Murray, KY -- Murray State named Matt Griffin its new head football coach on Monday.

Griffin will replace Joe Pannunzio, who was fired in late November after the Racers ended with an abysmal 2-9 record, including an awful 0-7 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference.

"I'm thrilled to become part of the Murray State family," said Griffin, who served as head coach of Tennessee-Martin the last three years. "MSU has such a rich tradition in football, it's going to be fun to be a part of that."

Griffin helped guide Tennessee-Martin to a 6-5 mark this season, including a 4-4 clip in the Ohio Valley Conference. It was the first winning season for the Skyhawks since 1993 and Griffin's work made him a finalist for The Sports Network's Eddie Robinson Award as the top coach in Division I-AA.

In his three seasons at Tennessee-Martin, Griffin compiled a 10-24 mark with a 6-18 record in the OVC.

Before accepting the Skyhawks' job, Griffin spent four seasons as an assistant at the University of Maine where he helped lead the Black Bears to a berth in the I-AA playoffs in 2002.

Prior to accepting the position at Maine, Griffin spent the 1997 and 1998 seasons as offensive coordinator at Tennessee-Martin. He also coached the Skyhawks' receivers and quarterbacks.

"I want our kids to have fun playing football, that's what this game is all about," Griffin added. "I'm going to remind them every time we step on the field that this is their playground. It's the same as when they were kids, it's a game and they should be able to relax and have fun playing it."

Pannunzio was named the 15th head football coach at Murray State on January 27, 2000 and completed his sixth season in a bad way. A season-ending blowout loss versus Tennessee-Martin gave the Racers their first winless campaign in conference play since 1966.

Pannunzio finished with a 30-37 record at the Division I-AA football program, which won the OVC championship in 2002.