Griffith Excited For Future At Notre Dame

ORLANDO – Houston Griffith‍ was watching the Belk Bowl with some of his buddies last week as Jhamon Ausbon was in the midst of pulling down 12 catches for 112 yards and a touchdown in a loss to Wake Forest when one of his friends remarked that the Aggie receiver was only a freshman.

They didn’t have to tell Griffith.

“I’m like, ‘Yeah. I used to cover him every day,’” said Griffith, who was teammates with Ausbon at IMG Academy last year.

The Notre Dame defensive back signee believes going up against players like Ausbon and others over his two years at the national powerhouse in Bradenton, Fla. will prepare him for the next level.

“Just being able to compete in those practices the last two years, I think that’s going to help me a lot this coming spring at Notre Dame,” said Griffith, who will enroll in classes in South Bend later this month.

“I think it’s going to help me a lot.”

Another former IMG teammate, Notre Dame freshman offensive lineman Robert Hainsey has already told Griffith as much.

“He was able to play a lot this season as an offensive tackle and I know that’s pretty hard to do as a freshman,” Griffith said of Hainsey. “He told me IMG is going to help me with competition there and just my work ethic. I was able to create a good work ethic at IMG, so I think that’s going to help me compete on the field, in the classroom and in the weight room.”

While playing in South Bend will get the one-time Florida State commit closer to his family in Chicago, that “didn’t come into play” according to Griffith.

“My family has always been to my games,” he said. “My mom made it to every game this year and we played in four different time zones and all over the country, so it didn’t impact my decision at all.”

Still, it’s amazing just how prepared the incoming freshman will be for Notre Dame’s national schedule after playing games in Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Utah, Arizona and California as a high school senior.

Griffith said the toughest part of the process was actually making the decision.

He wanted to make it the spring of his junior season, but wasn’t ready. Then he wanted to have it that summer, but again wasn’t ready. He thought he was done when he committed to Florida State in October, but Todd Lyght made it clear the Irish weren’t done and in the end, neither was Griffith, who would go all of the way to December before finalizing things with the Irish.

Lyght never stopped recruiting Griffith even after the commitment to the Seminoles, but he wasn’t pushy either.

“Coach Lyght is not one of those coaches who is going to blow you up and annoy you,” Griffith explained. “He’s going to tell you what you need to know about the school. He told me what Notre Dame is going to do for me, what he’s done because he has a great track record of being a top-five pick, consensus All-American, national champion, being able to play in the NFL and having his own business.

“That’s everything I want to do personally, so why not learn from somebody who’s already achieved everything you want to do.”

Knowing some other members of Notre Dame’s recruiting class and current players on the team had an impact as well.

“Just feeling comfortable is something that helps, just knowing those guys and a lot of the DBs on the team,” he said. “Also knowing a lot of commits from The Opening and other camp circuits, that really just helps. Just being comfortable is something that helped me make this decision.”

Griffith is confident in Notre Dame’s incoming freshman class.

“We’ve got a lot of good dudes,” he said. “We talk in a group chat pretty much every day, just having fun, asking how everybody’s season went and just asking how everybody is doing. I really like the class. I know what type of players we’ve got coming in, good players, athletic, aggressive and they’re just really hungry and ready to compete at Notre Dame.

“We’ve talked about winning a national championship for one, beating the rival schools and just having a good time and achieving everything we want to do at Notre Dame. Off the field, being a great person, a great student and also, just getting a great education. We know we’re going to get that because it’s Notre Dame, one of the top universities in the country.”