Denny Griffin is grateful for the honor bestowed by his coaching peers. And he is quick to list the players, coaches and administrators who have helped him excel over the past 43 years at Alma College, including the last 37 as the Scots’ head softball coach.
Griffin will be inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame alongside University of South Florida and former USA Softball head coach Ken Eriksen, recently-retired UCLA assistant and associate head coach and former Oregon State head coach Kirk Walker, and retired Florida A&M head coach Veronica Wiggins on Dec. 11 during the 2026 NFCA Convention in Atlantic City, N.J.
“It’s a pretty special thing,” Griffin said. “I’m humbled. I’m honored.”
Heading into year 38 at the helm, he ranks fourth all-time in Division III victories with 1,032, trailing NFCA Hall of Famers George Wares (1,291) of Central College, John Tschida (1,123) of Saint Mary’s and Rowan’s Kim Wilson (1,033). Griffin has the 17th-most wins among active head coaches in any NCAA division.
Griffin has led Alma to 15 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) championships — the most by any MIAA coach —plus 11 MIAA Tournament titles, six NCAA Regional crowns, one NCAA Super Regional championship, and made six trips to the NCAA national finals. Including his two seasons as an assistant coach, Griffin has mentored 188 All-MIAA players, including 96 first-teamers, 78 second-teamers and 14 honorable mention selections.
He has been active in the NFCA, filling various committee roles, ranging from Top 25 to All-America to the Head Coaches Committee, and has also served two four-year terms on the NCAA Division III Softball Committee.
“That’s part of this profession,” he explained. “Getting involved. You get to meet other people and learn from each other and give back to the game. That’s a responsibility of all of us.”
A familiar face every year at the NFCA Convention, Griffin and his wife, Tammy — as luck would have it — were visiting his son, Sean, in Florida this past December when it was revealed that he would be among the four elected for the 2026 Hall of Fame class.
“I looked hard at it, thinking, ‘OK, if this happens, I probably would like to be there.’ But this was the best week to see him … trying to balance the home life as well."
Griffin saved the most praise for being able to do all he's been able to do during his career for his wife.
"Tammy has always been very supportive throughout the years behind the scenes, managing (our two) kids while juggling her own career," he said.
There had been a buzz among coaches in recent years that Griffin’s time to be honored was coming soon. With the 2025 Convention being in Las Vegas on Pacific Time, the Hall of Fame announcement came well after midnight where Griffin was on the East Coast, so he didn’t find out until the next morning.
“When I woke up the next day, Kim Tatro and Ruth Kmak (at the University of Chicago) had videotaped it and shipped it my way,” he said. “I got a fair amount of texts, so it was special, very special.”
Griffin got his start at Alma as its head athletic trainer, but has held a myriad of titles over the years, including athletic director, athletic training education program director, advisor and Integrative Physiology and Health Science instructor. He somehow managed to balance multiple titles at the same time for much of his career. Currently, he is the advancement and special events liaison in addition to serving as head softball coach.
The native of Midland, Mich., who holds bachelor’s degrees in biology and physical education from Hope College, a master’s degree from Western Michigan and a doctorate from Central Michigan, continues to be a certified and licensed athletic trainer, and remains one of the most recognizable faces on and off the Alma campus, whether he’s braving the unforgiving Michigan weather walking the 10 minutes to and from work each day, or just spending time out in town somewhere.
It's really not that bad,” Griffin he reasoned. “You just got to layer up and put on hats and gloves. People think I’m crazy when I walk, but it takes me longer to warm up and drive the truck.”
This will be the second Hall of Fame induction in less than two years for Griffin. Last September, he entered the Alma College Athletic Hall of Fame alongside his longtime (and current) assistant coach Phil Hansen, two historic Scot teams and three former student-athletes.
“Phil has been my right and left-hand man for years, over 900 wins together,” Griffin said. “This doesn’t happen by myself. Brandee West is entering her 26th year as a part-time coach, and, of course, the kids. They are the reason why you do this job.”
“It’s not winning national championships. The relationships are why you stay as long as you do,” he said. “At the Division III level, you have an opportunity to change lives, and you do”
“I have three daughters of my former players on the team this year, and that’s pretty special. They had a good enough experience to trust me with their daughters. It’s also a sign of old age,” Griffin laughed.
If former softball coach Ray Allen hadn’t convinced him to become his assistant in 1987, who knows if Griffin would have gotten into coaching. He may have been just the head athletic trainer at Alma, and never explored any of the other jobs he also took on over the years. And he likely would have been perfectly happy doing just that.
“If you told me 40 years ago that I’d be a coach, I’d think you were smoking something,” he joked. “I loved being an athletic trainer. I still do. But that’s how life goes.”
He said his 1994 team — the first one to go to the NCAA finals — stands out among his best memories. When he won his 1,000th game in 2024, many of those players came down to Florida to help him celebrate that huge milestone. He was also very proud to have had players serve as positive role models for both Sean, and his daughter, Erin, over the years.
“Just all the different kids, the moments, the parents … all the stories you could put together,” Griffin said. “It’s all been special.”
