The late Don Grider, pictured, set a high standard for the South Pittsburg football program, but his son Vic has maintained it by leading the program to three state championships.SOUTH PITTSBURG, Tenn. – In large block letters, the 3-by-4-foot metal sign hanging above the black double doors of the main entrance reads “Donald N. Grider Field House.” It serves as a reminder to everyone who enters the 5,000-square foot structure – including South Pittsburg High School’s current football coach – that a certain standard was set and is still expected.
When Vic Grider was handed the keys to take the wheel at his alma mater, it was his daddy, Don, who told him flatly, “If you can’t get the job done, we’ll find somebody else who can.”
In the 19 years that have followed, Vic has worked at the job as if he were guarding a precious family heirloom. He built on the foundation of a legacy his father laid, averaging 10 wins per season, guiding the Pirates to five state championship games and winning three. This past Friday, with the largest crowd in Beene Stadium’s 50-year history watching, he reached a milestone for himself and his family. When the Pirates batted away Whitwell’s fourth-down pass in the end zone with one second remaining, the narrow win was Vic’s 192nd as a head coach, tying the number his father had during a hall of fame career.
“That’s a huge deal for me because I know how hard he worked at it and how much respect he had in the coaching community,” Vic said. “I’ll never be what he was. He did it with a lot less talent and going against a lot tougher schedule every year.
“For a small Class 1A program to have that kind of consistency, that’s what I’m proud of. We’ve built a program that a lot of people envy and maintained a high standard over a long period of time.”