Illinois Football: Illini hire familiar name to round out the 2023 coaching staff

Illinois football is adding a familiar name to the coaching staff to help with recruiting.

The Illini coaching staff had a shake-up this offseason with our defensive coordinator heading to Purdue to take over as head coach. He also took multiple assistant coaches with him.

These departures left holes in the Illinois coaching staff. Bret Bielema, for the most part, hired from within to fill in the crucial spots. An example of this was elevating Aaron Henry from defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator.

Bielema is now rounding out some of the lower-level coaching positions. One of the final hirings of the Illinois coaching staff came in the form of Houston Griffith.

Griffith was hired on to the Illinois coaching staff as a recruiting assistant. This will enable him to cut his teeth in the coaching game and work his way up the ranks.

Illinois is bringing on a coach in Griffith who knows the college game. He just finished up his career at Notre Dame where the former four-star recruit amassed 104.0 tackles, 3.0 pass deflections, and 2.0 tackles for loss during his time in South Bend.

Illinois football fans should recognize the name, Houston Griffith

If the last name of Griffith sounds familiar, that is because it is a familiar name to most Illinois football fans.

Griffith is the son of former Illini legend, Howard Griffith, who rushed for 2,477 yards and 31 touchdowns while in Champaign. So, not only is the younger Griffith bringing some defensive back knowledge to the game, but he also has a dad who knows the offensive side of the ball to lean on moving forward.

I like this coaching hire by Illinois. It gives Griffith a chance to get the feel of the coaching game, and it gives Illinois a younger coach out there on the recruiting trail.