Central WR Joe Griffin Commits To Boston College

Joe Griffin was blessed with supreme athletic gifts and he intends to make the most of them.

That’s why the junior at Central High School in Springfield, Mass., is up for 4 a.m. workouts four times a week with Excel Sports Academy strength and conditioning coach Christian Ferrara.

And that’s why the 2022 wide receiver was collecting scholarship offers from schools like Wisconsin, Duke, Wake Forest and Virginia before even getting a chance to play his junior season.

On Wednesday, the 6-foot-4, 190-pounder made his choice, committing to Boston College.

Griffin pointed to the relationships he’s formed with Eagle staff members, including Director of Player Personnel Joe Sullivan.

“Them just staying in contact with me and showing me love, sending me letters and edits and telling me I’m going to play and dominate and be a problem in the red zone,” Griffin says.

Before COVID-19 concerns shut down in-person recruiting, Griffin had the chance to meet some football players and some regular students during a visit to Chestnut Hill.

“Just talking to them and them telling me about the school and being open with me, I liked that,” he says. “Something about that just felt right to me.”

He also likes the fact that it’s right down the Mass Pike.

“That means I can come home,” he laughs. “A two-hour car ride, that’s not bad and they’ll be able to come watch my home games.”

The extended dead period preventing college coaches from seeing prospects and prospects getting the chance to take sanctioned visits to schools only highlighted BC’s edge in terms of relationships.

“BC was the school that was always texting or asking to FaceTime or wanting to talk,” says Griffin. “Every other school, when they offered me, that was it. I didn’t really hear from them after that.

“They actually want me to play. They really want me. They’re not just offering me because of my skillset. They’re actually going to use me and told me how they’re going to play me.”

While the decision ended up being a relatively easy one for Griffin, it feels good to have the stress behind him.

It feels good for Sullivan and the BC staff as well.

Griffin was riding in the car with his father on Monday, when they FaceTimed Sullivan the way they’ve done routinely for months.

“I grabbed the phone and said, ‘Coach, great news for you. I’m committing,’” Griffin recalls. “They were happy, all of them. Coach Joe said, ‘I’m going to go home and tell my wife.’”

Griffin was the second top 2022 prospect from Massachusetts to commit to BC in as many days, following Everett receiver Ismael Zamor.

With high school sports in the state still up in the air this year, Griffin says he’d be disappointed if he isn’t given the chance to play football in the spring, but would use it as added motivation.

“That would just give me a reason to work even harder for my senior year,” he says.

Much of that work would be done with Ferrara and Excel.

“Honestly, he’s one of the greatest guys,” Griffin says of Ferrara. “He pushes me.”

The Golden Eagles’ recent dominance of the area and the state could lead some to complacency, but not with Ferrara.

“He doesn’t let that get in the way of how hard he’s going to push us,” says Griffin.

Ferrara earned the trust of Griffin and his teammates years ago.

“He drilled it into us in middle school that we were going to be the top team,” Griffin remembers.

“From eighth grade and seventh grade, he told us we would be the best in the state if we worked as hard as we could. And it came true.”