The 2024 season has taught us that players nowadays follow a ‘no feeling is final’ theory. When it came to locking in recruits for the 2026 class, the USC Trojans head coach, Lincoln Riley, refused to go through this pain. They had their 5-star commit, Xavier Griffin, locked to the Trojans till May. Then, reportedly forced him to walk on his commitment. As Tim Pangley shared, “USC is going with this new approach of like, ‘When you commit, that’s it. We don’t want you taking any more visits.’”
As Griffin wanted to taste some ‘freedom,’ he had to do it after decommitting from the Trojans’ squad. However, the time has come for the 5-star linebacker recruit to finally hitch his wagon to a particular program. A new intel pops up that has snatched the goodnight sleep of four suitors.
On June 28, 247Sports came up with an IG post. It revealed, “BREAKING: 5-star LB Xavier Griffin will announce his college commitment LIVE on 247Sports tomorrow .” This would make the finalists of the Griffin race, Florida State, Texas, Ohio State, and Alabama to have their eyes fixed on the big screen. The time has also been mentioned, “ANNOUNCING LIVE SUNDAY, JUNE 29 2:45 PM ET.” Hailing from Gainesville, GA, the linebacker is the No. 27 player nationally and No. 2 linebacker. He’s considered the No. 4 linebacker in the Peach State. Along with the rankings, Griffin’s stats make him a hot target. The young chap has shown the ability to both rush the passer and play as an off-ball linebacker, dropping back into coverage if needed.
He had the spotlight over him all throughout the 2024 season, compiling 43 total tackles, 13 TFLs, 6.0 sacks, and a forced fumble in only eight appearances. Being a Gainesville, Georgia native, it was initially thought that Georgia might be the luckiest own to bring him home. Plus, given Georgia’s in-state recruiting spree, also made things lean towards the Bulldogs in the Griffin race. However, Smart and co. could not make it to the final four. Remember what Prangley predicted about the timeline of Griffin’s commitment?
“He may end up going through the whole process and come December or come fall be like ‘You know what, no I want to be at USC like what they offered is great’ and then recommit.” Even though Riley did not take the risk to be on the edge for so long, those programs that did will not have to wait till the end of the year. Now, among the final four, which team is coming off as the frontrunner?
Which way is Xavier Griffin steering his wheel towards?
Let’s start with the one that’s trending away. As per the reports, Mike Norvell and Florida State did not do enough to woo Griffin. The 5-star visited Ohio State on May 30th, Alabama on June 6th, Texas on June 13th, and FSU on June 20th. The Seminoles have been on a recruiting heater in June, landing 12 of their 20 commitments this month. It’s the most commits FSU has had at this time of year in the Norvell era. But even then, who made a secure place in Griffin’s heart?
Predictions say it’s Kalen DeBoer’s Alabama. And guess what has been likely the deciding factor? Tuscaloosa is about an hour closer than Tallahassee, and Alabama has been the better program lately. Director of scouting Andrew Ivins predicted that Griffin will be looking forward to being an impact player in the Big Ten or SEC. “Must keep evolving and developing craft while improving play strength, but projects was a potential impact player in the Big Ten or SEC that can fit into a variety of different schemes with his athletic juice and alignment flex.” However, there have been hints pointing towards Griffin punching the Tuscaloosa ticket.
After all, Alabama holds a soft corner in the 6-3, 200-pound linebacker’s heart. Griffin told in an interview with Bama247, “Growing up as ‘Bama fan, I’m excited to take this opportunity and have my family along with me. I was able to make a dream come true and take my granddaddy to a ‘Bama game this past fall. He has been a ‘Bama fan his whole life and works in Tuscaloosa but had never been to a game before so I was blessed to bless him.” Now is DeBoer and co. looking up to Griffin to be their good luck bearer? After all, it wasn’t long ago that there was panic in the streets about the 2026 Alabama recruiting class. June brought them a total of only five commitments. However, they might have a tough fight with Ohio State.
Coming from his visit to Ryan Day’s squad, Xavier Griffin had dropped a cryptic message, “Is Buckeye Nation ???@OhioStateFB @RedElephant_FB @JLaurinaitis55 @bamamade87.” They are going to get clarity very soon. It’s now only a wait of a few hours.
The post 5-Star Xavier Griffin Gives Commitment Update as His Decision Comes Down to Four College Football Programs appeared first on EssentiallySports.
