With one season remaining and just one credit hour on his class schedule this semester, the time has arrived for Kansas wideout Luke Grimm to pour everything he’s got into his final season of KU football.
As he does, we’ll follow him every step of the way in our latest weekly diary that will chronicle Grimm’s 2024 season.
Some of what you’ll read here, in Grimm’s own words, will focus on the stuff happening between the lines — big wins, memorable catches and the grind of the season. But a lot of it will focus on Grimm the person, a 23-year-old senior (he turned 23 on Aug. 8) who has given everything he has to the program and seen it pay off in a big way.
The Grimm File
Age: 23 | Height: 6-0 | Weight: 190 | Position: Wide Receiver
Hometown: Raymore, Mo. | High School: Raymore-Peculiar High
Notable: Last season, Grimm became the 16th Jayhawk to reach the 100-catch mark for his career... The senior wideout enters the 2024 season with 126 career receptions, putting him within striking distance of climbing into 4th place (155) on KU's all-time receiving chart and with an outside shot at cracking the top 3 (214 and 219)... He also is less than 300 yards away from reaching the top 5 on KU's receiving yards list... Dubbed "The Grimm Reaper" early in his career, Grimm appeared in 6 games as a true freshman and has finished each of the past three seasons in the top four in receptions, including leading the team in 2022 and finishing second last season... A 3-star recruit by Rivals.com, 247 Sports & ESPN, Grimm was ranked as the No. 7 wide receiver in the state of Missouri by Max Preps in the 2020 class.
With his team holding massive goals for the 2024 season and the excitement surrounding Kansas football at an all-time high, Grimm is grinning from ear to ear about the potential for his final run with the Jayhawks.
After opening the season with an easy home win over Lindenwood, the Jayhawks faced their first road test of the 2024 season. And while this latest road trip did not go the way the Jayhawks had hoped it would, we talked with Grimm about some of his favorite road trips of the past and what it takes to find success away from home.
Grimm's fondest memories of playing on the road come from the moments he spends with his teammates. On the plane. At the hotel. On the bus. Or during down time at the bowl games. It's all been a huge part of Grimm's career at Kansas.
"I love traveling with our team. I think it’s so fun when we take the plane and head over to the Topeka airport and get the whole thing started.”
That's not to say that all road trips are the same.
“The drives kind of suck right now, since I know what it’s like to travel on the plane. But that first one, I just remember we were obviously super-excited to go play football somewhere. The bus rides in high school were like an hour tops, right? So you’re all talking and everyone’s excited and it’s almost go time and all that. And then that drive to Iowa State my freshman year was like four-and-a-half hours and after like 30 minutes I’m just ready to take a nap and be done with it.”
It's not just the trips to the game that can be bad. Grimm remembers one flight home from Coastal Carolina when he sat in a row with Jason Bean and Rich Miller Jr. and watched the entire team fear for its life.
“It was like 2 in the morning and we’re flying back and we had a little delay because of thunderstorms and stuff. When we got into the air, there was like the worst turbulence ever and I just remember everybody on the flight was wide awake and so scared because the turbulence was so bad. Like, we were lifted out of our seats and stuff.”
“It’s just the little memories like that, or maybe we stayed at a really nice hotel and when you leave you just walk away thinking, “I can’t believe we stayed in this hotel.’”
One such hotel is in Downtown Fort Worth, Texas for the TCU game. Another time, at West Virginia, Grimm remembers the Jayhawks staying in a hotel with ceilings that were barely 6 feet tall.
“Some guys were like bending their heads down just standing in the rooms. But it’s fun to get to see the different hotels and different cities we’re staying in. Traveling to games is really fun. I love it.”
Speaking of West Virginia, that trip to Morgantown, three years ago, is still Grimm's favorite regular season road game, in large part because it was his first road victory.
“Traveling home after a win, there’s nothing like it.”
