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Constantine coaches wear shorts on game day, even in January

Constantine plays Michigan Center on Saturday
Posted at 1:54 PM, Jan 07, 2021
and last updated 2021-01-07 18:09:53-05
Shorts in January?

Constantine head football coach Shawn Griffith is known for winning. He's also known for wearing shorts on the sidelines, even when it is cold.

"I tend to run a little bit hot anyway," Griffith said. "So it is just a thing."

Griffith's son, Owen, is a junior on this year's team and says his dad has always been this way.

"Everyday, I remember, after practice we would be in a convertible and it would be freezing cold and he'd want the top down," Owen said. "Because he always says 'I'm too hot.'"

Saturday the Falcons (8-1) take on Michigan Center (6-1) in a division six regional final, outdoors, in January.

The head coach says that the shorts are very much in play.

"I'm going to be honest with you, this weather we are having right now is a lot better than what we had last year in Hillsdale for our district championship game, it was cold, it was cold in Buchanan this year in our district championship game and I wore shorts both those games," Shawn Griffith said. "We get this here, you'll probably see the shorts out."

He says that he won't be alone on Saturday either.

"It won't just be me," Shawn Griffith said. "A couple assistant coaches are shorts guys."

The shorts in cold weather does not go unnoticed by the players.

"I think they are just trying to prove how tough they are," Constantine senior running back and linebacker Isaac Hall said. "I'm not sure."

"They're pretty tough, yeah," Hall continued. "They're intense and we try to look up to them and it's a big help."

While it may seem strange to some, it's what the coaches are used to.

"Most of my staff that I have here, we're all phys ed teachers or former phys ed teachers," Shawn Griffith said. "And it is just kind of the wardrobe, so it works."

Constantine is the host school for Saturday's regional final. The Falcons are playing the game at Gull Lake High School to use the field turf.

The forecast calls for partly sunny skies and a high temperature of 35 degree.