Reports: Former BYU OC Jeff Grimes is out at Baylor. He’s being mentioned for another vacancy

Jeff Grimes’ time as Baylor’s offensive coordinator lasted three seasons.

Grimes, who was BYU’s offensive coordinator from 2018-20, has been fired by the Bears, according to several reports Sunday.

This comes after Baylor went 3-9 this season — per ESPN’s Pete Thamel , head coach Dave Aranda will be retained by the Bears but there will be “significant changes” coming for the program, including the dismissal of Grimes.

The Bears lost 34-31 to West Virginia on Saturday to end the season on a five-game losing streak.

It was the Bears’ second straight losing season — they went 6-7 in 2022 — after Baylor won the Big 12 title in 2021.

Just two years ago, Grimes was a finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the nation’s best assistant coach, as Baylor went 12-2 and won the Sugar Bowl in 2021.

This year, Baylor finished 95th nationally in scoring offense (23.1 points per game) — ironically, the same number as BYU this season — and was also 40th in passing offense (263 yards per game), 70th in total offense (377.8 ypg), 92nd in third-down conversion rate (36.2%) and 109th in rushing offense (114.8 ypg).

During Grimes’ final season at BYU, he was also a Broyles Award finalist as the Cougars, behind quarterback Zach Wilson, finished in the top 15 nationally in scoring offense (third, 43.5 ppg), total offense (seventh, 522.2 ypg) and passing offense (eighth, 332.1 ppg) during the COVID-19 impacted 2020 season.

There is one vacancy where Grimes’ name is already being mentioned — his alma mater, UTEP, is looking for a head coach after firing Dana Dimel on Sunday .

Grimes graduated from UTEP with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1991.

The Athletic’s Chris Vannini mentioned Grimes as a name to watch for the UTEP job, along with former Utah State coach Matt Wells, now an offensive analyst with Oklahoma.

Both the El Paso Times and KTSM , the NBC affiliate in El Paso, reported that Grimes has expressed interest in the UTEP job, with KTSM’s Colin Deaver writing, “He has almost 30 years of coaching experience but has never been a head coach.”

Mike Craven of Dave Campbell’s Texas Football listed both Grimes and Wells as “realistic” options for the UTEP head coaching position.

“His wide-zone offense would provide the Miners with an identity and his love of El Paso and UTEP gives him a leg up on the competition for the job,” Craven wrote.