ESPN 150 tight end Derrick Griffin has signed his letter of intent, but not with the school to which he was long committed, Texas A&M.
The Rosenberg (Texas) Terry product is heading east and will join Miami.
The 6-foot-6, 228-pound four-star prospect, who is the No. 33 player in the ESPN 150, sent in his letter of intent to Miami on Tuesday, the school announced.
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Griffin will take a visit to Coral Gables, Fla., this weekend.
"It's a good feeling to get all the stress off your back," Griffin said Tuesday. "It's been real stressful. Dealing with everything has been stressful. It's a relief."
After not signing a letter of intent on Feb. 6, Griffin took an official visit to Auburn. Miami turned up the heat recently, showing interest in Griffin to play both football and basketball.
"They've been talking to him in the last week," Griffin's uncle, Scooter McGowan said. "They were talking to him about basketball too, that they wanted him for basketball [in addition to football] and they were talking to him about bringing 'The U' back."
McGowan said the Hurricanes have stayed in the mix for Griffin for some time and even touched bases with the dual-sport star prior to the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, which Griffin participated in.
Griffin was committed to Texas A&M at the time and did not consider a switch, but the Hurricanes informed him that they would "still be there" if things changed, according to McGowan.
Miami running backs coach Hurlie Brown led the recruitment of Griffin for the Hurricanes, McGowan said.
"I guess after thinking about it for a week, he came to me the other day and said 'I kind of like Miami,' " McGowan said. "So I called [the coaches] and talked to them about it and asked them about it and they were serious about him."
Griffin had been committed to Texas A&M for more than a year, but did not sign with the Aggies on Feb. 6, national signing day, because he did not receive a letter of intent from the Aggies.
There have long been concerns over Griffin's ability to academically qualify, but Griffin has been working diligently this year at improving in the classroom and made the A-B honor roll at Terry in the fall semester.
He recently took the ACT, and McGowan said Griffin will take it up to four more times. In the meantime, he'll continue to work to raise his grade point average to improve his chances to qualify through the NCAA clearinghouse.
He is the 19th signee in Miami's 2013 football recruiting class, which is ranked 21st in the nation. As a basketball recruit, Griffin is a three-star prospect and currently ranked 26th nationally among small forwards.
