Davidson Day coach Chad Grier admires son’s handling of year-long suspension

Davidson Day football coach Chad Grier said he was on the way to school Sunday to watch film of this week’s opponent, Charlotte Latin, when he learned his son might be suspended from playing quarterback at Florida.

Will Grier called his father and told him he accidentally took a supplement banned by the NCAA. Published reports say Grier took Ligandrol, which isn’t classified as a steroid but is banned as a performance enhancer by the NCAA.

Will Grier received a one-year suspension that will keep him out for the rest of the 2015 season and for six games into the 2016 season. He is appealing the suspension.

Will Grier gave a teary-eyed explanation of what happened at a news conference this week.

Chad Grier said he’s proud of how his son has handled the suspension.

“I’ve had plenty of adversity in my life, but I wish I had the grace and class in how he’s handling it,” Grier said of his son. “It’s far beyond his years.”

Chad Grier wouldn’t confirm what supplement his son took, but said this: “You can walk in the store and buy what he took yourself. For guys that train hard, it’s a common thing. He buys supplements just like a lot of his teammates do and he had a reward card and he had some extra points and the guy helping him said, ‘Hey wanna get something else for your points?’

“Will said, ‘I’m trying to add weight and size,’ and the guy said, ‘Try this, it works great.’ Will took it for two weeks and threw it away because he didn’t get anything out of it.”

Will Grier didn’t have the supplement approved by Florida team officials, and the supplement caused him to fail a drug test. A redshirt freshman, he’d led the Gators to a 6-0 record and No. 8 ranking in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.

“That’s the reality you’ve got to deal with,” Chad Grier said. “It wasn’t like he took a shot or it was one of those deals where it’s ‘I know someone who knows a guy’ and he bought it off the street. It was something he bought in the store he goes into every month.”

▪ Through the controversy, Chad Grier has had to get his team ready for a big game at Charlotte Latin (5-2), which has lost two games in a row and should be amped up to end Davidson Day’s unbeaten season.

“It’s been good to be focused on the game,” Grier said. “And we’ve got great coaches here, and our kids will be ready. I’ve been at every practice. No way can I miss. (Latin’s) Larry McNulty is as good a coach as I’ve been around. He’s as good as it gets.

“They’ve had two tackles out the last two weeks and had to play some guys on both sides who ordinarily aren’t there. I know at least one will be back. They’ll be ready. They’ll be tough.”

▪ Mallard Creek had won 43 consecutive conference games before losing 31-28 last week in overtime to visiting Hough. Mallard Creek has lost two games in a season for the first time since 2012, but those losses to Hough and Duncan Byrnes (S.C.) are by five combined points. It’s not time to panic, but the Mavericks face one of the biggest regular-season games in school history Friday at Vance.

Mallard Creek was expected to be all-time dominant this season after returning 18 starters from last year’s state championship team, plus adding a highly recruited tight end in Thad Moss. Have the struggles gotten the Mavs’ attention, and is this just a matter of playing harder? We’ll find out Friday night.

▪ Tough break for South Mecklenburg to lose starting quarterback Antonio Wallace to a broken wrist. The Sabres were 6-0 and off to their best start in 26 years before they were upset 20-7 by West Meck (3-4).

This story was originally published October 15, 2015 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Davidson Day coach Chad Grier admires son’s handling of year-long suspension."