Coach Randy Griffin got his start in athletics as an Opp Bobcat. He enjoyed a stellar athletic career at Opp High School in football (as quarterback) basketball, baseball, and track. He earned 12 varsity letters as an OHS athlete: 4 in baseball, 3 in basketball, 3 in track and 2 in football. He was selected to the South Alabama Conference All-Star team for football in 1962 and for basketball in 1963.
After graduation he attended college at Troy and thereafter, went into coaching. His first head coaching job was with Elba’s high school in 1972. That year Elba went 9-1 and won the South Alabama Conference Championship. Coach Griffin was named Coach of the Year by the conference.
Coach Griffin coached football at Opp from 1973 to 1981, accumulating a record of 64 wins and 27 losses, including a 9-1 season and winning the conference championship. Once again, he was named Coach of the Year by the conference, this time as an Opp Bobcat.
After retiring from coaching in 1981, he continued to teach at his alma mater until 1996. His enthusiasm for athletics continued and he became the voice for Opp football on WOPP and was live on TV-6 for Opp basketball. He continues to serve as the host of the OHS football playback show “The Coaches Corner” on TV-6, where viewers can hear him say, “There’s no place I’d rather be on a Friday night than Channel-Lee Stadium.”
Coach Griffin was instrumental in starting the Bobcat Booster Banquet over 30 years ago where he also served as past president, and he still actively participates today. He was also instrumental in starting the Bobcat Booster Golf Tournament. These two functions have raised over $300,000 for the Opp Booster Club. The Opp Booster Club gives away a scholarship in his name each year to an Opp High School multi-sport athlete who demonstrates 110% effort, is involved in community activities and shows good character on and off the field. Coach Griffin also served as a past member of the Opp Country Club board and was past president of the Mens Golf Association.
In appreciation of his decades of service, the football field at Channel-Lee stadium was named “Randy Griffin Field”. Coach Griffin was inducted into the Wiregrass Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
His love for Opp is not limited to sports, each year he recruits sponsors for the Opp Rattlesnake Rodeo. His efforts have brought in several hundred thousand dollars in sponsorships for the rodeo. He and his wife Jackie support and personally appear at practically all events that promote Opp. He shows no signs of slowing down in his love and enthusiasm for Opp. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2023.
