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Howard Griffith is the new University of Illinois color analyst for football games broadcast on the Illini Sports Network.

Griffith, the record-setting running back who scored eight touchdowns in a game against Southern Illinois in 1990, replaces former Illini All-American Jim Grabowski, who retired at the end of the 2006 season.

Griffith was picked from a “Final Four” that included all former Illini players. Quarterbacks Kurt Kittner and Jack Trudeau as well as tight end Matt Cushing were also in the running.

I love the pick of Griffith, although I think Kittner could have developed into a pretty good analyst if he let his candor shine through. I think Kurt could have been insightful and occasionally emotional, which, if done right, can be a good combination.

I have no reason to believe Griffith can’t do the same thing. He’s a great personal story, a long-shot running back who made it not only at Illinois but as a solid contributor in the NFL. He also picked up some broadcasting experience in Denver after playing for the Broncos.

When I spoke with Howard this afternoon, he was very excited to have this opportunity. He and his wife had already made a decision to return to Chicago from the Denver area, wanting for their two sons to be closer to their grandparents. When he learned of this opportunity in December (while speaking at the Illini football team awards banquet), he decided to pursue it and push hard for the chance.

He said he intends to invest a good deal of time before the season with coach Ron Zook and his staff, talking about style, strategy, personnel, concerns, etc. And he’ll be a regular face in Rantoul once training camp opens.

He said Zook has welcomed him warmly and told him he would make anything and everything available to him. That will include game tapes from last season and plenty of access to keep his insights fresh as the season unfolds.

And while Griffith co-hosted a Denver Broncos highlights show, and another for Arena League football, he has never served as an expert analyst. So expect his style to evolve. The trick is to balance the expectations. His employer, the university, wants a generally positive, up-beat approach. The fans want that, too, but they also want an honest, reliable assessment of what’s going on, even when the news is not so positive.

The lucky thing for Griffith (and he said it was one reason the job was so appealing) is that his timing couldn’t be better. He arrives at a time when, hopefully, the grim days marked by a lack of success are in the past. The arrow seems to be pointing up. And Griffith just could be climbing aboard at a time when the program is about to turn a corner.

He was a part of a Big Ten championship at Illinois and still owns two Super Bowl rings with the Broncos. So he knows what it takes to make a football team succeed. Hopefully, he’ll be able to take that knowledge, plus his passion for the University of Illinois, and translate it into interesting and informative broadcasts starting this fall.