Corey Griffin unveils a most ambitious team motto

DUBLIN, IRELAND - SEPTEMBER 03: Corey Griffin of Georgia Tech and Michael Giacone of Boston College during the Aer Lingus College Football Classic Ireland 2016 at Aviva Stadium on September 3, 2016 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Patrick Bolger/Getty Images)

DUBLIN, IRELAND - SEPTEMBER 03: Corey Griffin of Georgia Tech and Michael Giacone of Boston College during the Aer Lingus College Football Classic Ireland 2016 at Aviva Stadium on September 3, 2016 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Patrick Bolger/Getty Images)

Georgia Tech safety Corey Griffin put it out there Monday. Following the first of the Yellow Jackets’ 15 workouts of spring practice, Griffin shared the team’s national championship ambitions.

“Definitely looking to get more than nine wins this season,” he said. “Looking forward to this season coming up. ‘Start in the dome, finish in the dome’ is our motto for this year.”

Tech starts its season in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff game at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Tennessee Sept. 4, the $1.6 billion stadium that will replace the Georgia Dome. The same stadium will host the College Football Playoff championship game January 8. It would be a rather remarkable set of bookends for Tech.

“I came up with it this morning,” Griffin said. “I was just thinking about it, the national championship is here in Atlanta this year.”

Tech will hardly be a favorite to hoist the trophy in January, but it's not an impossible aspiration. The website Vegas Insider gives Tech 225 to 1 odds to win its first national title since 1990. There are 34 teams ahead of the Jackets with better odds.

“I don’t plan ahead, but if he likes it, I love it,” A-back J.J. Green said of Griffin’s motto. “That’s my roommate and everything. He’s a leader on this team also, so as a leader on this team, we’ve got to make sure the other guys are ready, be ready to step in that first game.”