Bear Insider Video: Cal Running Backs Coach Julian Griffin
New Cal running backs coach Julian Griffin wasn’t always a running back. In fact, he never was.
Griffin got his start at the collegiate level playing receiver at Louisiana-Monroe from 2008 to 2012 before getting into the coaching profession, starting in Texas which worked out well, having played prep ball as a 3-sport athlete at Gladeville high school where he earned 1st team all-district in both basketball and football and was a regional qualifier in track & field.
"Well honestly, I don't know how I found myself in this coaching arena when I when I was done playing ball,"Griffin said. "I kind of set out for a little bit trying to figure out what I really wanted to do. Then I had an opportunity that came about at Texas A&M Kingsville (where he earned a Masters in Education). It's a smaller D2 University in South Texas and I had opportunity to go there as an emergency hire and I went there coaching running backs. Never played running back in my life and I had the opportunity to get there just kind of fell in love with the game from that position and havebeen in it ever since."
Having played a different offensive position than he coaches has given the new Bears’ RB coach a unique perspective he feels adds value to his knowledge base as a coach.
"I think it helps a ton, simply because, obviously, growing up as a receiver, playing receiver, I've coached receivers as well, so I see the game from the receiver point of view, but being in the backfield and understanding the run game, understanding protections and in the full scheme of things, I think it just helps the running back room,” Griffin noted. “So I could talk about coverages. I could talk about fits for safeties, where guys are going to be, for the free hitter. It just gives them the full view of the game. Except instead of just being straight box communication, I can talk about the full field play."
In 2019, Griffin made a move to the University of Texas San Antonio where the Roadrunners have experienced their most successful four-year run in program history with a 39-14 overall record, with a 27-4 regular season league mark, two conference championships and four straight bowl appearances in his first four seasons there and also coaching UTSA running back Sincere McCormick, who earned back-to-back Conference Player of the Year honors.
Griffin was getting a lot of buzz after the 2024 season and found his way on some astute Cal fan radars after veteran running backs coach Aristotle Thompson moved on and eventually, the Bears reached out to the hot young coach and the rest is history.
"So UTSA, man, I loved it," Griffin said. "Had a great group of men around me, wonderful head coach, Jeff Traylor. I've been with Coach Traylor for a very long time. So a lot of things that I do now, I'll be honest with you, I learned from him, but the biggest thing just being there at that university is just I learned so much, just how to treat people, and so to be able to be here, like you're saying, people have my name coming up, to have opportunity to come to Cal, that means the world, but I think all of it just stemmed from just the way I treated people, people as well as the way I treated my players. And obviously what they did on Saturday showed up. So hopefully we'll do the same thing here."
"It came together really fast. I received a phone call from Coach Harsin. Spoke with him for a little while. Next thing I know, Coach Wilcox called me. Next thing you know, I was on a flight to California, and then I flew back home, and I think that next day he called me and said, 'Hey, we want you if you want us.' And I said, 'I'm on my way coach,' and I was on the next flight, the 6am flight back to Cali. So blessing to be here. Super excited. Can't wait to get it going."
Griffin is part of a nearly complete remake of the offensive staff, something that had him mildly concerned while wondering how all the pieces would come together.
"I'll be honest with you, I was a little nervous at the beginning of it, because everybody's from different backgrounds, not a lot of common connections," Griffin noted. "But I will give a lot of credit to coach Harsin. He's he's managing everything extremely well, just the way that he controls the room, the way he controls the men, obviously, the way he controls the young men on the team as well. But you can tell he's sat in that chair for a long time. He's had a lot of success. So he's making it super easy, super comfortable, especially for my transition of being able to come in and learn everything I need to learn. But it's a great room, great knowledge, and I think it's going to be exactly we want it to be."
Griffin likes what he sees from the running back room and is anxious to see them live on the field to get a true feel for what he has to work with at Cal.
"I'm excited," Griffin said. "I'm truly excited. Obviously, we have some vets in the room. We have some younger guys in the room also that are coming up. So I'm just excited to see the pads come on when spring ball starts and obviously work out through the summer, and then fall camp. And then, hey, week one, it's time to get going. But I am really excited about the room. We've just got to keep everybody together. Let everybody know, 'Hey, we can only go as far as we can go together. So let's just figure it out."
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