“The best example I can give is when we beat West Virginia at West Virginia in that overtime game. We were all so hype in the locker room afterwards and so hype on the busses and by the time we got to the plane it was like you could hear a mouse squeak or a pen drop. Everyone was so tired just from being so hyped up that everyone just crashed on the plane. I don’t even remember the plane taking off. That’s how quick I fell asleep on that one.”
What about the trip home from that wild, 57-56, overtime win at Texas, you might be wondering? Grimm missed that game because of a fractured rib. But that didn't mean he missed the entire experience.
“It was so cool. Me and Will Huggins, my roommate at the time, stayed up until 3 a.m. just waiting at the facility for them to get home. And we were so fired up. Oh God. That was awesome.”
As for the logistics and specifics of how the Jayhawks approach each trip, Grimm said the key is consistency.
“When we leave from the facility, everyone’s talking and joking around and having lighthearted conversations, watching TV on the plane or a movie or taking a nap. But once you get to that hotel, it flips into that routine of we’re there now and that next 24-36 hours, or whatever it is, just everyone’s locked in and ready to go, ready to play football. That’s our entire mindset of why we’re there and it extends to everything we do.”
It didn't work out the entire time last week at Illinois, but Grimm said one of the biggest motivating factors of playing on the road is trying to make life miserable for the home team.
"I definitely think there’s an aspect of, 'Let’s shut this crowd up.'"
One of the best examples of that came last season during KU's road win at Iowa State in Ames. Literal seconds after Iowa State scored to make it a one-possession game, KU scored on its next offensive play.
“They were so juiced and then the whole stadium just went quiet. There’s nothing that beats that because you know you just took the life out of however many people are there and that’s a great feeling. There’s no momentum on their side anymore. It’s all on your side.”
Grimm never received any advice from upperclassmen about how to handle road games. But he's picked up enough tips on his own over the years and now tries to share them with the younger Jayhawks.
"I just think the biggest thing is you have to be level-headed and focused because the momentum is already against you to start."
“That West Virginia game, three years ago now, they went up 14-0 early and I just remember being on the sideline feeling like, ‘Everyone in this stadium wants us to lose.' And if you get caught up in that then it could definitely overwhelm you. But I just remember talking to guys on the sideline and we were all like, ‘Dude, we’re fine. Let’s just go out and win the game.’”
“So, that’s the biggest thing. You’ve really gotta stay in the moment of it, whether you’re winning or losing. Stay with your team and be about your team and don't worry about the outside noise, whether that’s the other team talking to you and jawing or fans screaming at you, doing what fans do. It’s just you’ve got to stay with your sideline and the people you’re with 24/7 because once you get outside of that, that’s when things can start to go south.”
Grimm's always been a traveler. He takes an annual trip with his girlfriend every spring break – usually to Fort Lauderdale, Florida or some other beach-type destination. And he's taken plenty of family road trips and even a golf trip to Arizona with his buddies.
That's what made last year's Guaranteed Rate Bowl trip his favorite to date. It combined the best elements of a football business trip with a leisurely vacation.
"That was just so much fun. We got time off the first couple days and you can kind of go explore. We all went out and checked out the town and hit up the casino and things like that. You’re only there for like an hour, but it’s just cool to see what other cities, and especially other college towns, are like.”
"We got a couple of days of fun before the bowl game and then we got back into that mindset of, ‘You know, we’re here to play and you get back into that serious mode and then it’s game day. It’s definitely different because you get the extra time and that just makes it a lot more memorable and a lot more fun."
Despite last week's loss, Grimm and the Jayhawks still have five road trips ahead of them this season, along with whatever postseason fun awaits if the season goes the way they believe it will.
Next up is a home clash on Friday with unbeaten UNLV in a rematch of the Guaranteed Rate Bowl and then it's back to the road for Grimm's final trip to West Virginia on Sept. 21.
Follow Along with Grimm's Senior Season...
• Chapter 1 - The beginning of the end
• Chapter 2 - Grimm talks media
• Chapter 3 - And so it begins...
• Look for Chapter 5 after the Jayhawks' second home game of the season, which also will be their final game at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kutickets.com
