Should Kalen DeBoer make the move everyone wants to see by hiring Ryan Grubb as offensive coordinator?
The Seattle Seahawks surprisingly fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb on Monday despite the team winning 10 games amid a flurry of injuries that made his job more complicated. Grubb's aggressive downfield throwing scheme worked wonderfully at Washington in 2023 as Kalen DeBoer and Michael Penix Jr. maximized the scheme. Grubb was originally going to follow […]
The Seattle Seahawks surprisingly fired offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb on Monday despite the team winning 10 games amid a flurry of injuries that made his job more complicated. Grubb's aggressive downfield throwing scheme worked wonderfully at Washington in 2023 as Kalen DeBoer and Michael Penix Jr. maximized the scheme.
Grubb was originally going to follow DeBoer to Alabama last offseason, but he quickly reneged on his acceptance of the job to go to the Seahawks. It's hard to blame him, given the NFL's allure. But now back on the market, the consensus from everyone around the media world is that DeBoer should bring Grubb back into the mix.
Nick Sheridan is the current offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. It's conceivable the Crimson Tide could demote Sheridan to be just the QBs coach and have Grubb take over the offense once again. Washington's offensive achievements speak for themselves, but Alabama doesn't have the same infrastructure as the Huskies had.
Jalen Milroe is off to the NFL, the Crimson Tide's run game was broken in 2024, and this roster will be young in 2025. DeBoer is facing heat already after a nine-win season with several bad losses. Does it make sense to lean further into Grubbs' offense?
The Tide were almost perfectly balanced in 2024, calling 53% of their plays as runs or passes that turned into runs by Milroe. That balance is usually a staple of good things for Alabama, but the lack of a quality run game stemmed from mediocre blocking, running back talent, and a scheme issue.
To fix this, one of three things must happen. Either the talent needs to get better, the scheme improves, or the passing game is used to set up the run game. The latter is what Grubbs can bring.
Almost 59% of Washington's plays in 2023-24 were passing calls. While Alabama might not go to that much of an extreme, as that was the eighth-highest rate, Grubbs followed suit with Seattle. Again, his personnel allowed that without a star rusher for much of the season and Geno Smith is a lot like Penix.
With Milroe gone, the Tide is left with Ty Simpson and 5-star recruit Keelon Russell as the players most likely to win the starting quarterback job in 2025. They added former ULL running back Dre'lyn Washington, but he's far from a sure-fire star.
What Alabama and Kalen DeBoer can do at quarterback after Jalen Milroe's NFL Draft decision
Jalen Milroe is off to the 2025 NFL Draft as expected, wasting little time in announcing his decision after Alabama's shocking loss to Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl. Kalen DeBoer and the Crimson Tide likely aren't surprised, even considering Milroe's struggles throughout 2024. His decision seemed to come down to transferring or declaring for the […]
With that in mind and no significant talent additions coming, the Tide might as well lean into Grubbs' aggressive attack. They don't want to become a pseudo-Mike Leach offense in the SEC, but there's a path to keeping the dominant run game that Nick Saban balanced with their spread concepts with Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa, and Bryce Young.
As long as DeBoer doesn't lose sight of the importance of winning in the trenches and finding the program's next star back to go with his highly-touted passing prospect, then bringing in Grubb would solidify a staff that couldn't generate in-season adjustments that led to wins.
