WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & SportsCalhoun's Griffith follows unique path to major college football

CALHOUN, Ga. (WRCB) -- Playing football at an SEC school is often a lifelong dream for college football signees in the South.

But that wasn't necessarily the case for Adam Griffith.

Born in Poland, the Calhoun placekicker grew up in an orphanage. While there he conjured up big dreams for his future in athletics, only they didn't involve playing football.

"I got adopted and came over here and started playing soccer," said Griffith, who started at Calhoun City Schools in eighth grade. "Soccer coaches told the football coaches I had a strong leg, so they came and got me out of PE.

"I kicked a 40-yarder in my tennis shoes, and after that I just knew kicking was my thing."

Yellow Jackets' coach Hal Lamb remembers that day well. What he witnessed gave Calhoun coaches no reservations about using Griffith in a game just a few weeks later. 

"First football game he saw, he kicked in when he was in eighth grade," Lamb said at Wednesday's signing day celebration at the high school. "He's just a special kid and a special talent."

Alabama head coach Nick Saban thought so, too.

He offered Griffith a scholarship to play for the BCS national champion Crimson Tide more than a year ago. Griffith, who developed into the nation's top-ranked kicker by Scout.com and 247sports.com, finally got to sign it on Wednesday. He chose the Tide over offers from Georgia, LSU and Vanderbilt.

"We feel like we got a great specialist in the kicker that we got this year," Saban said during his signing day press conference. We're excited about how he can contribute to our future. That is very, very positive."

Without a full childhood immersed in the tradition-rich SEC, Griffith is still somewhat new to the overwhelming passion and pageantry that comes with college football in the South.

However, he got a pretty good taste of it when he had a front row seat for Alabama's regular season game with LSU. He looked on as Crimson Tide kickers struggled in a 9-6 overtime loss.

"I think he finally felt some of the pressure when he was walking out of the stadium and was listening to what some people were saying about the kicking situation over there," Lamb said with a smile. "But he's a focused kid, and I think he'll go in and compete and hopefully win the job."

Griffith has already made the biggest kick there is on the prep level: a 32-yard game-winner in overtime that lifted Calhoun to the Class AA state championship in the Georgia Dome this past fall.

He's confident he'll be able to handle the pressure in college, too.

"People (in the crowd) aren't going to bother me. 80-thousand or 100-thousand, or whatever it is, that's not going to bother me," Griffith said. "I just want to go and be comfortable and do what I do, and that's kick the ball between the uprights."

While Griffith was nearly automatic in field goal duties throughout his four-year career for the Yellow Jackets, Lamb thinks its the Alabama signee will first find the field on kickoffs for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama kickers struggled to maintain consistent distance and recorded very few touchbacks in 2011. Griffith is the opposite, averaging nearly 70 yards per kickoff.

"I have a great opportunity in front of me, but we're still far away from gameday," Griffith said. "They said if I just continue to do what I do, I'll have a good chance to start.

"I don't want to go in and be cocky about it, but I'll be ready to compete. If I have to wait, that's okay, too. I'm just excited to be a part of the team."