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Jeff Grimes enters his third year as the offensive line coach at Arizona State and will oversee a group that returns all five starters from last year. He also begins his first year as ASU's running game coordinator.
Despite losing four NFL Draft picks from his offensive line from the 2001 season, Grimes directed a line that protected the ninth-rated passing offense in the country in 2002.
Grimes saw Chaz White become the first Sun Devil since 1990 to start on the offensive line as a true freshman and just the fourth true freshman in school history to start on the o-line. White earned second-team Sporting News Freshman All-America honors and was a Pac-10 All-Freshman team selection by the same publication. Another underclassmen, Drew Hodgdon, stood out, earning honorable-mention All-Pac-10 notice as a sophomore in 2002.
Under Grimes, ASU's 2001 offensive line, led by NFL draft choices and All-Pac-10 selections Scott Peters and Levi Jones, helped ASU finish fourth in the Pac-10 in rushing, averaging 167.1 yards per game. Four of Grimes' offensive linemen were taken in the2001 NFL Draft for the first time in school history and just the second time that has been done at any school since the NFL adopted the seven-round draft format in 1993.
Grimes came to ASU after coaching one year at Boise State where the Broncos' offensive line helped the team lead the nation in scoring offense and accumulate 175 rushing yards per game.
Prior to Boise State, Grimes coached the offensive line at Hardin-Simmons University from 1998-99. He helped lead Hardin-Simmons to consecutive conference crowns and a national quarterfinal appearance in 1999 with a 12-1 record.
A four-year letterman as an offensive tackle at UTEP (1986-91), Grimes played under Dirk Koetter when Koetter was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Miners (1986-88).
After spending time in the training camps with the Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL and the San Antonio Riders of the World Football League, Grimes began his offensive line coaching career at Riverside High School in El Paso, Texas, where he served as the team's offensive coordinator as well. Grimes helped lead Riverside to regional playoffs each season, and his 1994 team led the state in total offense in 5A. He then became a graduate assistant coach at Rice University (1995) and Texas A&M (1996-98).
Grimes received his bachelor's degree in education from UTEP in 1991 and his master's degree in education administration from Texas A&M in 1997.
He and his wife, Sheri, have a daughter, Bailey, (3), and a son, Garrison (1).
THE GRIMES FILE
Born: September 23, 1968
High School Education: Lakeview Centennial, Garland, Texas, 1986
College Education: University of Texas-El Paso, 1991; Texas A&M, 1997
College Football: University of Texas-El Paso, 1986-91
Coaching Career: Riverside High School (El Paso), 1993-95; Rice University, 1995-96; Texas A&M, 1996-98; Hardin-Simmons, 1998-99; Boise State, 2000; Arizona State, 2000-present
Recruiting Area: North and West Texas (Dallas/Ft. Worth)
Family: Wife, Sheri, daughter, Bailey (2), and son, Garrison (born April 2002)
NFL PLAYERS COACHED
Name School Team
Matt Hill Boise State Seattle Seahawks
Levi Jones Arizona State Cincinnati Bengals
Kyle Kosier Arizona State San Francisco 49ers
Scott Peters Arizona State Philadelphia Eagles
Travis Scott Arizona State St. Louis Rams
