Coatch Grimes is the real deal

[WiregrassTiger]

http://auburn.247sports.com/Article/Auburn-assistant-JB-Grimes-reels-in-recruits-28509820
Awesome’ Grimes reels in recruits

Keith Niebuhr
May 7, 6:52 AM
J.B. Grimes owned April.

As Auburn went from outside the top 20 in the recruiting team rankings all the way up to No. 2, it landed seven new commitments. Three of those pledges — Marquel Harrell, Kaleb Kim and Bailey Sharp — are offensive linemen, the position group Grimes coaches at Auburn.

Each said Grimes was instrumental in his decision

Harrell, a guard from Fairburn (Ga.) Creekside, described Grimes like this: “He’s just awesome.”

When Auburn hired Grimes in December of 2012, Tiger fans weren’t sure what they were getting.

But in his 17 months on the Plains, the veteran assistant that has 30-plus years of college experience, has delivered. Grimes, who unlike many OL coaches is small in stature, has been big on results -- both on the field and on the recruiting trail.

Last fall, the Auburn offensive line arguably was the SEC’s best. This week, Tigers left tackle Greg Robinson is expected to go very high in the NFL Draft.

Now, Grimes is cleaning up in recruiting.

According to Auburn’s three OL commitments, Grimes is an effective recruiter because he combines wisdom with honesty, a strong record of devleoping players and his down-home Southern style.

“He just seems like a genuine guy,” said Kim, a 4-star guard from Georgia’s Mill Creek High. “It seems like he cared more so than the other colleges I’ve been to. He’s very straight-forward, which is good. I like that. He wasn’t a typical recruiting coach. He wasn’t a car salesman.”

Added Harrell, “He’s real cool. He’ll never lie to you. He always speaks the truth, always tells you why he’s recruiting you and what you need to work on."

During visits to Auburn, these recruits have talked to Grimes about a lot more than football, they said. In fact, sometimes football was barely mentioned.

“He’s just a really great guy,” said Sharp, a standout at Marietta (Ga.) Sprayberry. “Every time I’ve been in town there, I can’t wait to see Coach Grimes. He’s a great guy to meet and hang out with. He’s always talking about the special nights. That’s when he takes the offensive linemen at Auburn and grills for them. He told me he’s a grill master."

Though Grimes played college football [as an offensive lineman at Henderson State] four decades ago, he apparently hasn’t had any trouble connecting with recruits 40-plus years his junior. At least part of that is due to his energy, prospects said.

“He has the Benjamin Button effect,” Harrell said. “He’s like a young guy stuck inside an old guy’s body.”

Whatever Grimes is doing with recruits, it’s working.

He currently sits at No. 13 among SEC assistants in the 247Sports Recruiter Rankings.

"The biggest thing is you’ve got to sell Auburn and that’s an easy sell,” Grimes said. “You can sell Auburn. I’m one of those guys throughout my college career, I’ve always been in college towns. I’ve never had to actually coach in an urban area so I know how to sell the college town and the family atmosphere and those kinds of things. I think right now you’ve got to sell the fact that we’re on the uprise. I think Auburn is about to take another step forward. In some programs you hope to win games, at Auburn you don’t hope to win games, you win championships and I think that’s a historical fact. I think you sell that.”

Grimes’ future crop of players said they look forward to getting to the Plains, primarily so Grimes can start coaching them.

“I can’t wait,” Sharp said. “I think he’s going to be a really good coach, and a really good role model."