Introduction
Jim Britt Grobe (born February 17, 1952) is an American football coach and former player. He was most recently the head football coach at Baylor University. From 2001 to 2013, Grobe served as the head coach at Wake Forest University. 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 Championship.
Playing career
Grobe earned his undergraduate degree (B.S.) in education from the University of Virginia 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 (1973) and linebacker (1974). He was a two-year starter for the Virginia Cavaliers and was named Academic All-ACC.
Before enrolling at Virginia, Grobe spent two seasons with Ferrum College, 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
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, 9–6, in the conference title game. The Demon Deacons earned their first trip to a BCS bowl game and played Louisville in the Orange Bowl. 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 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 University
On May 30, 2016, Grobe was hired as Baylor's head coach for the 2016 season. Coach Grobe led the Baylor Bears to their 7th consecutive bowl game, the Motel 6 Cactus Bowl in Arizona. Baylor entered the game as heavy underdogs to the Boise St Broncos (10-2 record), but despite being out-manned & overlooked by Vegas odds makers the Bears dominated the Broncos and rolled to an easy 31-12 victory.
Family
Grobe and his wife Holly have two sons, Matt and Ben, and three grandchildren. Matt was named Head Coach of the Men's Golf Team at Marshall University in 2012. Ben is Assistant Director of Football Operations at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Head coaching record
| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | Coaches# | AP° | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio Bobcats (Mid-American Conference) (1995–2000) | |||||||||
| 1995 | Ohio | 2–8–1 | 1–6–1 | 9th | |||||
| 1996 | Ohio | 6–6 | 5–3 | 4th | |||||
| 1997 | Ohio | 8–3 | 6–2 | T–2nd (East) | |||||
| 1998 | Ohio | 5–6 | 5–3 | T–3rd (East) | |||||
| 1999 | Ohio | 5–6 | 5–3 | T–3rd (East) | |||||
| 2000 | Ohio | 7–4 | 5–3 | T–3rd (East) | |||||
| Ohio: | 33–33–1 | 27–20–1 | |||||||
| Wake Forest Demon Deacons (Atlantic Coast Conference) (2001–2013) | |||||||||
| 2001 | Wake Forest | 6–5 | 3–5 | 7th | |||||
| 2002 | Wake Forest | 7–6 | 3–5 | 7th | W Seattle | ||||
| 2003 | Wake Forest | 5–7 | 3–5 | 7th | |||||
| 2004 | Wake Forest | 4–7 | 1–7 | T–10th | |||||
| 2005 | Wake Forest | 4–7 | 3–5 | T–4th (Atlantic) | |||||
| 2006 | Wake Forest | 11–3 | 6–2 | 1st (Atlantic) | L Orange† | 17 | 18 | ||
| 2007 | Wake Forest | 9–4 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Atlantic) | W Meineke Car Care | ||||
| 2008 | Wake Forest | 8–5 | 4–4 | T–3rd (Atlantic) | W EagleBank | ||||
| 2009 | Wake Forest | 5–7 | 3–5 | 4th (Atlantic) | |||||
| 2010 | Wake Forest | 3–9 | 1–7 | 6th (Atlantic) | |||||
| 2011 | Wake Forest | 6–7 | 5–3 | T–2nd (Atlantic) | L Music City | ||||
| 2012 | Wake Forest | 5–7 | 3–5 | 4th (Atlantic) | |||||
| 2013 | Wake Forest | 4–8 | 2–6 | 6th (Atlantic) | |||||
| Wake Forest: | 77–82 | 42–62 | |||||||
| Baylor Bears (Big 12 Conference) (2016–present) | |||||||||
| 2016 | Baylor | 7–6 | 3–6 | T–6th | W Cactus | ||||
| Baylor: | 7–6 | 3–6 | |||||||
| Total: | 117–121–1 | ||||||||
| National championship Conference title Conference division title | |||||||||
| †Indicates Bowl Coalition, Bowl Alliance, BCS, or CFP / New Years' Six bowl. #Rankings from final Coaches Poll. °Rankings from final AP Poll. | |||||||||
Coaching tree
Assistant coaches under Jim Grobe who became NCAA head coaches:
- Troy Calhoun: Air Force (2007–present)
- Tim DeRuyter: Fresno State (2012–2016)
- Dean Hood: Eastern Kentucky (2008–2015)
- Brian Knorr: Ohio (2001–2004)
- Brad Lambert: Charlotte (2011–present)