2023 Football Roster
Jersey Number 5
Caleb Griffin
- Position:
- K/P
- Class:
- Senior
- Height:
- 6-3
- Weight:
- 220
- Hometown:
- Danville, Ill.
- High School:
- Danville
 Two-Time All-Big Ten |
 University of Illinois Graduate |
2023 Senior
- All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (coaches and media)
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Starting kicker for all 12 games
- 14-for-19 on field goals on the season
- 12-for-15 on field goals inside of 50 yards on the season and 25-for-31 over the last two seasons
- Game-winning field goals to lift Illinois to 27-24 win at Maryland (10/14/23) as time expired and a 30-28 win over Toledo (9/2/23) with 5 seconds left in game
- First Illini kicker with two game-winning field goals in the final two minutes or overtime in a single season
- First Illini kicker with a walk-off game-winner on the road since Mike Bass at Wisconsin in 1982
- Hit career-long 53-yard FG at Purdue (9/30/23), tied for the longest Illini field goal ever in a road game, and tied for the sixth-longest overall in program history
- Athlon Preseason All-Big Ten third team
- Phil Steele Preseason All-Big Ten third team
- PFF Preseason All-Big Ten second team
2022 Junior
- All-Big Ten honorable mention (coaches)
- Illinois’ Dike Eddleman Special Teams MVP
- Academic All-Big Ten
- NFF Hampshire Honor Society
- Played in 10 games and started nine games at kicker
- 14-for-19 on field goals on the season
- 13-for-16 on field goals inside of 50 yards on the season
- Made all 32 extra point attempts
- 51 kickoffs averaged 62.1 yards with 34 touchbacks
- Third in the Big Ten in kickoff touchback percentage (66.7%)
- Fifth in the Big Ten in field goals per game (1.27)
- Career-long 52-yard field goal in the ReliaQuest Bowl against Mississippi State 1/2/23
2021 Sophomore
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Played in two games
- Played kicker and wide receiver during 2021 spring practices
- Illinois' SAAC President
2020 Sophomore
- Played in four games and started two at kicker
- Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
- 1-1 on field goals and 5-5 for extra point attempts on the season
- Made first career start and went 1-1 on field goals and 3-3 on PATs against Purdue 10/31/20
- Primary punt returner against Iowa 12/5/20
- University of Illinois Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Vice President
2019 Redshirt Freshman
- Back-up kicker, did not kick in a game
2018 Freshman
- Redshirted the 2018 season
High School
- Lettered four years in football in high school
- Played for head coach Marcus Forrest at Danville
- Three-time All-Big 12 kicker
- Four-time Commercial News All-Area
- Two-time News-Gazette All-Area first team
- Kohl's Kicking Player of the Week 10/23/17
- 2017 all-state honorable mention
- Four-sport athlete at Danville (football, baseball, basketball, soccer)
- Four-year letterwinner in baseball
- Four-year letterwinner in soccer
- Three-year letterwinner in basketball
- Three-time All-Big 12 in baseball
- Two-time all-state in soccer
- Two-time all-area in basketball
Personal
- Born Oct. 20, 1999
- Son of Chris and Erin Griffin
- Older brother, Cameron, and younger sister, Kedzie
- Brother played soccer at Quincy University for one year
- Father played soccer at Illinois College for two years
- Wore No. 38 as a true freshman because his home is 38 miles from Memorial Stadium
- Chose Illinois because, “The relationship I was able to build with all of the coaches.”
- Plans to work in sports following his playing career
- Graduated with a degree in marketing
- Enrolled in the management master's program
Thursday, March 05
Thursday, February 12
Thursday, February 05
Wednesday, January 21
