Coach Q&A: Meet SMU's Joe Grilz

If nothing else, college football players and recruits will never forget the name of SMU's assistant director of player personnel, Joe Grilz. A perfect name for pop culture, a classic name for the gridiron.

Like his name, Grilz's behind-the-scenes actions with SMU football always has a way of catching the attention of the right people -- from student-athletes to recruits to NFL reps. Without him, day-to-day operations for the Mustangs can go into a downward spiral quickly.

Working alongside director of player personnel Jeff Jordan, Grilz is preparing for his third season at SMU after stints at Texas State and his alma mater, Pittsburg State in Kansas. Here is his bio, courtesy of SMU Football.

A native of Kansas, Grilz, is the latest to be featured by The HillTopics in the "Coach Q&A" series. He discussed football, life during the pandemic and everything in between.

Before we go too deep, I have to say you have one of the best coaches names in all of college football. Do you hear a lot of that from athletes or recruits?

A lot of guys are like, "Is that your real name?" They like to emphasize it -- "Joe Grillllz." It's fun.

Being from Kansas, you know all about another successful small-school program in Pittsburg State, which has quality football year in and year out. What do you see with this SMU program that may remind you of what you've seen with Pittsburg State?

I think a lot of it involves the people. Pittsburg is a small town, so everybody knows everybody. SMU is in a big city, but it's kind of tucked off to where it's kind of its own little town. Everybody's good, and the people are nice. It's a nice, little community, honestly.

You also had a year working with Texas State. You've seen the importance of grabbing in-state talent. Break that down with SMU. How big has it been to keep Texas players -- and especially local players -- close to home?

Texas is littered with great football players -- in the cracks, in the crevices, everywhere. That's been our big push for Dallas, and Texas in general. We've looked at the transfer portal as a huge opportunity for guys who want to leave but want to come back. When you don't get to see mom or dad for a while, it feels a little different when you have to go live it.

Recruiting the state has been great for us. You've seen it really take off as we've made more of a push to stay in the state -- and stay local.

You're the assistant director of player personnel. Take me through a day-to-day operation.

Usually in the morning, we'll do a lot of database stuff. We'll come in and go through our list of guys and plug them in. We'll update information on them. Right now, we'd be prepping for camps, Coach Jordan and I. We'd collaborate with a bunch of that stuff. I also do a lot of NFL liaison stuff. It's great to network and meet people and just talk our guys up while also making a name for myself.

All of the coaches and staff have had something nice to say about Sonny Dykes. Now it's your turn. What is it about Dykes that makes him so likable?

He's genuine. He's easy to work for, and he's not a micromanager. He genuinely cares about you. I think everyone's been around coaches where when you're next to them, there's an awkward tension. Coach Dykes is the guy you want over for dinner. I think dealing with the pandemic has magnified what a great person he is -- and the great coaches, in general, on staff.

You mentioned the pandemic. What have you been doing to keep yourself occupied during these times?

I've got to get back home, but for now, I've been spending a lot of time fishing, cooking meat, frying up fish. I've been buying a lot of spices. I like to cook a lot. I've been trying out some different things. I've been getting on Facebook to check out a few things, and my brother uses a company that's really good on brisket and ribs. It's been a lot of fun.

TRACKING THE HILLTOPICS' COACH Q&A SERIES

Feb. 16: Co-offensive coordinator/OLs coach AJ Ricker

Feb. 23: Co-offensive coordinator/QBs coach Garrett Riley

March 1: Defensive coordinator/LBs coach Kevin Kane

March 8: DLs coach Randall Joyner

March 15: TEs coach Josh Martin

March 22: WRs coach David Gru

March 29: Safeties coach Trey Haverty

April 5: RBs coach Ra'Shaad Samples

April 12: CBs Kevin Curtis

April 19: Director of recruiting relations and community engagement Scott Nady

April 26: Assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Chris Brasfield

May 3: Assistant director of football operations Bret Grant

May 10: Offensive analyst Hunter McWilliams

Today: Assistant director of player personnel Joe Grilz