Greydon Grimes excited to be a Jayhawk and follow his family to KU

The Jayhawks recruiting class appeared set and locked in earlier in the week. But there is always the chance a surprise can happen on signing day.

That surprise was Greydon Grimes, who announced his commitment to Kansas on the morning of signing day.

When Lance Leipold was asked how they signed Grimes late in the process, he gave a classic response.

“Well, we had an in with his father,” Leipold said. “And he had an in with the mother.”

Grimes is the son of Jeff Grimes, who was hired to be the new offensive coordinator and tight ends coach. It was a natural fit for Grimes to follow his father to Lawrence, but the decision came down to Greydon, who was committed to Baylor.

Last weekend he took an official visit to Lawrence to see the campus and get a closer look at the program. Leading up to the visit he had an in-home visit with defensive tackles coach Jim Panagos.

“It was really cool,” Grimes said about the visit. “I'm really glad I got to get up there and just meet the whole staff in person. I met Coach Panagos because he came for a home visit. But it was just really cool to see the whole campus and meet the coaches in person and talk to Coach Leipold. I was really impressed by how pretty the campus was because I didn't know what to expect, but it was a cool campus.”

On signing day Jeff was in Lawrence 600 miles away as Greydon made it official with Kansas.

“I'm so excited about my kid,” Jeff said. “It's a special moment. I missed being there with him, but my wife is sitting there at signing day, and she facetimes me and lets me watch the whole thing. And then I talked to him afterwards and got a tear in my eye because I think about what I was expressing to him is to enjoy this day and enjoy this moment. He's a great kid, and I'm really happy that he's chosen to join us here.”

Grimes grew up learning about football from his father. But there was a fine line where he wanted him to be a dad and not always a coach. Over the years that approach helped him understand the game, but from a dad’s perspective.

“It's helped me a lot, but he only does as much as I let him, because he doesn't want to be that dad that's more of a football coach than a dad,” Grimes said. “So, he kind of lets me decide how much he coaches me. I'd say that's had the biggest impact on me the last probably three to four years. But it's been huge because especially as a defensive guy, just understanding what the offense is doing and the why behind it because of him has been really, really helpful.”

He went through signing day with the help of his mother Sheri, who he said keeps everyone in line. She helped get everything set up and connected with Jeff so he could watch the signing ceremony.

“Yes, she is a strong woman,” Grime said of his mom. “She is mentally and physically. She played volleyball at A&M and she holds the house down. She actually set up my table and everything for signing day because it was all last second. That was really nice of her, and she just holds everything down around here.”

At 6-foot-6 and a good frame, Grimes could project to several positions as he continues to develop. His recruiting on Rivals has him rated as a tight end, but he will start on the defensive side of the ball.

“He’s actually 245 pounds right now,” Jeff said. “Since the season has ended, he's really been lifting hard, and he's a kid that could end up being a lot of different things. He’s primarily thought of as a defensive tackle at this point, but could play defensive end, has played some tight end, and might grow into an offensive tackle. He's got a big frame.”

His future position could change depending on how he fills out and develops. He is versatile because he has experience on both sides of the ball.

“I think I could do a lot of things, but what I'm expecting is go in there as a d-tackle,” he said. “I will just see how I move and see what weight I can put on. Maybe I end up being end up being a tight end. Maybe I end up being an offensive tackle, who knows? I have a frame that I haven't filled out yet, so it just kind of depends on what weight I can put on.”

The last week has been stressful once he started to look at the option of signing with Kansas. After his official visit he announced Tuesday night he decommitted from Baylor. The next morning, he was a Jayhawk. He is happy to have the recruiting behind him and focus on getting ready to play at Kansas.

“It's definitely nice,” he said. “It was a stressful week or so, but I'm just glad the decision's made and I'm happy with the decision.”