Dustin Grimmett adjusting to new role with familiar team

A week removed from being promoted to Little Rock Christian's head football coach, Dustin Grimmett has not noticed a lot of major differences from his previous position as the team's defensive coordinator. 

Of course, getting hired between Christmas and New Years during the holiday break likely plays a part in that, but with school back in session the focus is set on taking it one day at a time while appreciating the process.  

"I have already been here (at LRC) and it obviously feels a little different jumping into anything, but at the same time you don't know what you don't know until you are there," Grimmett said. "I am just kind of getting hit with everything right now, but it is exciting."

Grimmett has spent the majority of his decade-long coaching career in Warriorville, serving the previous two seasons as defensive coordinator. He held the same position during the 2020-21 seasons at Arkadelphia and prior to that coached on Little Rock Christian's staff from 2015-19. 

When Grimmett returned to Little Rock Christian about this time two years ago, he did so with the idea of it providing a faster opportunity for a head-coaching position. He was just not sure it would be there, let alone this soon.

"That thought (being a head coach) crossed my mind as I was contemplating what I was going to do," Grimmett said. "I had a couple of offers from other schools on moving up in classification, and moving up did excite me. 

"I left and went to Arkadelphia to get that experience as a defensive coordinator and then coming back I knew the school and Coach (Eric) Cohu. I was excited to get to work with him again. Not that I would not have had this chance at Arkadelphia, but I knew that coming back to Little Rock Christian I would have opportunities to be a head coach either here or somewhere else."

It may be his first time leading a varsity football team, however the Bryant native is no stranger to being in charge. Along with previously serving as head coach of LRCA's junior high football team, Grimmett is also the school's current wrestling coach and won a 1A-4A team state championship at Arkadelphia in 2022.

"As a junior high coach, you deal with all of the things you do at the varsity level, it just might be on a lesser scale," Grimmett said. "Same as far as the dealing with coaches, all of the aspects of traveling, parent communication. It is just not as much in the limelight. 

"Wrestling is the same deal. You have to coach kids, you have to deal with logistical aspects and set a culture for your team. I have done all of those things, just not at the varsity level."

When Cohu announced that he was stepping down on Dec. 13, Grimmett was highly interested in the position and received rave reviews from within. 

"(The support I received) means the world to me," Grimmett said. "When Coach Cohu announced that he was going to move on to different things, everybody was kind of wondering who the next head coach is going to be. 

"I did not waste any time. I went straight to the athletic director's office and talked with him, along with other coaches on the staff."

Grimmett added that he also had the unwavering support of his peers.

"One of the coolest things for me was talking to everyone on the staff and every single one of them said that they had my back and wanted me to get this job," Grimmett said. "That is special. A lot of times when things like this happen – and rightfully so, we have some guys who are great head coaching candidates – you have two or three guys on staff pushing for it. 

"We had a unique situation where everyone got behind me and that is different. I think our staff is phenomenal, we have one of the best in the state, and the fact those guys were behind me is one of the major reasons I got the job."

During his combined stints as an assistant with the Warriors, Grimmett has had the opportunity to mentor some of the program's best all-time teams. His first season there in 2015, LRC finished in the 5A semifinals and he has also coached in three state championship games,  the most recent being 6A finals last month. 

The 2018 squad won the program's first, and only, state championship in a thrilling 52-38 victory over arch rival Pulaski Academy (both were competing in Class 5A at the time) and Grimmett took a lot from the overall experience. 

"That was a great lesson in learning how to get over the hump," Grimmett, who coached the defensive backs that year, said. "It was really about just learning to keep your cool in that type of atmosphere and not overly press it. Also, teaching our kids that it all comes back to fundamentals, tackling and just doing your job.

"A lot of times as a coach you tend to over coach. You want to put everything in the playbook that needs to be in, I have to do this and I have to do that. We made the decision that we are just going to go out there and be us."

While the LRC/PA rivalry has been one of the state's best in recent memory, the Bruins have had the upper hand on the Warriors, including returning the favor in the 2019-20 state finals. The 2023 6A-West showdown belonged to the Warriors, though, who took down the Bruins in dominating fashion, Grimmett's defense being a major reason for that as the unit finished with 11 tackles for loss.  

Having already bumped up to Class 6A prior to the 2022-23 school year, both private school powers are on the move again as they were rewarded for winning by being slotted in the 7A-Central via the Competitive Equity Factor for the 2024-26 conference cycle. 

"At any level of competition you want to compete at the highest point," Grimmett said. "In Arkansas that is 7A football, so as a competitor I am excited to compete at the highest level. 

"As a competitor what more could you ask for?"

Grimmett has the luxury not many first-time head coaches receive, already knowing his team well, plus his guys have an understanding of what is acceptable and what is not. 

"I am not Eric Cohu, and I am not going to do things exactly the way he has done it, but I would be dumb to say we do not already have a good culture and program in place," Grimmett said. "He is his own person and so am I. He has built a great culture here, we have been very competitive and there are a lot of things that have made us successful. 

"I am blessed to be able to walk into a situation as good as good as it is right now because he has really laid the foundation to be successful, even at the 7A level."

(Cover photo submitted)

– Kyle Sutherland | @k_sutherlandAR