any college attention. At the time he put football on hold and played rugby with several Utah clubs and was later selected to Rugby Utah’s Men’s Olympic Developmental Academy seven-a-side team in 2015.

“I didn’t do any school because I was saving my (NCAA) clock,” Griffin said. “I was working at Verizon and doing sales and playing rugby.”

Griffin said the main goal in rugby would have been to try and make the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Rugby Sevens national teams. But after talking with several elite-level rugby players he decided to give football a try in college.

“Some of the guys at the highest level told me not to take that (rugby) route,” he said. “They said there wasn’t much future with USA Rugby. I took their advice and got with a trainer I knew and started to train.”

Griffin said he was going to walk-on at Utah but found out he wouldn’t clear NCAA eligibility requirements and would need to go the JUCO route. He reached out to the coaches at Mount San Antonio and it worked out.

He said he was always hoping to give football another shot and “it worked out for me.”

Last season at Mount San Antonio, Griffin only played in four games but caught four passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns. He’s been timed in 4.50 in the 40-yard dash and has a 39-inch vertical leap.

Griffin picked the Cardinals over offers from Florida Atlantic, Fresno State, UNLV and Northern Arizona. He also has interest from BYU, Florida, Michigan, Iowa State, Arizona, Colorado, California, USC, and UCLA.