By Jackson Posey | Sports Writer
With a blackout home crowd roaring, the final game against a longtime rival on the line, an unlikely star rose to the occasion:
The long snapper.
Baylor lost their 2023 game against Texas, but along the way, a star was born. Long snapper Garrison Grimes, a second-year starter and son of then-offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, recovered two muffed punts and snapped for both of Baylor’s made field goals.
“I think just his growth just as a young man has been really strong,” head coach Dave Aranda said on Monday after the game. “There’s been a lot of maturity there, and as always, that is just tied into football. And I think there’s the details and his work ethic and his care factor have all just skyrocketed. So, not a surprise that he was there to make the play that he made.”
Grimes continues a long legacy of elite Baylor long snappers. Former Baylor defensive end and long snapper Justin Snow played 12 years in the NFL and won Super Bowl XLI with the Indianapolis Colts. Jon Weeks holds the Houston Texans’ franchise record with 227 consecutive regular season games played. Ross Matiscik secured First Team All-Pro honors with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023. Jimmy Landes earned a sixth-round selection in 2016 before a career-ending shoulder injury, but that didn’t stop him from trick-snapping underneath a camel. And Grimes hopes to be the next success story of “Long Snapper U.”
“He’s an NFL snapper,” said sophomore punter Palmer Williams, who described Grimes’ snapping ability as “legit.” “He definitely brings a big difference to our special teams unit.”
Grimes lost a chunk of 2023 after suffering a torn ACL against UCF in September. And though he’s still getting back to 100 percent – it took him about five months to start cutting on that leg, a motion which still feels “partly not normal” – he’s ready to roll.
“It’s been about nine months post procedure, so I’m feeling pretty good,” Grimes said. “I’m out snapping, I’m full go. It was definitely a long recovery, but we got great athletic trainers, and they helped me get back to where I am now. So, ready to get back on the field.”
Grimes’ father, Jeff, was fired this offseason after three years calling plays in Waco. He took the open offensive coordinator gig at Kansas, and brought his younger son – three-star defensive end and former Baylor commit Greydon Grimes – with him to Lawrence. But Garrison chose to stay in Waco.
“It took me a while to decide on this, but I felt like this is just where the Lord wanted me,” Garrison said. “That was the main thing that just kept me here. Because everything would kind of tell me I should go, you know, but we were having this Bible study that was getting started up, and a lot of guys were going to it, and I felt like my ministry here wasn’t done yet. So that was the main reason of why I stayed here.”
In the midst of his injury, Grimes pointed to his faith as an anchor point. Around the time of his injury, Harris Creek Baptist Church was teaching a sermon series on 1 Peter and enduring “trials and tribulations,” which helped to reframe the injury’s significance.
“My faith is the biggest thing for me,” Grimes said. “They use an example of how, when they are purifying gold, like they put it in the furnace and then scrape the impurities off the top and then do it again. And that’s just kind of how life is. So, I understood at the time, like, I was going through a trial – but during that time, I was able to grow closer to God through my faith and just growing my community with my teammates too.”
The Bears return all three starters in the kicking game – the long snapper (Grimes), the punter (Williams) and redshirt junior kicker Isaiah Hankins are all back. And after a 2023 that featured some “goofing off” at practice, the unit is as focused as ever.
“Last year the specialist group, we made dumb mistakes,” Hankins said. “Like, we would goof off during practice some, and now, I feel like we’re all really locked in. Just like I said, I’m trying to really focus on the little details that will get the big details right. I feel like Palmer’s like that, Garrison’s like that. … I would say me and Gary [Garrison] probably hold each other accountable the most just because we’ve been here for so many years together. Like growing up together since freshman year, we’ve grown really close.”
The Bears open their season Aug. 31 against Tarleton State. Three hundred and thirty-six days since Grimes’ injury. Three hundred and thirty-six days since he last faced real game action. He’s ready to be back.
“As a unit, like, this is the most skilled specialist room I’ve ever seen,” Grimes said. “I’m just excited to show out. Like, we got a lot of potential. Last year wasn’t how we wanted it – we ended up being fifth in the country for special teams, but we want to be the best.
“I think we’ve got a lot more to show. … I’m just excited to play.”
