This is an opinion piece.

Few people have given more to one school than Bill Griffin has to McGill-Toolen Catholic.

Including the time when he was a student, Griffin has spent four decades at the Mobile school in multiple roles.

He retires this week after 36 years as a teacher and administrator, the last 15 as athletic director.

“I think I’ll miss it a little,” Griffin said. “I won’t miss the grind of the day-to-day. I will certainly miss cheering for the kids and all the relationships, but I hope many of those will continue.”

Griffin’s various roles at McGill have included freshman football coach, head softball coach and assistant athletic director. He also spent one season (2003) as the school’s head football coach. He was followed in that role by none other than Steve Savarese.

Griffin spent only one season of his adult life away from McGill. He taught for one year at Forrest Hill Elementary and coached freshman football at Shaw High School.

But McGill always has been home.

“It’s special,” he said. “You have to kind of live through it to understand it. It truly is a family. You get to know the people you work with on a personal level. You have tremendous support in the alumni community since McGill is one of the three original schools in Mobile. Obviously, the kids are awesome.”

Like most retiring coaches, Griffin said the student-athletes have always made his time rewarding.

“The kids who played for me … I love to see them come back,” he said. “Obviously, a lot of them are adults now and they will come back and ask if I remember certain things. At the time, you may not think they are hearing you but later you realize most of them did. That means a lot.”

Griffin said his goal when he took over as AD in 2010 was to try and provide enough resources for the McGill sports that had not won state championships to bring home a banner. Seven of them – football, boys basketball, baseball, indoor track, boys and girls swimming and girls soccer – have done just that.

In good times and a few challenging times, Griffin always has returned my phone calls, and that means a lot to a journalist. I haven’t seen him much – if ever — without a smile, and that’s a sign that he loved his job, his school and the people he worked around.

I’m not sure that I 100 percent believe in the saying “if you find a job you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” I have to believe there are tough days in every job. But I do believe in Colossians 3:23-24 which reads, “Whatever you do, work at it with all year heart, as working for the Lord, not human masters, since you know you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.”

I’m going to guess Bill Griffin did just that.

In retirement, he said he and wife Alice, who is retiring as well, will travel and do some things together.

“It’s on to the next adventure in our life,” he said.

Enjoy it, Coach.

Thought for the Week

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” – James 1:2-3

Ben Thomas is the high school managing producer at AL.com. He has been named one of the 50 legends of the Alabama Sports Writers Association. Follow him on twitter at @BenThomasPreps or email him at [email protected].