Part three of three
The success of East Surry High School football has garnered attention from a statewide, and in certain instances nationwide, audience.
This school of fewer than 600 students finished the year as the No. 11 football team in North Carolina and the No. 33 small school in the nation (MaxPreps). This was thanks to a perfect 15-0 season in which the Cardinals won their first outright football state championship in school history, winning games by an average of 39.5 points.
In terms of individual success, East Surry was represented on every list ranging from the AP All-State First Team to MaxPreps Small Schools All-American Second Team. Head coach Trent Lowman was also honored as the MaxPreps State Coach of the Year for N.C.
The Cardinals’ success had collegiate programs of all divisions checking out the small town of Pilot Mountain. One particular coach from Chicago kept his eyes peeled on East Surry’s season for reasons other than recruiting. He was heavily invested in East Surry’s current crop of studs because he was the superstar that current players grew up hearing stories about: Chris Griggs.
Griggs and the East Surry teams of the early 2000s came so close to winning a state title but, as outlined in part one of this series, weren’t able to get to the mountaintop. He and his former classmates were elated to see East Surry win the title in 2019.
He used Twitter to connect with the Cardinals since he wasn’t able to attend any of the games in person.
Following East Surry’s win in the West Regional Final, Griggs (@ChrisGriggs9) tweeted:
Even before East Surry reached the mountaintop, Griggs used Twitter to connect with then-junior Stephen Gosnell in 2018. Gosnell went on to be named Offensive Most Outstanding Player in the 2019 State Championship and sign with UNC-Chapel Hill.
“I definitely passed the torch to them when they went to the state championship and told him, ‘that was something me and my boys were never able to accomplish’” said Griggs, who ended his playing career in 2009. “Even though we didn’t lose a lot of games, they went to the state championship and then ultimately won it their senior year. I told him that was us passing the torch to them as being East Surry legends.”
Though his playing career may not have been everything that he imagined, Chris Griggs managed to make an impact at each stop of his journey. He’s an all-time great Cardinal that helped build East Surry’s football program.
Griggs is still changing lives though football. Now, he’s providing opportunities for the next generation of star athletes.
‘Trying to be a leader and a mentor’
The second part of Where are they now: Chris Griggs concluded with Griggs’ retirement as a football player following the birth of his son, Jayden, in 2009.
Having been involved in athletics his entire life, Griggs wasn’t ready to completely give up that life. He began working at i9 Sports as a lead sports instructor and site coordinator. There, he helped organize youth sports leagues and camps in flag football, basketball, baseball and soccer.
Griggs also began coaching football around the same time. It wasn’t easy for him to give up playing the sport he centered his life around for so long. But when he knew it was time to walk away, coaching was something he knew he could fall back on from a young age.
“I always knew I would get into coaching eventually,” Griggs said. “It was something I always had a passion for. Growing up, I always played NCAA and Madden Dynasties.”
He volunteered as a high school coach for a year before taking a paid position as an assistant coach at Elgin High School northwest of Chicago, working with varsity quarterbacks, running backs and defensive backs.
Just as he thrived as a player, Griggs climbed the coaching ranks over the next decade. He used his experiences to help student-athletes develop as players ad as young men.
“After my playing career, I just got into coaching and working with kids; trying to be a leader and a mentor in their life for the things that I didn’t do. I learned firsthand that you have to have the academic part, not just the talent.”
‘I learned a lot from them’
Chris’ desire to coach was fueled from an early age. He was fortunate to play and study under great football minds such as Tom Eanes, David Diamont and Jimmy Upchurch.
“I learned a lot from them,” Griggs said. “Just the ins and outs of coaching: when to be stern, when to be strict, when to be a player’s coach, how diligent and how articulate to be.”
Griggs never officially played for Eanes, but was good friends with Eanes’ son Drew. Eanes’ taught Chris a lot about the game of football and got him in the habit of watching game film in middle school.
The next coach Griggs mentioned was the man who coached him in both middle and high school, David Diamont. Diamont, who Griggs called, ‘a legend,’ is a Surry County Sports Hall of Famer and has 298 career wins from his time at East Surry, Mount Airy and now South Stokes High School.
Upchurch recently retired from as head football coach at West Stokes High, where he won 137 games and a state championship in 17 seasons. When Griggs was at East Surry Upchurch was the defensive coordinator.
“Upchurch was the ultimate players’ coach,” Upchurch said. “I feel like he could be a college coach, but I know that was probably never his desire. His X’s and O’s and how his players relate to him…there is no surprise that they won a state championship.”
On the duo of Diamont and Upchurch, Griggs said: “It’s how they find the very little things and fine-tune them. That’s why coach Diamont is two wins away from 300 and Jimmy Upchurch has won a state championship at West Stokes, which is something that no one thought would ever be done.”
