"We Are Going to Win." New Oregon State Athletic Director Kevin Griffin

Winning.

If there was one word to take away from Kevin Griffin's introductory press conference as Oregon State's new Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, it would be winning. Griffin spoke at length about maintaining the unique culture of Oregon State sports, of the importance of the student athlete experience, but his remarks kept circling back to one thing.

He was here to win. He was hired to win. The goal is to get teams that aren't winning back to winning, and to get teams that are already winning to that next level of competition. That goes for football and basketball and gymnastics and golf. Oregon State plans to be at the top of the new Pac-12.

The press conference began with Mike Parker introduced Oregon State President Jayathi Murthy, who thanked the search committee for their work in hiring Griffin, and thanked outgoing athletic director Scott Barnes for all he's done in navigating one of the most arduous periods in Oregon State history.

Murthy said Oregon State hired Griffin because he represents a focus on the future of Oregon State. She tied Griffin's hire to the launch of the new Pac-12, and cited his experience as a leader and a brand builder as the reasons he was the right person for Oregon State.

When it was Griffin's turn to speak he revealed that what drew him to Corvallis was the community's desire to compete. "There's a full commitment to the pursuit of competitive excellence and winning," Griffin said, "and we are going to win."

Griffin maintained a commitment to high team GPAs among student athletes, and making sure that student athletes get a complete college experience, but in his own words "those things matter, but its a heck of a lot better when you're also winning."

Griffin addressed the challenges of navigating a college football landscape that has been altered by name, image and likeness programs. When answering questions from the media later, Griffin wasn't ready to commit to any changes Oregon State would be making to its NIL program, deferring until he could touch base with the school's head coaches, getting an overview of what every program needs.

Griffin closed his prepared remarks by addressing Beaver fans whose enthusiasm may have waned after the struggles of the last several years. He asked lapsed season ticket holders, former donors and anyone flying the Beaver flag to give the school a chance to prove their dedicated to winning.

Griffin will officially take over as Oregon State's Athletic Director on July 5th.

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