The Kansas football team struggled often during the 2024 season, and much of the blame fell on the shoulders of first-year offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes. Quarterback Jalon Daniels had his issues with turnovers late in halves and games, but it was never quite clear if he was ever comfortable in Grimes’ scheme.
Grimes took over when Andy Kotelnicki left Kansas to become the offensive coordinator at Penn State. Kotelnicki joined the Kansas program when Lance Leiopold did, and the offense was fun to watch during those years.
No one can blame Kotelnicki for his move; while the Jayhawks are busy pulling themselves out of the bottom of the college football world, Penn State is a perennial powerhouse in collegiate football.
Things just never fit with Grimes. The offense was inconsistent for most of the season, although it did show improvement as the season progressed. At the end of the season, Grimes moved on, taking the same post at Wisconsin. Jim Zebrowski took over as the offensive coordinator with Matt Lubick as his co-coordinator.
How did former Kansas football offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes do in his first Wisconsin game?
Wisconsin played Miami (Ohio) on Thursday, and things weren’t great for the Badgers. They only scored three points in the first half, but still won the game 17-0, thanks to Wisconsin’s stifling defense.
Not all of the Badgers’ struggles can be laid at Grimes’ feet. His starting quarterback, Billy Edwards Jr., was injured in the second quarter. Still, Wisconsin fans can’t feel too great about their offense right now.
It wasn't as bad as the score might indicate. The Badgers accumulated 165 yards on the ground and 188 yards passing, mostly with their backup quarterback.
Kansas fans weren't terribly forgiving of Grimes and his one year in Lawrence. On the social media outlet X, many continue to blame Grimes for last season's failures. These are a couple of the nicest things posted.
The crimes that Jeff Grimes committed against KU football will never be forgotten.
— phoggy (@PhoggyThoughts) August 25, 2025
This is what Jeff Grimes does to people. It’s a shame really https://t.co/PAYJCbNz5i
— Braiden Turner (@bturner23) August 29, 2025
It should be noted that the KU offense scored a lot of points last season, averaging 29.6 points a game. The Jayhawks scored over 40 points three times, more than 30 five times. On the other hand, Kansas scored just 17 points three times, and 20 points in one other game. The Jayhawks did win one of the games in which they scored 17.
Of Kansas' seven losses last year, five were within one score, so the Jayhawks were close in almost all of the games. Turnovers were the main culprit for many of those losses, and Grimes can't take the blame for all of them.
It will be interesting to see how the fortunes of the offenses at Kansas and Wisconsin fare this season. KU looked comfortable last week against Fresno State, and Daniels was fantastic. It's early in the season, but KU looks like the change in coordinators helped.