Football coach Greg Grandell on new hire list for West Valley

The board of the Anderson Union High School District, which includes West Valley Early College High School in Cottonwood, will vote on a consent calendar item that includes the rehiring of football coach Greg Grandell during a school board meeting tomorrow. 

In a memo shared as part of the board’s agenda, Grandell is listed under new hires as the West Valley varsity football coach. Unless that item is pulled from the consent agenda by a board member, the decision is scheduled to be confirmed by the board without discussion during the board’s Feb. 11 meeting at 6 p.m. A prior agenda shows that West Valley’s last coach, Jason Weston, resigned in December. 

Grandell previously coached the West Valley team for about three decades before resigning along with other coaches in 2020 amid an investigation into allegations of sexualized hazing among players. Just before his resignation, Grandell’s lawyer read a public statement on behalf of the coaching staff stating that neither Grandell nor his staff had any knowledge of the alleged hazing, that none of the students impacted had reported it, and that he did not condone such behavior. 

Shasta Scout was not able to reach Grandell for comment this week. Multiple sources connected to him said that he did not want to speak to the media until after a decision about his rehiring is final. 

In 2021, four male plaintiffs — all minors and named only as John Does in court documents — filed a civil lawsuit accusing AUHSD and Grandell of failure to supervise students and negligent training of public employees, among other allegations. The plaintiffs’ amended complaint alleged that older players on the football team used an object called the “piya stick” to assault younger players in the locker room. 

The complaint alleged that both WVHS administrators and Grandell claimed they had no knowledge of the hazing until they were informed by the police, after a parent’s report to law enforcement. But the complaint also included an allegation that Grandell attempted a “cover up,” allegedly threatening players that if they discussed the hazing with outsiders, they would be kicked off the team. 

In their response to that complaint, Grandell and AUHSD’s legal counsel “[denied] each and every allegation contained in said unverified complaint,” as well as all damages put forth by the plaintiffs. According to reporting from KRCR, Grandell’s legal counsel stated in court that the students’ depositions revealed that evidence of hazing was unbeknownst to “any adult” prior to September of 2020, due, the attorney said, to the hazing being “hidden and kept from Coach Grandell.” 

In 2022, the students reached a financial settlement with AUHSD and Grandell, and the case was dismissed. A lawyer representing one of the students told KRCR at the time that the settlement should not be understood as an exoneration adding that Grandell’s lack of knowledge about the hazing was “evidence of his negligent supervision.” 

AUHSD Superintendent Brian Parker did not respond to Shasta Scout’s request for comment asking what he would say to community members who might have questions or concerns about Grandell’s rehiring, given the alleged hazing that came to light under his leadership in the past.

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