Tony Graystone
Introduction
Tony Graystone led Texas Tech’s volleyball program until September 13, 2026, when the university dismissed him immediately and for cause — the termination letter citing “your actions” and cutting off his buyout and remaining contract payments. The dismissal followed a formal complaint sent to athletic director Kirby Hocutt six days earlier accusing Graystone of the physical abuse and medical mistreatment of a player and alleging a felony battery committed by the head coach, accusations documented in records obtained by the university’s student newspaper. No criminal charge against Graystone appears in the available record, and the allegations remain unproven.
Background Information
Graystone ran the Red Raiders volleyball program until his dismissal early in the 2026 season. Texas Tech Director of Athletics Kirby Hocutt announced the dismissal on a Sunday in mid-September 2026, appointing associate head coach Alisa Blair — in her fourth season with the program after a year as Abilene Christian’s head coach — as interim head coach for the remainder of the 2026 season, with assistant coach Mikayla Ell elevated to interim associate head coach. Blair’s debut came that Tuesday against Tarleton State at United Supermarkets Arena.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Fired for cause; accusations unproven. The termination-for-case finding is Texas Tech’s own contractual determination. The underlying accusations — physical abuse, medical mistreatment, felony battery — come from a complaint by the player’s family and have not been adjudicated; no criminal charge appears in the record.
Ten days after the dismissal, Austin Jackson of The Daily Toreador, Texas Tech’s student-run newspaper, obtained a letter through a public records request revealing that Graystone had been terminated for cause — meaning he was not owed his buyout or remaining contract payments. The termination letter, dated September 13, 2026, reads in part: “As we discussed, as a result of your actions, Texas Tech is exercising its right under Section 5. A of your Employee Contract to terminate your employment for cause effective immediately.” It directed him to return all university property by the end of the day and stated he would be paid accrued vacation hours but nothing else under the contract.
The paper also published the full complaint that had been sent to Hocutt six days before the firing, with names redacted under FERPA. “We would like to meet this week to discuss the physical abuse and medical mistreatment of [Redacted], a member of the TTU Volleyball team… [Redacted] felony battery committed by Head Coach Tony Graystone. It is shocking,” the letter read. It asked to meet in Lubbock that week, and stated: “Due to [Redacted]’s fear of increased retaliation and intimidation by Coach Graystone, we are strongly requesting you not to speak to Coach Graystone or [Redacted] until after we meet.”
Public Reaction and Consequences
The firing removed a decade-long head coach in mid-September, weeks before conference play matured, with an interim staff finish to the season. The public record of why — a for-cause termination that forfeited his own contract money — carried particular weight in coaching circles, where buyouts are the standard soft landing for dismissed coaches; Texas Tech’s decision to invoke for-cause signaled the university’s own institutional conclusion about the conduct alleged. The publication of the family’s complaint by the student newspaper kept the specifics in circulation, documenting allegations of abuse and retaliation-fear made directly to the athletic director before the university acted.
Current Status
Graystone’s dismissal for cause stands as Texas Tech’s final disciplinary action in the available record: no buyout, no remaining contract payments, and Alisa Blair running the program in his place. The felony-battery, physical-abuse and medical-mistreatment allegations remain accusations from the family’s complaint — no criminal filing against Graystone appears in the record, and no lawsuit or arbitration over the forfeited contract is documented. The university has not announced any further findings beyond the termination itself.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Graystone exits the Texas Tech program with the rarest of coaching outcomes: a termination for cause that surrendered his buyout and remaining salary, attached to a documented family complaint alleging abuse of a player under his care. Whatever follows — coaching opportunities, legal disputes over the contract, or an adjudication of the allegations — the September 13 letter’s language, “as a result of your actions,” is now the public institutional verdict that heads his record, and it came from his own employer under the contract he signed.