John Clyde Grass (born February 29, 1968) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach. He is the former head football coach at the

Jacksonville State University Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, master's degree, master's, educati ...

, a position he held from 2014 until 2021. Grass joined the coaching staff of the

Jacksonville State Gamecocks The Jacksonville State Gamecocks are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Jacksonville State University (JSU) located in Jacksonville, Alabama, United States. The Gamecocks athletic program is a member of the ASUN Conference, which it rejoined ...

in 2013 as assistant head coach and

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

under

Bill Clark William Clark (1770–1838) was an American soldier and explorer; governor of Missouri Territory. William Clark may also refer to: Business * W. H. Clark (brewer) (William Henry Clark, c. 1815–c. 1870), brewer in South Australia * William Bell ...

. He previously coached

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

in the state of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

for over two decades. Grass was born in

Ashville, Alabama Ashville is a city in and one of the county seats of St. Clair County, Alabama, United States, other seat being Pell City. Its population was 2,212 at the 2010 census, down from 2,260, at which time it was a town. It incorporated in 1822. Hist ...

. Since he was born on February 29 (commonly known as a "leap year baby"), his date of birth is recognized as February 28.

Coaching career

Grass was named head coach of the

in 2014 after

left to fill a coaching vacancy at UAB. During the 2014 regular season, the Gamecocks went 10–1 and received the #3 seed in

NCAA Division I Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was kn ...

. They won the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

outright for the first time. During the 2015 season, the Gamecocks again won the OVC Championship outright. They narrowly lost to Auburn in an overtime game, and went on to play North Dakota St. Bison in the FCS National Championship game, where they lost 37-10. JSU's record finished at 13-2. The 2016 season was also a successful season for Jacksonville State, where they again won the OVC Championship outright, and were granted the #3 seed for the FCS Playoffs. Grass' third season as head coach finished during the second round of the FCS Playoffs, where they were upset by the Youngstown St. Penguins 40-24 at home. Grass resigned as head coach at Jacksonville State on November 8, 2021 with two regular season games left to play. No reason was given, but it was a mutual decision by Grass and the administration. The following month, it was announced that Grass was hired by Clemson in an off-field analyst role.

Education and family

Grass graduated from Jacksonville State in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in physical education. He received a master's of physical education from Jacksonville State in 1997 and an Ed.S. in administration in 2010 from

Lincoln Memorial University Lincoln Memorial University (LMU) is a private university in Harrogate, Tennessee. LMU's campus borders on Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. As of fall 2019, it had 1,975 undergraduate and 2,892 graduate and professional students. LMU i ...

. Grass married his wife, Jada (née Arnold) in 1995. They have three children: Jud, Jules, and Jace Cannon.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

Jacksonville State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grass, John 1968 births Living people Clemson Tigers football coaches Jacksonville State Gamecocks football coaches High school football coaches in Alabama Jacksonville State University alumni Lincoln Memorial University alumni People from St. Clair County, Alabama