Kansas football’s new offensive coordinator, Jeff Grimes, eyes a physical, attacking style

LAWRENCE — Part of the draw of Jeff Grimes’ hire was his ability to mesh with Kansas football’s offensive philosophy.

It’s something head coach Lance Leipold went into the overall search thinking about. It’s something that would help the Jayhawks continue to build momentum offensively. And Grimes, Kansas’ new offensive coordinator and assistant head coach, mentioned to reporters he sees a lot of similarities between offenses he’s built and what the Jayhawks have done in the early years of the Leipold era.

But Grimes’ personal philosophy will matter as he shares his ideas with co-offensive coordinator Jim Zebrowski and the rest of the staff. It’ll help shape how Kansas’ offense evolves in 2024. And Grimes has a clear philosophy that drives his thinking that he likened to any philosophy a team, company, church or organization might have.

“It starts with a physical, sort of gritty, mindset,” said Grimes, who spent the past few seasons as the offensive coordinator at Baylor. “If you have that, then I think you can say that we’re going to attack. And the philosophy that I’ve used, the core statement, is that we’re an attacking — and it goes into a number of different things. But it starts with that, an attacking offense.”

Attacking can mean a lot of things, Grimes allowed, and makes one think about an offensive line with a physical presence in the running game. But Grimes noted they’re also going to throw the ball, and throw it downfield, as they look to take shots anytime and anywhere. That attacking mentality applies to the guys the balls are being thrown to, too, when they’re in the air going up for the ball.

However much Kansas attacks, the desire for balance is always going to be there. Grimes wants to be a threat to run or throw in any situation, no matter where they are on the field or the down and distance. Grimes wants to focus on what his players do well, too, and in the short time he’s been around he’s already talked to players about what they like.

Those conversations are sure to continue in the weeks and months ahead, and with Grimes’ fellow coaches as well. During the search process, before an offer even came his way, he said he thinks he talked on the phone with more than half of the staff as Leipold looked to ensure Grimes’ fit went past schematics. The desire to continue to develop that trust, with everyone, remains.

Some of the ideas Grimes will come up with in the days ahead could be good to share for the Guaranteed Rate Bowl later this month in Phoenix, while others could be more appropriate for after. But Grimes was already praising how it felt to join a staff that’s had so much continuity. His goal is to blend in, not stick out, as he adds to what’s made Kansas successful.

“I think he’s trying to see how we operate, and I told him that, again, ‘As you make your notes and look at it, then I want to know your suggestions and tweaks and ways that you’ve done it and then we make our program better,’” Leipold said. “But he’s respectful of the guys who are still out there coaching and he’s trying to be there … again, taking it all in.”

Both Leipold and Grimes talked about how early Grimes still is in his time in Lawrence. Grimes even mentioned he has felt like a visiting coach at times. But he’s still been able to make some of those early observations, and been involved in recruiting as well.

Grimes thinks it’s actually been easy for him to recruit, even though he hasn’t been around that long, because he’s competed against Kansas before. He’s watched how Leipold and everyone have built up the program. Grimes recalled a conversation with a recruit in which he mentioned it wasn’t that long ago that he was in the same seat the recruit was, trying to decide if coming to Kansas was his best opportunity or not.

Grimes might not be in a position to give that prospect, or any other, a campus tour yet. But he is set to be the Jayhawks’ tight ends coach, which he said he’ll enjoy because the position touches all parts of the game. He added Kansas’ tight ends will be asked to do a lot, in one of the more challenging positions this style of offense has.

“A lot of the skills that you have to perform are offensive line driven, and then a bunch of other ones are receiver driven,” Grimes said. “And so, there are a lot of things that you have to do as a tight end that are unnatural. And the skill base, the requirements, are so broad that it takes a unique person to do it. And, obviously, there’s a real, I think, skill and knowledge base that you have to have to coach it as well.”

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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas football's new OC, Jeff Grimes, eyes physical, attacking style