Next Man Up: Mitch Griffis takes the reigns of the Wake Forest offense
When starting quarterback Sam Hartman went down with an undisclosed injury on Aug. 10, he had a clear message for the next man up — redshirt freshman Mitch Griffis: Have faith.
“He said ‘trust the coaches, trust the system, trust your teammates, but most importantly, trust yourself,” Griffis said, retelling Hartman’s message. “You have to have faith.”
Faith has been a common thread of Griffis’ career, going all the way back to his high school days at Broad Run in Ashburn, Virginia. In a key game versus the Spartans' crosstown rival, Griffis, a freshman at the time, was still splitting reps with a senior. But, with the game on the line late, the coaching staff ditched the turn-taking, and let Griffis hold onto the keys. The team had faith in him, and he sure had faith in himself.
Trailing by less than a touchdown, 3rd and 14, with under a minute remaining on the clock — with one pass, it was over. “He threw a dot,” Broad Run quarterbacks coach Terry Glenn said. Griffis tossed a game-winning 60-yard rocket on a post route over the middle.
“That’s the type of guy that Mitch was as a freshman,” Glenn continued. “It was our biggest game of the year. He was very cool, very calm, and went and won us the game.”
Fast forward a year after the special game-winner, Griffis’ star continued to shine. As a sophomore, when receivers from the Washington Football Team came to run routes at Broad Run during the offseason, they asked for him to throw once. After that, the requests kept coming.
“They were asking over and over for this kid,” now Spartans Head Coach Myron Curtis remembered. “I was thinking, it’s pretty clear this kid has something special. This kid is going to be playing for a long time. He’s the real deal.”
Griffis’ accolades at Broad Run surely support his early-career highlights. He threw for 40 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards his senior year, leading the team to a 12-1 record for the second-straight season. Griffis won a conference championship, was All-Region Player of the Year, and Second-Team All-Virginia. He owns every single school record for passing and offense.
The on-field performance spoke for itself. But above all, Griffis was a captain and a respected presence in the locker room.
“Mitch is a natural-born leader,” Gross said. “He’s vocal when he needs to be, but he wins the guys in the locker room over by doing all the little things. He’s a perfectionist. He wants to be the first one there every day and the last one out.”
As a leader, Griffis led by example.
“[His teammates] followed Mitch because he wasn’t just saying it, he was walking the walk as well,” Gross noted.
While at Wake Forest, many remarked that Griffis seems to have a “clutch gene”; something that’s best described as “having that dog in him.” But, to his coach, Griffis’ ability to be clutch on the field comes from his level of preparation off of it.
“A clutch player starts in the weight room,” Curtis remarked. “In the moment, [being clutch] isn’t whether you want to do it, it’s whether you’re prepared to do it. You deserve the level of success that you prepare for and Mitch always prepares for those situations where the pressure’s going to be on him. His clutch gene comes from him doing the little things.”
Griffis has eight appearances under his belt through two seasons at Wake, but he’s only seen action in garbage-time situations. With Sam Hartman at the helm, the expectation was for this team to compete for an ACC title. Can Griffis keep the Demon Deacons in the hunt for the time being?
“He’s 100% ready,” Gross said. “Mitch has always been preparing to be the starter even though he wasn’t. There are going to be mistakes. He’s mature enough to know that there will be throws he wishes he hit or reads he wishes he made, but once something bad has happened, it’s not going to happen again.”
When the Hartman news broke, the devastating blow cast a large shadow on what was supposed to be a special season. Vegas dropped the line on the team’s win total from 8.5 to 6.5 games. It’s unrealistic to expect Griffis to play at Hartman’s level, but it’s fair to believe that Griffis can prevent a steep dropoff in offensive production.
Just like at Broad Run, there’s a new kid in town, and he’s ready to show what he’s capable of.
“I think he’s going to shock a lot of people,” Coach Curtis said. “I’m excited for him to step into this role and watch when all the national media’s jaws drop when they see what this kid brings to the table.”
He’s got faith.
“I don’t think I could’ve put any more work into this offseason,” Griffis said. “My goal, my job, is when Sam comes back, to give him a team that’s ready to play in Charlotte.”
With that, Wake Forest, with No. 12 under center, keeps on marching. VMI arrives at Truist Field in just two weeks.
Essex is the lead football writer and a managing editor for Deacons Daily. Essex served as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black for two years, in addition to roles as a beat and feature writer.