Jim Britt Grobe (born February 17, 1952) is an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach and former player who was most recently the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

of the

San Antonio Commanders The San Antonio Commanders were a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019. The team played their home games a ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...

. His previous position to that was as head football coach at

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. From 2001 to 2013, Grobe served as the head football coach at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

. In 2006, he was named ACC Coach of the Year by a unanimous vote and AP Coach of the Year for coaching Wake Forest to an 11–2 regular season and the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC) title.

Playing career

Grobe earned his undergraduate degree (B.S.) in education from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

in 1975 and earned a master's degree in guidance and counseling from Virginia in 1978. As a player at Virginia in 1973 and 1974, Grobe played

middle guard The Middle Guard () was a formation of the French Imperial Army's Imperial Guard. It was an intermediate force between the elite Old Guard and the less experienced Young Guard. It played a role in Napoleon's military campaigns, offering a balan ...

(1973) and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

(1974). He was a two-year starter for the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic Coast C ...

and was named Academic All- ACC. Before enrolling at Virginia, Grobe spent two seasons with

Ferrum College Ferrum College is a private college in Ferrum, Virginia. The college was established in 1913 as the "Ferrum Training School" (also referred to as the "Ferrum Institute" by its board of trustees) for primary and secondary education to serve the ...

, then known as Ferrum Junior College, where he played linebacker on the undefeated Coastal Conference championship team. Grobe earned the Catlin Citizenship Award and the Big Green Award. In the fall of 2002, Grobe was inducted into the Ferrum College Hall of Fame.

Coaching career

Ohio

Grobe obtained his first head coaching job in 1994 with

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

. He inherited a struggling program that went 0–11 the prior season. He guided the Bobcats to a 33–33–1 record over six seasons and won

MAC Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

coach of the year in 1996.

Wake Forest

2006 season

In 2006, Grobe led Wake Forest to a school record 11 wins with a perfect 6–0 road record. His Wake Forest team also won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship by virtue of defeating

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

, 9–6, in the conference title game. The Demon Deacons earned their first trip to a BCS

bowl game In North America, a bowl game, or simply bowl, is one of a number of postseason college football games primarily played by NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams. For most of its history, the FBS did not use a playoff tourname ...

and played

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

in the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

. Grobe was named the ACC Coach of the Year, receiving 80 out of 80 votes from the league's media and making him the sixth Wake Forest coach to win the award. Grobe was also awarded the

Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award The Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award is an annual college football award given to the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision head coach whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. The award is named for Bobby Dod ...

and the AP Coach of the Year in 2006. On February 27, 2007, Grobe signed a 10-year contract extension through 2016.

Resignation

Grobe resigned from Wake Forest on December 2, 2013.

Baylor

On May 30, 2016, Grobe was hired as Baylor's head coach for the 2016 season, coming out of semi-retirement. He made it known when he was brought on that he would not be a full time coach for the University, which had suspended and later terminated

Art Briles Arthur Ray Briles (born December 3, 1955) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach for the Guelfi Firenze in the Italian Football League. Briles was the head coach of the Houston Cougars from 2002 to 2007 and the Baylor B ...

due to the Baylor University sexual assault scandal. The Bears won their first six games before losing five in a row to close out the regular season. However, the Bears were invited to their seventh consecutive bowl game, the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl in Arizona. Baylor entered the game as heavy underdogs to the 10–2 Boise State Broncos, but the Bears rolled to an easy 31–12 victory. After the game, Grobe retired again.

San Antonio Commanders

In 2018, Grobe was named the defensive coordinator of the

of the

. On April 2, 2019, the league's football operations suspended

Family

Grobe and his wife Holly have two sons, Matt and Ben, and five grandchildren. Matt has been head men's golf coach at

Marshall University Marshall University is a public university, public research university in Huntington, West Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the Uni ...

since 2012. Ben has formerly served as Assistant Director of Football Operations at the

University of North Carolina at Charlotte The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte, or simply Charlotte) is a public research university in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. UNC Charlotte offers 24 doctoral, 66 master's, and 79 bachelor's degree programs thr ...

Head coaching record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grobe, Jim 1952 births Living people American football defensive linemen American football linebackers Air Force Falcons football coaches Baylor Bears football coaches Emory and Henry Wasps football coaches Ferrum Panthers (junior college) football players Marshall Thundering Herd football coaches Ohio Bobcats football coaches San Antonio Commanders coaches Virginia Cavaliers football coaches Virginia Cavaliers football players Wake Forest Demon Deacons football coaches High school football coaches in Virginia Players of American football from Huntington, West Virginia Coaches of American football from West Virginia