Lacrosse Legend John Grant Jr. On The Move To Johns Hopkins

DENVER (CBS4)- Lacrosse legend John Grant Jr. is on the move. Monday, Johns Hopkins University announced it was hiring Grant Jr. as its new offensive coordinator.

"It's a dream come true for me," said Grant in an interview with CBS4 sports anchor Michael Spencer.

"What a historic program, and some of the best lacrosse players in the country. I'm thrilled."

Grant spent the past two seasons as an assistant at Air Force. Prior to that he was the head coach at Valor Christian.

"It caught me completely off guard," Grant Jr. said of his recent hiring.

Grant Jr. had reached out to Hopkins' head coach Peter Milliman to get a scouting report on some players the Denver Outlaws were considering drafting in the recent MLL draft, and that conversation led to a job interview.

"He said, 'would you be interested in talking a little bit more about the job here?'" Grant Jr. recalled. "I said, 'sure I'd like to chat,' and he reached out to my boss at Air Force to make it formal and bang-bang it happened quick."

Grant had a virtual meeting with his new players on Monday night, but had to make a quick stop at a local apparel store first.

"I snuck out today, put on my mask and bought a Johns Hopkins hat," Grant Jr. said while referencing a recent trip to the store.

"I wanted to have it for my call with the guys tonight. Obviously, 24 hours ago, I didn't have this job, so I would have no reason to have this stuff otherwise," he joked.

As for whether his ascent up the coaching ranks signals a desire to become a head coach at the college level, Grant Jr. is taking the wait-and-see approach.

"It's not a goal as in like I'm making steps in my career to do that," said Grant Jr.

'When I was a player it was always about trying to get better and trying to learn different facets and become a better leader. Every year it 'was what am I'm going to tackle to get better.' Coaching is the same thing. I went from Valor to Air Force, now to the most historic program in the country and I'm going to focus on that.

"This is a destination, and I'm not taking it for granted."