Auburn football: Could Jeff Grimes make his return to the Plains as OC?

With the beginning of Auburn football’s spring practice just one month away, head coach Bryan Harsin and his staff are still searching for an offensive coordinator.

After parting ways with Mike Bobo following the end of the 2021 season, a long search resulted in the hiring of former Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach Austin Davis. However, after holding the position for just 43 days, Davis resigned from his role due to “personal reasons” leaving the OC position vacant yet again.

Several coaches have been reported as possible candidates for the position, including South Alabama’s offensive coordinator and former Houston head coach Major Applewhite and current Auburn football wide receivers coach Eric Kiesau. Many fans are hoping that Harsin would bring former Auburn player and coach Dameyune Craig onto the staff after his successful recruiting cycle at Texas A&M.

Another candidate for OC is someone who has previously held a coaching position on the Plains in current Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, per Auburn Daily:

"Grimes would be an interesting candidate for OC, not only because of his connection to Auburn (offensive line coach from 2009-12 at AU), but because of his scheme. Harsin wanted the Tigers to feature a physical downhill rushing attack that controlled the pace of the game. With the way that Grimes dictated the Bears’ offense in 2021 (219.7 rushing yards per game, 10th nationally), it would make sense to bring him in."

Following his time with Auburn football, Grimes spent one year at Virginia Tech as the run game coordinator and offensive line coach in 2013 before holding the same role at LSU from 2014 to 2017. Grimes spent the next three seasons running a successful offense at BYU and under his leadership quarterback Zach Wilson was named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy and Manning Award.

With over 28 years of coaching experience under his belt, Grimes would be a great candidate to elevate Auburn football’s offense in Bryan Harsin’s second year.