Football Staff Additions Announced
January 10, 2003 | Football
J.B. Grimes, formerly at Texas A&M, will serve as ECU's new offensive line coach and assistant head coach. Steve Janski and Matt Graves, both of whom served at Arkansas this past season, will coach the Pirates' tight ends and defensive backs, respectively. Also coming from Arkansas is Mike Ritchie, who will serve as director of football operations. Larry Shannon, a former Pirate letterman, and Shep Campbell of Baylor have been appointed as graduate assistants.
"I'm thrilled with these additions to our coaching staff," Thompson said. "All of them are guys that I've known for some time and give us a nice balance. We are hiring quality people that fit with this program and this staff. We want to build a program that is based on family and caring for each other, and all of these guys are very player- and people-oriented. They all want to come and be part of something special here."
The new appointments are additions to two assistant coaching hires announced by Thompson earlier this month. Thompson named Florida linebackers coach Jerry Odom as his defensive coordinator and will retain Jerry McManus from ECU's 2002 staff as running backs coach. Thompson was named as ECU's head coach on December 20.
More coaching staff additions could come as early as next week.
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Grimes comes to ECU after serving the past five seasons at Texas A&M as offensive line coach. With the Aggies, he coached five players who have gone on to play in the NFL and helped guide his team to four bowl appearances. The Aggies were Big 12 Champions in 1998. This past season, Grimes' offensive line helped A&M's passing game put up school-record numbers in passing yardage and passing touchdowns. Averaging 268 yards per game, the Aggies ranked second in the Big 12 and 21st in the nation in passing yardage.
Grimes, 47, previously served as offensive line coach at Virginia Tech (1993-97), Arkansas (1989-92), and Northeast Louisiana (1985-88) and has also had brief stops at Missouri and Delta State as well as two high school positions in Arkansas. In all, he has coached on four conference championship teams, made 14 postseason appearances, and guided 15 players who continued their careers in the NFL.
A native of Clarendon, Ark., Grimes was a four-year football letterman at Henderson State in the mid-1970s.
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One of three new Pirate coaches coming from the University of Arkansas, Steve Janski has been a part of the Razorback coaching staff for the past eight seasons, first as a volunteer assistant coach (1995-99) and most recently as offensive graduate assistant (2000-02). He has been part of Arkansas' teams that won SEC Western Division championships in 1995, 1998, and 2002 and helped the Razorbacks to six bowl games, including each of the last five consecutive seasons. In his most recent role at Arkansas, he helped coach the offensive line, wide receivers, and scout teams, and had recruiting responsibilities in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and California. The 27-year-old Janski is a native of Little Rock, Ark., and is a 1999 graduate of Arkansas.
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Graves, a 2001 graduate of Arkansas, has spent the past two seasons with the Razorbacks as defensive graduate assistant coach and was a volunteer assistant for the 1999 and 2000 seasons. He served under Thompson, then the defensive coordinator for the Razorbacks, during his stint as volunteer assistant. Graves' primarily responsibilities as a graduate assistant were the team's outside linebackers and strong safeties. Arkansas ranked 44th in the nation this past season in total defense and capped a 9-5 campaign with an appearance in the Music City Bowl. Graves, 25, is a native of Texarkana, Texas, and has recruiting ties to Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
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Ritchie, a graduate of Arkansas Tech, brings a strong coaching and academic background to his administrative post with the Pirates. He has served the past four years as the Razorbacks' academic counselor for football, acting as a liaison between student-athletes and faculty members as well as assisting with on-campus recruiting visits. He spent the first part of his career in collegiate athletics as a basketball coach as he served one season as head men's basketball coach at Arkansas-Monticello, two seasons as head women's basketball coach at Hendrix College, and two seasons as head women's coach at Christian Brothers University. He has also had assistant coaching stints in women's basketball at Arkansas Tech, Arkansas State, and Arkansas-Monticello.
Larry Shannon (offensive graduate assistant)
One of the top receivers in East Carolina history, Shannon returns to his alma mater to serve as a graduate assistant coach. From 1994-97, he compiled 101 receptions for 1,714 yards and ranks third on the school's career receiving yardage chart. A native of Starke, Fla., he was a Biletnikoff Award candidate and ECAC All-Star in 1996 when he led the nation in yards per reception. After participating in the 1998 Senior Bowl, Shannon was drafted in the third round by the Miami Dolphins and spent three seasons in the NFL with the Dolphins (1998-99) and Oakland Raiders (2000). The 27-year-old Shannon is a 1997 graduate of ECU with a degree in business administration.
Shep Campbell (defensive graduate assistant)
Campbell comes to ECU from Baylor, where he served as defensive graduate assistant last season. A 2001 graduate of Central Arkansas, he spent three seasons (1996-98) as part of the UCA football team and lettered at free safety. He began his coaching career at Fayetteville (Ark.) High School, where he was an assistant football coach from 1998-2001. He has worked with the Razorback football camps the past three summers. The 25-year-old Campbell is a native of Fayetteville, Ark.
