For Valley coach, educator Bill Griffin, ‘It was always about the kids’

Bill Griffin helped build the San Joaquin Valley’s thriving high school sports scene and touched many with his down-to-earth approach to education leadership. But some may say that his biggest legacy is a coveted white cowboy hat.

Mr. Griffin, who died in February from cancer at 75, came up with the idea of awarding young wrestling champions with a cowboy hat instead of a medal when he oversaw the first Clovis High wrestling tournament. It’s now the Doc Buchanan Invitational, one of the biggest tournaments in the nation, and the hats have become a much-desired trophy.

“It’s become a symbol, and it’s something that kids around the Valley really want,” Mr. Griffin’s son, Scott Griffin, said. “When he first thought of the idea, people thought it was crazy. That Western culture and way of life was a big thing he wanted to showcase, though, and he wanted the kids to have something distinctive. But his influence goes a lot deeper than that. He had a tremendous impact on a lot of people’s lives in the Valley.”

A celebration of Mr. Griffin’s life is scheduled for April 16 in the gym of Washington Union High School, where he was a student and later worked as a coach and administrator.

Mr. Griffin served as an administrator at many schools throughout the Valley, spending 14 years as superintendent at Washington Union High School and also serving stints at Clovis High, Madera Unified and the West Fresno Elementary district.

He came out of retirement to run West Fresno, appointed as administrator after a state takeover, and helped the K-8 district make a remarkable scholastic turnaround during his tenure (2003-05).

But Mr. Griffin’s name mostly is associated with high school sports.

In 1967, he was hired to coach football, wrestling and track at Washington Union, where he built a Valley powerhouse, leading the wrestling team to various division and Valley championship wins.

Mr. Griffin also coached wrestling and football at Clovis High, where in addition to running the first wrestling invitational, he oversaw the inaugural Clovis Cross Country Invitational at Woodward Park. The cross country event led to Woodward Park becoming the host site for the state meet.

As a coach, Mr. Griffin seemed to inspire winners.

He coached Maxie Parks, who went on to win an Olympic gold medal for track and field in 1976; Claude Westmoreland, a two-sport star who was a first-round draft pick for the Los Angeles Dodgers; and Phil Heck, who was named to the 1975 College Football All-America team as a linebacker at the University of California.

“He was a great guy and a great coach,” said Dennis DeLiddo, the nationally renowned wrestling coach who oversaw Fresno State’s program and worked alongside Griffin at Clovis High. “You could never catch him in a bad mood. He just liked working with the kids.”

But Mr. Griffin also helped turn many of his students into educators like himself. Several local superintendents were coached or taught by Griffin.

Eric Cederquist, superintendent of Fowler Unified School District, is one of them.

“He was very passionate and focused and kid-oriented. He took all the qualities that made him a good coach and put them into his leadership positions,” Cederquist said.

“He wanted to ensure kids were involved in a variety of activities, no matter where they came from. His legacy was not just for Washington Union, but for all rural school districts, really. It was about relationships and valuing the rich diversity that we have in our rural communities.”

Kingsburg Superintendent Randy Morris was Mr. Griffin’s student, and Mr. Griffin later gave him his first job as a teacher and coach.

“His influence on me is a big part of the reason I do what I do today,” Morris said. “His influence on the athletic communities in Fresno and Madera was huge, but the biggest thing about Bill was he believed in people. He was supportive of you and told you what you needed to do to be successful.”

Steve Rosa, Burrel Union Elementary School District superintendent, also got his first job from Mr. Griffin.

“Bill’s legacy is about people,” he said. “His philosophy was to hire the best people and give them the tools they needed, and remove the obstacles so they could do their job. He was a very humble leader – he took what he did seriously but he didn’t take himself that seriously. He understood it wasn’t about him; it was always about the kids.”

Scott Griffin, who also works in education as assistant superintendent at Fowler Unified, said much of his dad’s life was focused on giving all kids a fair shot at success.

“He had this ability to relate to every kid – any type of kid,” he said. “I think that the impact he had on people and their decision to go into education speaks volumes about his leadership.”

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 5:06 PM with the headline "For Valley coach, educator Bill Griffin, ‘It was always about the kids’."