‘Like Deion:’ West Charlotte coach Sam Greiner has his critics — and he’s winning
West Charlotte HIgh School’s Sam Greiner could end up being one of the best football coaches the Lions have ever had, and they have had some of the best in North Carolina history.
A year ago, however, Greiner nearly lost his job with the Lions, and possibly his career.
“We’re not guaranteed tomorrow,” Greiner said this week, “and that’s how I live my life. Everything I do, I put into God’s hands, and I’ve learned I can’t stress about the day-to-day stuff, and I felt like if God told me I’m done coaching, well that’s what I’ll do. Football is not my identity. I am a child of Jesus — and I don’t throw my beliefs on anybody — but that’s who I am.”
Greiner is the Observer’s Deer Park Water N.C. High School Football Coach of the Week after leading the 3A Lions to a 17-15 win over N.C. 4A power Mallard Creek last week. West Charlotte (4-0) is off to its best start in 13 years, and playing in a new stadium, the Lions’ success has started to bring back what used to be one of the state’s biggest and most reliable fan bases.
At the center of the resurgence is Greiner, 41, who has developed a reputation as a football savant, and whose celebrity once grew so big that he once landed on CNN, Fox’s “Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader,” with wrestler-turned-actor John Cena, and on “The Amazing Race” on CBS.
But Greiner, who in his sixth season as co-host of The Observer’s “Talking Preps” streaming show, has also faced controversy and has his share of detractors. Some call him a fake Christian. Some call him arrogant for the blunt comments he frequently makes in interviews and on social media clips.
“When I first started coaching, this would bother me,” Greiner said. “I wanted everybody to like me. That’s just not the reality. People close to me, we have a great bond and we love each other and appreciate each other, but if someone doesn’t know you, well, confidence can be perceived as arrogance and saying what’s on your mind may bother some people. They may have other agendas on their heart and just don’t want to like you.”
A year ago, Greiner faced the biggest controversy of his career. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools suspended him with pay while it investigated several claims: that he recruited players outside of the West Charlotte district; didn’t provide adequate water breaks or rest periods; and forced his players to practice in intense heat. The Observer determined those claims came from a former Lions assistant coach and alumnus and booster.
Greiner’s team and his parents quickly backed him. They created a petition and showed up en masse at CMS headquarters to deliver that petition and show their support.
“Greiner has been wonderful,” West Charlotte parent Toni Boyce said at the time.
“He’s just that male role model that they need,” another parent, Julie Vidal, said. “It brings in a brotherhood within the team.”
Greiner was cleared by the district and went onto lead West Charlotte to the third round of the N.C. 3A playoffs last season.
“I knew the allegations against me were false. I was never worried about it,” Greiner said. “It was saddening that some people didn’t want me to be the coach, but anywhere you go there will be people like that. Parents and players know my intentions and they’re happy I’m their son’s coach, and I’m trying to do everything I can. But it was a blessing in disguise, going through all that turmoil, because it showed how much the players love me. I know I love them, and it’s hard for 15- to 17-year-old kids to say ‘I love you,’ but their actions speak volumes of the testimony we’re trying to provide.”
Before Greiner was hired, West Charlotte had posted one winning season in eight years.
He’s on track now to lead the Lions to their third straight postseason appearance.
“Sam definitely has a flair for the dramatic,” said Hickory Ridge High coach and former North Carolina offensive lineman Jupiter Wilson. “Some people shy away from it, but he enjoys all of that and the kids feed off of that. He’s got a good group of kids who believe in him regardless of what people think on the outside. The bottom line is this: he’s doing a good job over there. That’s what counts.”
How did you get on CNN?
Greiner played three years at Butler High School before he graduated in 2000. He then played four seasons at Catawba College and dabbled in professional football with the Carolina Speed of the American Indoor Football Association before he really got into high school coaching.
He was an assistant at Butler and Vance and then at Olympic before he became head coach at Harding in 2015. He coached the Rams, traditionally one of Mecklenburg County’s least successful programs, for three years.
