Jeff Grimes Season 2024
Jeff Grimes enters his fourth year as LSU’s offensive line coach and running game coordinator in 2017 as he continues to develop the Tigers offensive line into one of the most physically dominating and technically sound units in all of college football.
In three years on the LSU staff, Grimes has had three of his players selected in the NFL Draft to go along with seven All-SEC honors and three All-Americans. Most recently in 2016, center Ethan Pocic earned First Team All-America honors and was selected in the second round of the NFL Draft.
LSU’s offensive line has helped pave the way for three consecutive 1,000-yard rushers, including Leonard Fournette, who set the school’s single-season mark with 1,853 yards and 22 touchdowns in 2015. Last year, Derrius Guice led the SEC in rushing yards with 1,387 and also set the school single-game mark with 285 yards against Texas A&M.
In 37 games as LSU’s offensive line coach and running game coordinator, LSU has had at least one running back reach the 100-yard rushing mark 29 times. LSU has also running backs go over the 200-yard mark seven times – five by Fournette and two by Guice. Under Grimes, LSU is 21-4 when featuring a 100-yard rusher.
In 2016, Grimes’ offensive line allowed only 19 sacks and blocked for a ground game that ranked No. 4 in the SEC with 233.0 yards a contest. It marked the fourth-straight year LSU’s offense averaged more than 200 yards rushing a contest, which ties the mark for the longest such streak in school history. The Tigers also averaged 200-yards rushing a game in four-straight seasons from 1971-74.
Individually, sophomore Will Clapp joined Pocic on the First Team All-SEC list, while senior Josh Boutte picked up second team all-conference honors in 2016.
In 2015, Grimes‘ offensive line yielded just 17 sacks as the Tigers ranked No. 3 in the SEC in that category. The Tigers also produced a second-team All-America offensive lineman for the second-straight year as Vadal Alexander earned the honor. Alexander followed his senior season by being picked in the seventh round of the NFL Draft. He was joined in the draft by left tackle Jerald Hawkins, who was taken in the fourth round by the Steelers.
In his first year at LSU in 2014, the addition of Grimes to the staff paid off immediately as he helped produce one of the top rushing attacks in the SEC as the Tigers averaged 224.5 yards per game. His standout on the offensive line during his first year at LSU was offensive tackle La’el Collins, who was named the winner of the Jacobs Blocking Trophy as the top lineman in the SEC as well as being a second team All-America selection.
Grimes joined the Tigers in the spring of 2014, coming from Virginia Tech where he served in the same capacity. In his one season with the Hokies, Virginia Tech posted an 8-5 overall mark and averaged 356 yards a contest.
During Auburn’s 2010 national championship season, Grimes’ coached an offensive line that helped set school records for total yards of offense (6,989) and points (577) for a second consecutive season. The Tigers led the Southeastern Conference and were No. 5 nationally in rushing yards per game (284.8) and led the SEC in scoring (41.2).
Auburn’s 2010 team set school records for rushing touchdowns (41), passing touchdowns (31), rushing yards (3,987) and had three offensive linemen earn individual honors. Tackle Lee Ziemba was a consensus All-America selection and earned the Jacobs Trophy as the SEC’s best blocker before he was selected by the Carolina Panthers in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Guard Byron Isom was named second-team All-SEC and center Ryan Pugh earned third-team All-America honors.
Following the 2011 season, tackle Brandon Mosley was selected by the New York Giants in the fourth round of the 2012 NFL Draft after earning All-SEC honors his senior season.
In his first season at Auburn in 2009, Grimes helped an offense that set numerous school records that year, including points in a season (433), total yards of offense in a season (5,613) and plays in a season (914). Auburn’s 266 first downs in 2009 was the second-best total in school history, and its average of 431.8 yards per game ranked fourth. In addition, Grimes coached both Pugh and Ziemba to second-team All-SEC honors during the 2009 season.
Prior to his stint at Auburn, Grimes served as the assistant head coach, running game coordinator and offensive line coach at Colorado for two seasons from 2007-08.
A 23-year coaching veteran, Grimes went to Colorado from Brigham Young, where he coached the offensive line for three seasons from 2004-06. His 2006 BYU linemen were a large part of the Cougars’ Mountain West Conference championship team, which finished 11-2.
Grimes’ success continued at Arizona State as four of his 2001 seniors were drafted into the NFL, marking just the second time that had been done at any school since the NFL adopted the seven-round draft format in 1993. Tackle Levi Jones was the 10th overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals, followed by Scott Peters and Travis Scott in the fourth round and Kyle Kosier in the seventh round.
In one season at Boise State in 2000, Grimes’ offensive line helped the Broncos lead the nation in scoring offense with an average of 44.9 points per game. That year, the Broncos went 10-2 and beat Texas-El Paso in the Humanitarian Bowl.
Grimes began his coaching career in 1993 as a high school coach at Riverside High School in El Paso. After two years there, he moved on to the college ranks, first working as a graduate assistant at Rice (1995) and then at Texas A&M (1996-97).
Grimes earned four letters as an offensive tackle for UTEP between 1987 and 1990, including three years under former Boise State and Arizona State head coach Dirk Koetter when he was UTEP’s offensive coordinator. He also spent two years playing for current Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid.
He was in training camp with both the Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL and the San Antonio Riders of the World Football League before entering coaching.
Grimes, a native of Garland, Texas, and his wife, Sheri, have four children, daughters Bailey and Jada and sons, Garrison and Greydon.
YEAR AT LSU: Fourth (appointed January 21, 2014)
BIRTHDATE: September 23, 1968 in Garland, Texas
WIFE: Sheri Grimes
CHILDREN: Bailey, Jada, Garrison, Greydon
HIGH SCHOOL: Lakeview Centennial
COLLEGE: Texas-El Paso (B.S., 1991)
POST-GRADUATE: Texas A&M (M.S., 1997)
PLAYING EXPERIENCE
1987-90 Texas-El Paso (offensive tackle)
COACHING EXPERIENCE
1993-94 Riverside (Texas) High School (offensive coordinator/offensive line)
1995 Rice (graduate assistant)
1996-97 Texas A&M (graduate assistant
1998-99 Hardin-Simmons (offensive line)
2000 Boise State (offensive line)
2001-03 Arizona State (offensive line/running game coordinator)
2004-06 Brigham Young (offensive line)
2007-08 Colorado (asst. head coach/offensive line/running game coordinator)
2009-12 Auburn (offensive line)
2013 Virginia Tech (offensive line/running game coordinator)
2014-17 LSU (offensive line/running game coordinator)
BOWL EXPERIENCE
Season, Bowl, Team, Opponent, Results
2000, Humanitarian, Boise State, Texas-El Paso, W, 38-23
2002, Holiday, Arizona State, Kansas State, L, 34-27
2005, Las Vegas, BYU, California, L, 35-28
2006, Las Vegas, BYU, Oregon, W, 38-8
2007, Independence, Colorado, Alabama, L, 30-24
2009, Outback, Auburn, Northwestern, W, 38-35
2010, BCS Title , Auburn, Oregon, W, 22-19
2011, Chick-fil-A , Auburn, Virginia, W, 43-24
2013, Sun Bowl, Virginia Tech, UCLA, L, 42-12
2014, Music City, LSU, Notre Dame, L, 31-28
2015, Texas, LSU, Texas Tech, W, 56-27
2016, Citrus, LSU, Louisville, W, 29-9