A backup for his first two seasons, cornerback Shaquill Griffin is poised to play a much bigger role this year as one of four new starters in UCF's secondary.
Despite all the new faces, Griffin is confident they won't miss a beat.
"I feel we all have a chip on our shoulder," Griffin said. "The big talk is how the secondary is going to do. I know the defensive line is the most experienced, but what about the back end? Are they going to step up? I feel like we are. We're all excited and we're ready. We just want to give everybody a show. Show them we're ready to take on leadership roles and show how good we can really be... We're ready to take this next step and make this a great defense. I know we lost a lot of people, but we've got some young talent that's ready to take over."
Though nothing is official until a depth chart is released, the starting secondary appears to include Griffin and D.J. Killings at cornerback with Drico Johnson and Jerod Boykins manning the safety positions.
"I just came in telling myself to stay humble and hungry," Griffin said. "At one point I was in that No. 2 spot. Now it's my chance, I want to lock it in. At the same time, as I learn I want to also teach the freshmen. Any day I could go down so it's next one up. You try to take that leadership."
As always, takeaways have been a big point of emphasis during camp. Griffin said it was a productive couple weeks in that department.
"I feel like everybody has had a good camp, linebackers, DBs and defensive line," Griffin said. "The defensive line gives us that great rush which has allowed us to get a lot of turnovers in the back end. I can't even count how many interceptions everybody has had."
He enters this season with one career interception - he hopes to substantially add to that total.
"That has to be my favorite moment, the SMU game and getting my first pick," Griffin said. "I had a chance to get in the end zone for the first time. The touchdown was called back, but I kept the interception. Just didn't get the TD."
His twin brother, Shaquem Griffin, has been manning a backup safety spot. With Drico Johnson away on a personal matter during Saturday's scrimmage, the Griffins were once again playing on the same field just like their high school days.
"We've always been corner and safety, always been on the same side," Griffin said. "Everywhere I go, he's always next to me. It felt good to look back there each play and see him giving me a call back. It felt good."
On the leadership front, Griffin says Thomas Niles and Jamiyus Pittman are the big ones up front, Domenic Spencer in the linebacker corps while he and Drico Johnson are trying to lead among the secondary.
"Just trying to be more vocal," Griffin said. "Last year that was the main thing we had to work on. Communication. We're trying to get that corrected to have a great year."
It all starts next Thursday with the season opener against FIU. The team begins working on the game plan Wednesday.
"I'm real excited," Griffin said. "I know going to Fan Fest (last Friday), I know people are just as excited as us. We want to show the fans we have been working hard. We're ready to take up that role we had last year and win another conference championship."
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