Ron Grigg (Jacksonville U) Subject of Emotional Abuse Investigation

I can't take "journalism" seriously when it is done in Twitter stories. Publish in a real form of journalism, not Twitter.

Regardless of HOW this story is being told, this seems important. There have been several stories of coaches bullying athletes over the last few months. At the risk of this comment being deleted, I won't name those schools but at least two jump out to me as being somewhat similar to the story being told here.

It’s mildly concerning when this story is getting 0 traction. If you actually take the time to scroll through the COPIOUS amounts of posts, you’ll see a number of athletes have come forward, in name, to share their horror stories. I live in Jacksonville, not far from JU, and heard nothing of her suicide. After poking a prodding a bit today, it was obvious there’s some hard truths about this man that seemingly many coaches looked up to. He was DEEP into the coaching education and USATF may take a hit if all of this comes to fruition.

At the end of the day, a young girl ended her life after seeking out help from everyone she’s “supposed” to be able to lean on and they all failed her by (seemingly) protecting Coach Grigg. And the fact that this hasn’t been picked up by the news is heartbreaking all-around.

It’s a hit piece to blame him for the suicide. Clearly the suicide is far deeper than just the coach. The other athletes piling on are clearly former disgruntled athletes. Every coach has disgruntled athletes. It’s getting zero traction because the coach also deserves due process.

It’s not getting traction because most critical thinkers have the ability to see beyond the click bait. What kind of ‘journalist’ publishes their story on IG???

This is a terribly sad sorry and clearly this girl had some deeeeeep seeded mental unrest here. I’m surmising she came to JU with a LOT on her mind.

Maybe the coach didn’t handle it well but I’m not sure who could?

She killed HERSELF.

If you’re going to blame a coach (that she knew for 18 months?) for that tragedy… why not her family, her friends, her therapists, her professors, her neighbors, her barista…? Everyone clearly failed?

Biggest thing I notice is that I don’t see ANYTHING from her family ANYWHERE 🚩🚩🚩… that probably tells a bigger story than anything else.

A quick Google search shows she transferred 3 times? I’m pretty sure she was only at JU for a few months

An interesting video of Julia speaking with a police officer about her coach.

Clickbait. The more I read this, the more it’s clear she had some very deep issues. I wonder how much of the alleged verbal abuse actually happened in front of other people. Or, was she just completely unhinged and imagined the conversations to be much worse than they actually were. Obviously there was something seriously wrong with her and it is sad. However, to blame the coach, even if he was a complete assssshole, is irrational.

Even more interesting is that she claimed the coach was "physically abusive" but the journalist had to make a note clarifying that NOBODY she talked to accused the coach of physical abuse. So Julia was lying about at least some of this.

Per IG - it appears as if Ron Grigg has stepped down:

Tragic but she says in this that she got kicked off the team for bad grades and being a whistle blower?

Wouldn't the bad grades trump it. Also why didn't the IG post show the abusive social media messages.

He may have been an abuser but there's a few holes to the story as it was reported

Also unless you're completely guilty and you know it or get a massive pay off stepping down is the dumbest thing you can do.

Your coaching career is over anyways if you resign don't make it easy on the person trying to fire you over an insta account with 2500 follows

The initial investigation after the athletes death was mishandled. The former athletes coming fwd make it clear that there were problems with the coach's behavior that were not addressed.

*athlete (singular)

I’m ollllllllld Griggggg!

But honestly think about it, once this kind of stuff is out there on social media what can you do? Clearly the cases came back finding he did nothing wrong and this still was the outcome. His reputation is trashed either way guilty or not guilty so I feel like it makes sense to leave that Hornets nest 🤷🏻‍♀️

Direct quote from Jacksonville's major newspaper:

AD"Ricker-Gilbert said JU also has hired an outside firm "to review new information andallegations that have been shared in recent days about the experiences of other student-athletes."
"We take these reports very seriously, and it is our responsibility to ensure that this information receives the time and attention that it deserves," the statement continued.
Ricker-Gilbert said JU coaches and staff will also complete mandatory training "involving mental health and other issues, including, but not limited to, body image, nutrition, bullying, and building a healthy, supportive team culture."

As a former member of the team, I can say some of the athletes who came forward that were my teammates were not good teammates or people that took the sport seriously. Imagine having a teammate who would literally not do training and joke about not wanting to even run in college, that they were only there for the scholarship. I'm not saying their emotions and feelings are invalid or that everything Grigg did was correct because he was VERY direct and blunt, but I don't think they are sharing the full spectrum of what would cause him to become frustrated and hold them to an expectation to perform