JONESBORO (1/9/12) - Arkansas State head football coach Gus Malzahn has named veteran assistant J.B. Grimes as offensive line coach. Grimes has been a part of 14 bowl games and a national championship.

Grimes spent the past two seasons as Kansas' offensive line coach, but has also overseen the position group at Mississippi State, East Carolina, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Louisiana-Monroe and Delta State as an assistant coach over the past 29 years.

"J.B. has deep ties to the state of Arkansas, and he is one of the top offensive line coaches in America," said Malzahn. "We're extremely excited to add a coach of his caliber to our staff."

Prior to his time with the Jayhawks, Grimes spent five seasons as the offensive line coach at Mississippi State (2004-08). In his inaugural season, MSU rushed for 1,744 yards, the most at the school in four years. Behind his offensive line, Mississippi State produced three seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher.

In his one season at East Carolina (2003), the Pirates' offensive line paved the way for its third straight 1,000-yard individual rusher. At Texas A&M (1998-2002) Grimes coached the offensive line under R.C. Slocum for five seasons as the Aggies posted a 40-22 overall record while playing in four straight bowl games.

While at Virginia Tech (1993-97) coaching for Frank Beamer, Grimes helped the Hokies to back-to-back Big East championships and five bowl games in five seasons.

Grimes also coached at Arkansas, serving as a graduate assistant in 1981-82 and as a full-time assistant coach in 1989-92, where he helped the Razorbacks to the Southwest Conference Championship and a Cotton Bowl appearance in 1990. At Arkansas, Grimes worked for Lou Holtz, Ken Hatfield and Jack Crowe.

Grimes also coached at Louisiana-Monroe (1979-80, 1985-88), Delta State (1983) and Missouri (1984) after spending his first two seasons at the high school level in the state of Arkansas at Nashville (1977) and Des Arc (1978). Louisiana-Monroe won the 1987 Division I-AA national championship.

As an offensive lineman at Henderson State, he helped his team to a 40-6 record in four seasons, including a berth in the 1974 NAIA Championship game.

He earned a bachelor's degree in education from Henderson State in 1977 and a master's degree in education from Louisiana-Monroe in 1981.

Grimes grew up in Clarendon and is married to the former Jennifer Graves. The couple has four children, including sons Aaron and Nick and daughters Danielle and Lindsey.