Coker College Director of Athletics Tim Griggs is stepping down after 15 years as head of the Cobras athletics department.

Griggs will continue to serve as an associate professor of physical education and will return to the classroom to teach full time in fall 2010.

“Tim has been an instrumental part of Coker athletics for three decades,” said Coker President Robert Wyatt. “We are truly appreciative of his service to the college and to our many student-athletes over the years.”

The school will name an interim athletics director shortly and will begin a national search for a new AD.

Griggs began his career in Coker athletics in 1980 when he was named the first men’s soccer coach in the college’s history. Among his accomplishments, Griggs helped transition Coker from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. He also helped create six athletics programs at the college: men’s and women’s cross country, competitive dance and cheerleading, junior varsity baseball and women’s golf.

Several Coker teams earned national, regional and conference success during Grigg’s tenure. Almost two dozen teams advanced to NCAA regionals and 15 won Conference Carolinas championships.

While he was men’s soccer coach, Griggs added women’s soccer to his coaching responsibilities in 1988. He stepped down as men’s soccer coach in 1994 when he became athletics director and he fully retired from coaching in 1998.

Griggs served as a member of several NCAA committees, most recently the Division II Management Council. He also was a member of the Division II Management Council Identity Subcommittee and the Division II Nominating Committee.

He also has been instrumental in Coker’s involvement in the community, including the creation of the school’s highly successful “Taste of Coker,” which serves as a fund-raiser for the Coker College Cobra Club.