In the process of doing interviews for my feature story on Navy quarterback Kriss Proctor, I came across this interesting fact. Dave Griffiths, who coached Proctor at Big Bear High in California, is the cousin of Navy wide receiver Greg Jones.

   When Griffiths wanted to find out whether Navy would be interested in recruiting Proctor, he called Jones who in turn put him in touch with wide receivers coach Danny O'Rourke. That got the process started and a week or two later newly-hired Navy assistant Steve Johns showed up at Big Bear High to speak with Proctor about the academy.

    Proctor is one of the finest all-around athletes in the history of Big Bear High, a small school with only 800 students. He led Big Bear to a phenomenal 24-2 record and back-to-back De Anza League titles as a junior and senior.

    Needless to say, Proctor remains a well-known and popular figure at the school and Griffiths along with all the assistant coaches were very excited upon learning their former quarterback would be starting for Navy against Wake Forest. Big Bear had a game that day, but Griffiths taped the game and the coaching staff came over to his house that evening to watch Proctor's debut. 

    "When Kriss made that great cutback on the 40-yard touchdown run, we were all hooting and hollering. It brought back some great memories because we watched Kriss make that exact same type of cutback move for three straight years," Griffiths said.