LSU officially names Grimes new OL coach

BATON ROUGE - Jeff Grimes, who served as offensive line coach at Auburn when the Tigers won the 2010 national title, has been named offensive line coach and running game coordinator at LSU, head coach Les Miles announced on Tuesday.

Grimes served in the same capacity at Virginia Tech in 2013, helping the Hokies to an 8-5 record and a berth in the Sun Bowl.

"Jeff comes to our staff with great experience and as coach who is very familiar with the SEC," Miles said. "He helped Auburn win a national title in 2010 and has been part of some very successful programs.

"He's a tremendous technician and will do a great job teaching our offensive line. He has a track record of putting guys in the NFL and producing outstanding offensive linemen. He's a great addition to the staff and I'm looking forward to working with him for many years."

At LSU, Grimes will inherit an offensive line that returns four starters, including senior left tackle La'el Collins, who will likely be a pre-season All-American as well as a leading candidate for the Outland Trophy. Other returning starters for the Tigers include senior center Elliott Porter, junior guard Vadal Alexander and sophomore tackle Jerald Hawkins.

In his only season at Virginia Tech in 2013, Grimes' offensive line helped the Hokies rack up 4,628 total yards, an average of 356 yards a contest.

During Auburn's 2010 national championship season, Grimes' coached an offensive line 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 yardage (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. Tyler Polumbus, a guard for Grimes in 2007 at Colorado, just completed his third year as the starting left tackle for the Washington Redskins, while Edwin Harrison is a starting tackle for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League.

A 20-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 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.

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)

BOWL EXPERIENCE

Year 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