A week after a hole opened up on his Auburn Tigers football coaching staff, Gus Malzahn has filled it.
Jan. 7, AU confirmed that J.B. Grimes was stepping down as offensive line coach to “pursue other opportunities.” During the national championship game Monday night, the Auburn Tigers football program announced that Jack Bicknell Jr. has been hired to replace Grimes.
AU made the announcement via its Twitter account.
Welcome to the Auburn Family New Offensive Line Coach @CoachBicknell!#WarEagle pic.twitter.com/02tD7E0wlg
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) January 14, 2020
Bicknell spent the past three seasons as the line coach at Ole Miss. Prior to that, he spent nine seasons in the same position in the NFL. The 56-year-old assistant served stints with the Miami Dolphins (2014-15), Pittsburgh Steelers (2013), Kansas City Chiefs (2012) and New York Giants (2009-11).
From 2009-11, Bicknell was the line coach at Boston College. His father, Jack Bicknell Sr., was the head coach at BC from 1981-90.
This past season, the Tigers were third in the SEC and 33rd nationally in averaging 199.1 yards per game. Their 1.38 sacks per game allowed were fourth in the conference and tied for the 18th-fewest in the country.
