Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – You coach as long as Wesley McGriff has, and familiar faces are going to show up when you least expect them.

It happened right away when McGriff, hired by Gators head coach Dan Mullen in January to assist coaching the secondary, showed up and shuffled about his new office.

First, McGriff had to do a double-take to make sure that was longtime NFL kicker Shayne Graham. It was. McGriff and Graham crossed paths a few years ago when Graham was the New Orleans kicker and McGriff the Saints secondary coach. Graham is now a special-teams analyst for the Gators as he transitions into a coaching career.

"I didn't even look at the program to see he was here,'' McGriff said. "We go back to pro ball, so that was good."

Not all encounters awakened pleasant memories for the 53-year-old McGriff, who has coached previously in the Southeastern Conference at Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Auburn. When he saw former Gators defensive back Keiwan Ratliff, an assistant director of player personnel for Florida, McGriff got straight to the point.

"Man, I've been looking for you for years,'' said McGriff.

"Why is that,'' Ratliff responded.

"Because when you got those two pick-sixes and I was coaching at Kentucky, I said if I ever seen you again, it's going to be a fight,'' quipped McGriff.

No punches were thrown.

Instead, Ratliff lit up at the memory of his performance in Florida's wild 41-34 win over the Wildcats at the Swamp 19 years ago, even if McGriff's recollection was a tad off. Ratliff's 62-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter off Wildcats quarterback Jared Lorenzen turned momentum back to the Gators. Later, Ratliff clinched the victory by returning an interception on a Kentucky two-point attempt – if successful, the Wildcats would have trimmed Florida's lead to a field goal. However, Ratliff went the other way for a score and  his eight points were enough for the Gators to win by seven.
 

Of course, the familiar faces that brought McGriff to Florida belong to Mullen and defensive coordinator Todd Grantham. As former defensive coordinator at Ole Miss, McGriff knows all about Mullen's offense from their Egg Bowl days. And as for Grantham, McGriff has admired the veteran NFL and college football coordinator for years.

The Gators presented McGriff with an opportunity he has been chasing since starting his coaching career in 1990 at his alma mater, Savannah State.

"I'm not coming here just to win the coin toss,'' he said. "We're coming here to win it all. I've been watching Florida for a long time. It had always been on my bucket list. You have an opportunity to work with two outstanding coaches like Coach Grantham and like Coach Mullen, that's just icing on the cake."

When Mullen decided to retool his secondary coaches in the offseason, McGriff said had already had preliminary talks with new Auburn coach Bryan Harsin about his plans for the coaching staff. But when he heard about the Florida openings, he couldn't get in contact with Mullen fast enough.

He saw an opportunity to win and win big.

"I'm so thankful that this opportunity worked out," McGriff said. "I'm glad to finally be with him, and be with him at Florida. I will tell you this here, I didn't like playing against that offense. When I was at Auburn [in 2019], we came in 'The Swamp' and, of course, you know how we left."

Florida 24, Auburn 13 – highlighted by Lamical Perine's game-clinching 88-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.

"He ended up in formation and getting us in a situation,'' McGriff said of Florida's call. "I can remember he went all receivers on one side, and I'm sitting there like, 'That's not good.' All the DBs on one side. There goes Perine out the backdoor for an explosive play."

McGriff's job is to help prevent those type of plays on the back end of Florida's defense, primarily coaching the safeties. He also is a veteran recruiter in the state and has a big personality that plays well with high school coaches and players.

After a decade paying dues with stops at Savannah State, Kentucky State and Eastern Kentucky, former Kentucky coach Hal Mumme hired McGriff early in 2001. Mumme resigned shortly thereafter and was replaced by Guy Morriss, who was impressed with the way McGriff had interacted with players at Kentucky camps the previous year.

"I told myself long ago just from summer camps, if I ever got a [head coaching] job, I was going to hire Wesley McGriff because of his energy and enthusiasm,'' Morriss told the Louisville Courier-Journal at the time. "He's high energy, and he's the same guy every day and the kids love him."

Based on his demeanor since joining the Gators, McGriff hasn't changed with the passage of time. He is constantly upbeat and has quickly fit in on the staff.

He's also been re-energized by what he saw during his first spring camp at Florida.

"It's a great opportunity to be here and be around these kids,'' he said. "Man, I'm enjoying it. My mindset is that I have an opportunity to come in and have a role at a great university. And these young men, not only do they have the opportunity to get better on the football field, we'll get them better in life.

"Going through spring ball, these guys have a tremendous attitude. Their work ethic is unbelievable. It's a great environment, the culture is great. Coach Mullen has done a great job of creating an environment that is conducive to winning. It's a working environment, it's a learning environment, and it's a loving environment. People think you can't coach 'em hard and love 'em hard at the same time, well, that happens at Florida."

McGriff informed his position group of his get-to-know-you coaching style in his first meeting. He seeks to build relationships that last long beyond their time together as player-coach.

It's the mindset that has helped him remain high energy all these years.

"This is a big fraternity,'' he said. "I tell these guys that all the time."

McGriff was reminded of that on his first day in the office.
  SIX QUESTIONS
 
Q: What do you consider your best day in football?

A: My best day as a coach is when I see a young man get drafted first round, because getting drafted is hard. And then to see a young man and his family be in position to watch him get drafted in first round, that's what you get into coaching for. And then I'm very moved when I see these young men walk across the stage and receive a degree. Watching a young man graduate, that's gratifying as a coach.
 

Q: Biggest influence on why you're here today?

A: My two high school coaches [at Tifton (Ga.) High]. Gene Brodie, I really admired how hard he worked. We were raised that whatever you start, you didn't walk away from, you didn't quit. And then my receiver coach, who I still call my dad, Emmett Bowers. He's a guy, I emulate a lot from him because he coached us hard, but at the same time, he loved us hard. If we needed anything he was always there. You knew he was all about business. And another coach is Bill Davis, who was at South Carolina State and he went to Savannah State and I transferred there with him. He encouraged me to get into student leadership and that you have to be more than a football player. He's largely responsible for my development away from the game.

Q: What's a perfect day away from football?

A: Golf. Get up and get me a good cup of coffee, make sure my family is healthy, call a couple of recruits along the way, and then go out and play me a good round of golf. That's a perfect day of being away from football. I love golf.

Q: What's a perfect meal?

That's easy. A perfect meal for me is a bone-in ribeye cooked Pittsburgh style, medium-well and burn the tips. Have a nice side of broccoli or a nice side of creamed spinach and a good glass a cabernet wine, that's a great dinner for me.

Q: Favorite movie?

A: My favorite is "Scarface." I like the action and the biggest thing I like is the confidence of Al Pacino. I like the confidence and swagger in him. I may have watched that movie 10 times.

Q: Favorite book?

One book I really like is "Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game," because it talks about the mental. I think a lot of time as coaches, we put so much focus on the physical, but a lot of times you win a competition mentally before you can win it physically. You can relate that book to so much of life. There was a four-year span where every training camp I read that book just to get might mind right.