Jeff Grimes approaches KU offense different than the past

Jeff Grimes has been in this situation before.

He has gone into a new program as an offensive coordinator and had to put the pieces of the puzzle together to make it a successful unit.

And each situation can be different.

When Grimes was hired to replace Andy Kotelnicki, he knew he was not going to show up and make wholesale changes. At other jobs he had to do that. There have been times where he did not watch film of the offense because it needed so many changes.

“It depends,” he said. “I've been a part of a takeover where that offense wasn't very good before, and in that case, I really, I told the team this, and I actually meant it. I said, I haven't watched any film from the past.”

He wanted everyone to start with a clean slate.

“Now, I kind of knew those teams, and so I kind of knew what they were doing, but I said, I'm not watching it because I don't want to know, and I don't want to prejudge,” he said. “I don't want to walk in with predetermined ideas and opinions, and I want to give a clean slate to everybody here.”

But that situation is different with Kansas. Grimes is inheriting an offense with several starters returning and a system that has been successful the last couple years. There are members of the coaching staff returning on the offensive side that were part of that success.

“It's completely different going into an offense that's been extremely successful,” Grimes said. “And you've got a lot of those coaches that have been a big part of it and a lot of the players that have been part of it back, and so just the opposite has been true.”

There have been times in the past where Grimes admitted he did not want watch too much film. He knew he would make a lot of changes to the scheme and system. But that is not the case with Kansas.

He knows Andy Kotelnicki, who served as the offensive coordinator the first three seasons under Lance Leipold. Kotelnicki is now the coordinator at Penn State. Grimes has talked with multiple people to learn more and put his own stamp on the offense.

“I've spent a lot of time watching game by game, watching cut ups, talking with coaches about what made them successful,” Grimes said. “Andy and I know each other, and so conversations with him have been a part of it, and certainly conversations with Lance about his vision for us as a team and us as an offense. I've done everything I can to try to learn and come in and be a part of what's already been successful and try to make it a little better.”