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Did McElwain change approach in dealing with suspended QB Will Grier?
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Will Grier’s Florida career took an unexpected turn when he was suspended for a calendar year on Oct. 12 after testing positive for a banned substance. Last weekend, Grier ended his Florida career for good by announcing his plans to transfer.
Trying to make sense of Grier’s decision has become quite the challenge. There are plenty of theories. One interesting theory is that McElwain showed the quarterback tough love to counteract an atypical public display of sympathy.
In McElwain’s coach-speak vocabulary, the word suspension is virtually nonexistent. When a reporter asks about rumors of a player being suspended, McElwain tends to “correct” the reporter by saying the player made a “choice” and will not be playing in Saturday’s game.
The coach’s tone in discussing these “choices” is the same tone parents use with their children to remind them they’re not “mad,” just “disappointed.”
Grier made the choice to take a substance, presumably to enhance muscle growth, without running it by the coaches or training staff. At the press conference announcing the suspension, McElwain literally patted Grier on the back (the quarterback also spoke to the media in person) and referred to the incident as a “mistake.”
If Grier’s teammates claimed special treatment, could you blame them? When players like WR Demarcus Robinson, DE Alex McCalister and CB Jalen Tabor found their way into McElwain’s doghouse, the coach called those suspensions the result of choices. When Grier took a banned substance, he made a mistake.
Preferential treatment to star players, especially in disciplinary matters, crippled the Florida program under Urban Meyer. So far, there’s no evidence of that kind of locker room culture forming under McElwain’s watch.
But it’s worth watching.
However, the contrast of his initial sympathetic treatment of Grier compared to the tough-love approach with other players, including stars, did suggest some favoritism toward the quarterback.
Despite a 2016 quarterback depth chart of Treon Harris, walk-on Luke Del Rio and true freshmen Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask, Grier recently announced he plans to transfer and sit out the 2016 season at a new school.
Perhaps, behind closed doors, the coach showed Grier the same tough love he gives players like Robinson, McCalister and Tabor in public.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
