AUBURN—J.B. Grimes, who has spent over 30 years coaching at the collegiate level, has been named the offensive line coach at Auburn, announced head coach Gus Malzahn Wednesday. Grimes, who has been a part of 14 bowl games and coached numerous NFL players, spent this season as the offensive line coach at Arkansas State with Malzahn.
"J.B. is a tremendous coach who is one of the nation's top teachers at the offensive line position," Malzahn said. "He has an incredible resume coaching the position and has taught countless players at the NFL level. He played a vital role in our team's success this past season and we're fortunate to have him join our program at Auburn."
This season at Arkansas State, Grimes coached an offensive line unit that helped set a school-record with 481.8 yards of total offense per game while ranking 16th nationally in fewest sacks allowed. Senior offensive lineman Zach McKnight earned first-team All-Sun Belt honors under Grimes' direction as the offense led the Sun Belt in rushing and ranked in the top 25 nationally in total offense, scoring offense and rushing offense.
"I'm excited about the opportunity to coach at Auburn and join Coach Malzahn's staff," Grimes said. "I've always admired Auburn football having coached in the Southeastern Conference and even when I was younger watching Pat Sullivan and Terry Beasley play. It's a special place with great history, traditions and fans. I've known Gus for several years and have admired the things he's done as a coach. We did some great things this past season at Arkansas State and I look forward to doing the same at Auburn."
Prior to his arrival at ASU, Grimes spent two seasons at Kansas (2010-11) and Mississippi State (2004-08) as the offensive line coach. Grimes' coaching career also includes stints at East Carolina, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Louisiana-Monroe and Delta State as an assistant coach over the last three decades.
In his first season at Mississippi State, the Bulldogs rushed for 1,744 yards, the most at the school in four years. Behind his offensive line, MSU produced three seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher.
In his one season at East Carolina (2003), the Pirates' offensive line paved the way for its third straight 1,000-yard individual rusher. At Texas A&M (1998-2002) Grimes coached the offensive line under R.C. Slocum for five seasons as the Aggies posted a 40-22 overall record while playing in four straight bowl games.
While at Virginia Tech (1993-97) coaching for Frank Beamer, Grimes helped the Hokies to back-to-back Big East championships and five bowl games in five seasons.
Grimes also coached at Arkansas, serving as a graduate assistant in 1981-82 and as a full-time assistant coach in 1989-92, where he helped the Razorbacks to the Southwest Conference Championship and a Cotton Bowl appearance in 1990. At Arkansas, Grimes worked for Lou Holtz, Ken Hatfield and Jack Crowe.
Grimes also coached at Louisiana-Monroe (1979-80, 1985-88), Delta State (1983) and Missouri (1984) after spending his first two seasons at the high school level in the state of Arkansas at Nashville (1977) and Des Arc (1978). Louisiana-Monroe won the 1987 Division I-AA national championship.
As an offensive lineman at Henderson State, he helped his team to a 40-6 record in four seasons, including a berth in the 1974 NAIA Championship game.
He earned a bachelor's degree in education from Henderson State in 1977 and a master's degree in education from Louisiana-Monroe in 1981.
Grimes grew up in Clarendon, Ark. and is married to the former Jennifer Graves. The couple has four children, including sons Aaron and Nick and daughters Danielle and Lindsey.
INFORMATION SOURCE: Auburn Athletics Dept.
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