MCGILL: Chris Grassie is a man of his word

HerdZone.com

One month ago today I told my wife to call 911 because I couldn't push myself off the hardwood floor at the bottom of the staircase in our 94-year-old home. I had fallen, tumbling so wildly that there were bruises and knots on my legs, and another bump on the back of my head.

The worst of it, though, was a broken left humerus bone. My upper arm was in three pieces.

This happened a day before the busiest home weekend of the year in our Marshall Athletics world: a home baseball series; home softball series; Celebrity Bowl-A-Thon; spring football game; and, of course, the regular season men's soccer finale that would decide Conference USA's automatic NCAA tournament berth.

I missed it all. For a writer like me, that meant I missed documenting it all, too. I wasn't well enough to attend to the NCAA men's soccer Selection Show the following Monday, either, as that was my first visit to Marshall Orthopedics to determine my course of recovery. After serving as an administrator on the Marshall men's soccer team's trip to Seattle to face Washington in the Sweet 16 of the 2019 NCAA tournament, I knew my injury would likely prevent me from seeing any games in this year's bracket.

Marshall men's soccer coach Chris Grassie had other plans, though. He stayed in constant contact between NCAA tournament games, offering me encouragement on my road to recovery. I had surgery on May 5 – the day before Marshall defeated No. 1 Clemson – and a plate and screws were placed in my upper left arm to fix the break. The pain medication started to wear off during the penalty kicks the day after surgery, but the euphoria from the game's ending provided respite from the massive incision and constant throbbing.

"We love you," Grassie texted that night. "Heal in time for the final."

Yes, I wept.

Marshall's fourth-year coach, in charge of a program without a College Cup appearance, was assuring me I had time to recover and get to Cary, North Carolina, for the national championship game.

Some may perceive that as a bold prediction, but anyone who spends more than a few minutes around Grassie knows he is a confident person. He is not being disrespectful to opponents when he discusses his ambitions and what he expects to accomplish within his own program. If anything, it is a respect for the culture of the program and an endorsement of the people with whom he surrounds himself.

So I watched as the Thundering Herd defeated defending national champion Georgetown to advance to the College Cup – soccer's version of the Final Four. The next day I ditched my sling for good and started pushing myself to get travel-ready. By the time the celebration had ended at Marshall Hall of Fame Café on Friday night following Marshall's win against North Carolina to advance to the championship game, it was clear I had to make good on my end of what Grassie promised to deliver.

A little more than a month after the gruesome injury – and fewer than two weeks after surgery – my left hand has returned to the keyboard, and on Monday night I'll be at Sahlen's Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park to watch the Marshall men's soccer team face third-seeded Indiana in the national championship game.

The Thundering Herd is, indeed, in the final, just as I was told would be the case.

Grassie is a heck of a coach, but I'm thankful he's also a man of his word.

Chuck McGill is the Assistant Athletic Director for Fan/Donor Engagement and Communications at Marshall University and a nine-time winner of the National Sports Media Association West Virginia Sportswriter of the Year award. In addition to HerdZone.com's Word on the Herd, McGill is the editor of Thundering Herd Illustrated, Marshall's official athletics publication. Follow him on Twitter (@chuckmcgill) and Instagram (wordontheherd).

Marshall University Athletics

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