“I remember the Harding principal said, ‘You’re going to be the head football coach,’” Greiner said. “I had two daughters. I wasn’t sure. He said, ‘I don’t care if I have to run a daycare (in the press box), you’re going to be my football coach.’ He believed in me and they had gone 1-9 the year before. The first year I said, ‘We won’t be a 1-9 team.’ We ended up being 1-10.”
Greiner laughs at that memory. But his second team at Harding went 5-7 and made the playoffs.
His third, in 2017, went 14-1 and won Harding’s first state championship since 1953. The quarterback of that team was recent Army graduate Braheam Murphy, who was functionally homeless. Greiner adopted Murphy during Murphy’s junior season of high school, and the story — of Harding, Murphy and Greiner — drew national headlines.
CNN came to Charlotte to cover Harding’s victory celebration on its football field and led to Greiner going to Hollywood twice, and it also helped swell his Instagram account to nearly 70,000 followers after he and his wife, Connie, appeared on “The Amazing Race.”
“That was a crazy time,” Greiner said.
The perfect place?
Greiner left Harding after the state title season and took the job at Hickory Ridge, but he only stayed one year, going 5-6 in 2018.
He was out of coaching until he got the West Charlotte job. Wilson, the Hickory Ridge coach, thinks Greiner is now at the perfect spot.
“He’s definitely a genuine person,” Wilson said. “Unless you really get to know him, it can be one side boisterous and another side abrasive. ...You either love him to death or you despise him. When he was was looking for a job, I told him he needed to go back to where it was most comfortable for him. West Charlotte just fits him.”
Two years ago, Wilson was picked as the Carolina Panthers’ nominee for a national coach of the year award, and in the spring of 2022, the NFL franchise paid for Wilson and one guest to attend the NFL Draft. Wilson took Greiner to Las Vegas to watch the Panthers draft former Providence Day star Ickey Ekwonu at offensive tackle and Matt Corral at quarterback.
The two met playing pro ball years ago and had bonded over football and their Christian faith. Greiner named one his daughters Journi FAItH, spelling her middle name oddly, so the “t” looked like the cross.
“He’s definitely not a fake Christian,” Wilson said. “He’s very, very, very serious about his faith and he’s not afraid to say it. A lot of times, we have predetermined what people should be about, like Deion Sanders, a guy that doesn’t curse, but because he’s loud and boisterous, and has a persona, people put you in a box. That’s Sam. But I tell him that ‘People will put you in a box anyway, so give them something to talk about.’”
Greiner is now is focused on what he calls an even tougher turnaround project than what he did at Harding.
West Charlotte has made multiple state championship appearances under legendary coaches Bruce Hardin, Tom Knotts and Rudy Abrams. Another really good N.C. coach, Pete Gilchrist, led the Lions to the 2006 N.C. 4A state finals.
Greiner said it’s harder to build a program where there’s been expectations, and West Charlotte was once one of the state’s top two or three programs in North Carolina.
But, as you might expect, Greiner think he’s up for the challenge. Hee’s not afraid to say what he really believes about his team, which only plays seven seniors in the regular rotation.
“I told everybody that if I plan on coaching high school football, I plan on retiring at West Charlotte, as long as they will have me,” he said. “There’s something different about these kids. I love them. Not that they’re perfect, but there’s a competitive spirit in their soul that I absolutely love. Some of the kids that are with me are seniors and have been with me for four years. It’s been awesome to see their progression.
“And yes, we’ve got a lot of young kids. But we don’t want to wait until tomorrow. We’ll never use that as an excuse. We expect to be great now, whether it’s a 14-year-old kid or an 18-year-old kid. Our goals are not changing because we’re young. We’re expecting to be great.”
2023 coach of the week honorees
Week 1: Kennedy Tinsley, Mallard Creek
Week 2: Ben Kolstad, Leesville Road
Week 3: Brandon Gentry, Hopewell
Week 4: Andrew Farriss, Northern Nash
Week 5: Sam Greiner, West Charlotte
