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Notes, Quotes and Slants
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Pirate
Notebook No. 110
Friday, February 26, 2003
By Denny O'Brien
Staff Writer and Columnist |
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Grimes sold on ECU and stable
full of O-linemen
©2003 Bonesville.net
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With his clean-shaven head and loud, thunderous voice, new East Carolina
offensive line and assistant head coach J.B. Grimes has the presence and
demeanor necessary for mentoring 300-pound, muscle-bound behemoths.
So, it should come as no surprise that the Clarendon, Ark., native has
spent the past 14 years as the architect of dominant offensive fronts at
three of the nation's premier programs.
While some may suggest that East Carolina is a step down in prestige for
a coach of his pedigree, especially after tours of duty at Arkansas,
Virginia Tech, and Texas A&M, Grimes, who is widely considered one of the
tops at his trade, insists that notion couldn't be further from the truth.
"This place is big-time right now," Grimes said. "You mention the word
big-time with the places I've been, well let me tell you this: I've watched
this program from afar for so many years and you always hated to play East
Carolina. This place has a ton of respect.
"I came down here with Virginia Tech back in '94 and I remember the PA
announcer saying 'First Down... Pirates!' every time they got a first
down. I think he said it about 27 times that day."
Now Grimes welcomes that battle cry and will lead the charge from the
trenches. With the help of a stocked cupboard of potential All-Conference
USA performers, fans should expect to hear that familiar ring often in
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium this Fall.
Among the returnees is two-time All-C-USA tackle Brian Rimpf and center
Doug White, who has often been labeled the catalyst of the Pirates' offense.
They'll have plenty of seasoned company, too, with all but one member —
Phoenix Evans — returning from last season's two-deep depth chart.
Grimes has spent the past couple of weeks reviewing film and monitoring
off-season workouts and is impressed with what he's seen thus far.
"I think that offensive line was pretty well-coached," Grimes said. "I've
looked at some tape on them and Steve (Shankweiler), my predecessor, did a
great job with those kids.
"This is an experienced group and one that I think has a real chance.
They're strong. Jim Whitten, our strength coach, has done a great job with
those guys and overall with this strength program during this interim time
while we've been recruiting and getting coaches hired. Jimmy's kind of held
this thing together in the weight room."
Grimes says the Murphy Center, East Carolina's 52,475-square foot
strength and conditioning facility, will be the centerpiece of his program.
To be successful these days, linemen need to be sizeable and strong, without
sacrificing their agility, all areas which can be addressed in the Pirates'
new palace for sweat and strain.
Arguably no other position demands such a unique combination of physical
attributes, and the fact that the Pirates boast so many who possess them all
is somewhat of a rarity.
"To be a good offensive lineman these days, No. 1, you've got to be
pretty big," Grimes said. "A 280-pound guy isn't really that big anymore. If
a kid in high school is 280-pounds, he needs to have the potential to be
over 300 when he gets to college.
"But being big isn't enough. You've got to be strong and athletic, too.
Footwork is so important at this position and Jim Whitten has done such a
great job with these guys in that area."
Mobility will be pivotal in the Pirates' offensive system, which will mix
a power rushing attack with a vertical passing game. East Carolina has
proven as recently as 2001 (when it was one of only a handful of schools
that averaged over 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing per game) that a
balanced attack is the most difficult to stop.
New Pirates coach John Thompson is seeking a similar concoction of power
and finesse and Grimes is confident he has a stable of thoroughbreds skilled
enough to handle the workload.
"To be a really good offensive football team, you have to be able to do
both on this level," Grimes said. "We're not Nebraska and we're not Brigham
Young. We're not a team that's going to major in one or the other.
"We have to be able to develop the skills of both running the football
and passing the football with the offensive line. I think this group is
athletic enough to do both. I'm excited about the strength level and the
movement. This group's got some athletic ability."
So much so that it reminds Grimes of his previous stints at Tech and A&M,
places where as an assistant, he won conference championships (Big East '95,
'96; Big XII '98) and made major bowl appearances.
Driven by a strong will to succeed, Grimes now has his sights set on
adding another ring to his collection and believes East Carolina is ready to
make that proverbial next step in C-USA.
"I think this is a program on the rise," he said. "I really believe that.
"I went to Virginia Tech back in '93, and to be honest with you, Virginia
Tech's program, at that time, was very similar to where East Carolina's
program is right now. It's striking how the similarities are. Being in a
league took Virginia Tech's program to the next level and it will be able to
take this program to the next level."
That has been the mantra since Thompson took over as head coach in
December. As assistant head coach, Grimes will be Thompson's right-hand man
as the Pirates begin their journey towards that elusive C-USA championship,
a march which began shortly after the New Year with the last-minute effort
to ink a recruiting class.
If it seemed like Grimes and the rest of the Pirates staff were in a mad
scramble during that abbreviated period, they were. Yet despite the
less-than-optimal logistics, Grimes is pleased with what he considers to be
a pretty good recruiting haul.
"When you come in mid-January and you try to do a year's worth of work in
three-week's time, it's a frantic time," Grimes said. "Recruiting is top
priority year-round.
"Other than dealing with the players that we have here on campus now,
recruiting is the most important thing that we do professionally. For us to
be able to come in and put together what I think is a pretty good signing
class, I think we did a pretty good job."
At the very least, the Pirates coaches believe it is a class that boasts
a bushel of athletes with the potential to be as good or better than their
predecessors. That's quite a statement when you consider the overall run of
success East Carolina has had on the gridiron over the past decade.
It's also a necessity in Grimes' business, which is measured by wins and
losses, with progress and championships being the ultimate measuring stick.
"You've always got to have that vision of getting better," Grimes said.
"There's an old saying, you either get worse or you get better, you never
stay the same. Those who are standing still are going backwards. This is a
program that can take more steps forward."
With Grimes and his herd of offensive linemen leading the way, small
steps could quickly evolve into giant leaps.
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02/23/2007 01:52:00 AM
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