 Griffith in 1909 | |
| Profile | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1878-09-19)September 19, 1878 Hamilton,Ontario, Canada |
| Died | December 9, 1960(1960-12-09) (aged 82) Toronto,Ontario, Canada[1] |
| Career history | |
| 1899–1907 | Ridley College |
| 1908–1910 | Toronto Varsity (Head coach) |
| 1911–1949 | Ridley College |
| Awards and highlights | |
Harry Crawford Griffith (September 19, 1878 – December 9, 1960) was a Canadianfootball player, coach, and administrator who was the head coach of theToronto Varsity for three seasons and also served as president of theCanadian Rugby Union. He won the first twoGrey Cup games as head coach of Toronto Varsity and served as a coach and headmaster forRidley College. He was an inaugural member of theCanadian Football Hall of Fame and was inducted intoCanada's Sports Hall of Fame.
Griffith attendedRidley College inSt. Catharines where he played atquarterback for the school's football team.[2][3] He later attendedTrinity College inToronto where continued to play at quarterback.[3]
After obtaining his degree from Trinity College, Griffith returned to Ridley College in 1899 where he was a teacher and a coach.[2][3] After developing his coaching style with the Ridley football team, he joined theToronto Varsity football team as their head coach in1907 while working for Trinity College as a French professor.[3] In1908, he led Varsity to anIntercollegiate Rugby Football UnionYates Cup championship, but lost the1908 Dominion Championship to theHamilton Tigers.[4]
In1909, Griffith led Varsity to a 6–0 regular season record, capturing their second consecutive Intercollegiate title, and appearing in their second consecutive Dominion Championship and the first to be awarded theGrey Cup.[5] He led Varsity to a definitive 26–6 victory overToronto Parkdale to claim a victory in the1st Grey Cup.[2][3][6] In thefollowing season, Griffith again led Varsity to an undefeated season, as the team repeated as Grey Cup champions and defeated the Hamilton Tigers in the2nd Grey Cup by a score of 16–7.[3][7][8]
Griffith returned to Ridley College in 1911 and, over his new tenure with the school, coached the Ridley football team to 22 Little Big Four titles.[3][9] He was also involved with the school's rugby and cricket teams.[3] In 1913, he served as president of theCanadian Rugby Union and was also on the rules committee where he contributed to many rule changes and coaching techniques to improve the game of football.[2] In 1932, he was appointed headmaster at Ridley College.[3]
As a football coach, Griffith was known for his teams' preparation and conditioning and for his innovative coaching techniques.[3][10] He was also an early pioneer of theno-huddle offense and lateral passing attacks.[3][1] He developed many outstanding football players at both Ridley College and University of Toronto.[1] He was also one of the first people honored at a Grey Cup dinner in 1960 for his contributions to football.[11] Following his death shortly after that dinner, Griffith was an inaugural member of theCanadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963 and was inducted intoCanada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975.