In a recent interview, coach Diamont said he was proud of Griggs for learning from his past and that his experiences would make him an even better as a coach.
“I’m glad he finally got to where I thought he could be,” Diamont said. “Chris was a smart young man and had a smile and a personality that was just really cool.”
A role model that mentored Griggs’ in his business ventures was Tim Fahey. He took Griggs under his wing at i9 Sports and taught him how to run a sports-related business. Fahey and Griggs worked side-by-side for seven years at i9.
Coaching journey
After working at Elgin, Griggs accepted his first head coaching job in 2010.
He served as head coach, offensive coordinator and special teams coach for the Dundee Cardunals Pop Warner team. According to Illinois High School Glory Days the nickname of “Cardunals” stems from the four towns that make up the school district: Carpentersville, East and West Dundee, and Algonquin.
Griggs led the middle-school aged team to a 9-1 record, finishing second in the state for their division. Then, he moved to high school with the same group of guys and was the varsity/sophomore coach for defensive backs, running backs and wide receivers.
In 2013, Griggs took on another head coaching role at Streamwood High School in Streamwood, Ill. He was in charge of the sophomore team and coached varsity running backs. During his three-year tenure in Streamwood, Griggs also coached seventh grade boys’ basketball at St. Patrick’s Catholic School.
He left Streamwood following the 2014-15 season to be the WR and DB coach at Walter Payton College Prep High School. The team won the conference championship and qualified for the 5A state playoffs. One of Griggs’ receivers, who went on to play at Columbia, was named to the Chicago All-City team and was conference player of the year.
Griggs began his career coaching tennis while at Walter Payton. In 2017, his team finished third in the Chicago Public Schools Tournament and six players qualified for the Illinois state tournament. Griggs later coached tennis at Walter Christian Academy beginning in 2018.
Luther North College Prep saw Griggs accept his first head coaching position at the varsity level. The team set records during the 2016 season en route to an appearance in the state tournament. Luther North recorded more than 3,800 yards of offense that season while putting nine players on the Northeastern All-Conference team, which featured players from 10 different schools.
The Wildcats were eliminated from the playoffs by the eventual state champions, Forreston.
The next year at Proviso West High Schoo., Griggs was varsity offensive coordinator in addition to the QB and RB coach. His quarterback finished with more than 2,000 total yards and 20 touchdowns to make the Illinois All-State 7A team, later signing with Tennessee State University.
Griggs spent two years with Proviso West before landing at his current position as varsity receiver coach and JV offensive coordinator at Lake Zurich High School, located in a suburb of Northwest Chicago. The school is a perennial top-10 program in the Illinois 7A division. The 2019 team reached the quarterfinals of the state playoffs and had 10 players recruited to Division I schools.
Griggs uses his journey to teach his players how to be prepared for the world of college football and how important it is to be more than just a good athlete.
“The mindset of how you have to have your body, and your life and the people around are just as much an indication of how good you are,” Griggs said.
The ultimate goal
Griggs’ work getting athletes recruited doesn’t end when he leaves the campus of Lake Zurich High. It doesn’t even end when he leaves the state.
He founded Twin City Aces Football Club in Minneapolis, Minn. earlier this year. He created the club to serve as the premier travel 7-on-7 and offensive lineman training club for athletes in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The club has four age groups for 7-on-7 teams. These teams travel throughout the Midwest and across the county to showcase their skills. This summer the Aces competed in tournaments in Iowa, Nevada and Nebraska, competing against clubs from 10 other states.
This has given Griggs an opportunity to get his 10-year-old son involved in a number of different sports.
“Believe it or not, my son has never played tackle football,” Griggs said. “I didn’t want to push him into anything without him having the almighty heart to want to do it. If he loves football, then yeah. I’m not going be that dad to push him out there. I want him to be ready for it, then when he’s ready I’ll be happy for him.
Griggs said that Twin City Aces is a family. He hopes to provide today’s athletes the same environment he had when growing up.
“Growing up in Pilot Mountain, I wouldn’t be the man I am today without growing up with my good group of friends that I had the chance to play sports with and now be lifelong friends,” Griggs said. “The only reason I don’t live there is because my ultimate goal is to become a college coach and own a business. That’s why I’ve bumped around to a lot of different cities. I’ve tried to experience what I can to maximize my opportunities since I didn’t make it to the pro level.”
Having been limited on the football field due to academic struggles, Griggs’ goal is to prepare young athletes to thrive both on and off the field. That’s why the club also provides student-athletes with ACT and SAT prep classes.
“You have to be able to articulate and communicate yourself as a good person in society,” Griggs said. “That comes from hard work in the classroom.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com