Illinois Wesleyan

Veteran high school softball coach Bob Grimes is in his ninth season as an assistant on Tiffany Prager's staff at Illinois Wesleyan in 2024.

Grimes was the head softball coach at Normal Community High School from 2002 until his retirement after the 2016 season. In 15 highly-successful years at NCHS, Grimes compiled a record of 420-109-1 with six 30-win seasons including the 2007 Illinois Class AA state championship.

He also had teams with one state runner-up finish (2002 Class AA), nine Big 12 Conference championships, nine regional titles, three sectional crowns and three state tournament appearances.

A native of Lexington, Ill., Grimes is a 1978 Illinois Wesleyan graduate and was a four-year football letterman for the Titans, earning the team's Defensive "Most Valuable Player" award and first team all-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin honors as a defensive lineman as a senior (1977).

In his career, Grimes taught and coached in Lexington and the Unit 5 school system (Fairview, Glenn, Colene Hoose) and coached softball at Chiddix Junior High and at Normal Community junior varsity before becoming the NCHS head coach in 2002.