Signing Day Capsule: DB Houston Griffith
HOUSTON GRIFFITH - DEFENSIVE BACK
ISD: 4-star
Composite: 4-star
Bradenton, FL (IMG Academy)
6-foot-1, 185 pounds
Senior Stats: 16 solo tackles, 28 total tackles, 1 sack, 2 PD
Recruiter: Autry Denson/Todd Lyght
Recruitment Rundown: There probably isn’t a prospect the Irish will sign in 2018 who was identified earlier than Griffith. Notre Dame began seriously recruiting Griffith when he was a freshman at Mount Carmel High School in Chicago. The Irish hosted him for multiple official visits and had already formed a strong relationship with him and his family by the time he made the move down to IMG Academy before his junior season. But as the Irish struggled on the field and on defense specifically, other schools began to grab his attention. Ohio State, Florida State and Nebraska all made strong impressions on Griffith and even though he returned to South Bend for an official in September, he committed to Florida State in October. But he wasn’t totally set with that decision and continued to express interest in the Irish. He was leaning toward reopening his recruitment long before Jimbo Fisher’s departure from Tallahassee for College Station, but that clearly made the decision easier. After a few “in-home” visits with the Notre Dame staff at IMG, Griffith knew he was destined for South Bend and announced his new commitment on Dec. 12th. Griffith will enroll at Notre Dame next month.
ISD expert Jamie Uyeyama: I want get it out of the way that I believe Griffith can play corner and play it a high level at Notre Dame. He’s just a pure football player. That’s why he can play safety and potentially be a great one because he does so many things well. He has corner skills where he can cover just about anyone that he is assigned to, but can do all the other little things required from the safety position.
Think of him as a bigger version of Love and that’s what could be in his future. Someone that can be the top corner on the team, but also might be the best safety as well. That’s the versatility that he offers and why this is such a massive pickup for Notre Dame. He is going to find a role somewhere in the defensive backfield for them and it could be as early as next fall. It would be a disappointment if he didn’t emerge as a multi-year starter and he could rise up to be an All-American caliber player during his college career.
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