Alabama football finally got its man at offensive coordinator Sunday. After multiple flirtations with the Crimson Tide throughout the years, Ryan Grubb will be its offensive coordinator for the 2025 season, joining his old friend Kalen DeBoer.
Grubb spent last season with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. However, he was fired from that job, his first in the NFL, after the 2024 season came to an end.
DeBoer told reporters ahead of the Senior Bowl in Mobile that he had considered hiring Grubb, but did not say anything definitive at that point. Alabama’s NIL collective announced the news Sunday.
As he begins preparations for the 2025 season, here’s what to know about Alabama’s new offensive coordinator.
This isn’t his first time in Tuscaloosa
When DeBoer took the job in January of 2024, he initially brought Grubb with him. The idea was for Grubb to take the OC spot he held under DeBoer at Washington, and for several days, all seemed well, with Grubb even speaking to a meeting of Red Elephant Club members.
Then, an opportunity arose that Grubb couldn’t turn down. He opted to remain in Seattle, this time with the NFL’s Seahawks, taking offensive line coach Scott Huff with him.
Even before that, Grubb had come close to Alabama. During the offseason ahead of the 2023 season, he interviewed with Nick Saban for the offensive coordinator job that eventually went to Tommy Rees.
After a year where Alabama struggled to find consistency, it finally was able to bring in Grubb.
He helped lead Washington to a national title appearance.
DeBoer and Grubb go way, way back. The two first worked together at Sioux Falls in 2007, when Grubb joined DeBoer’s program as run game coordinator and offensive line coach.
He followed DeBoer to multiple stops throughout their careers, from Eastern Illinois to Fresno State.
In 2022, DeBoer got the head coach job at Washington. Grubb jumped ship from Fresno State to join his friend on staff with the Huskies, and two got to work turning the program around.
The rebuild, with quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and wide receiver Rome Odunze putting up huge numbers, ended with a trip to the 2023 national championship game. The Huskies lost that game to Michigan, which had beaten Alabama in Nick Saban’s final game to reach the title matchup.
He recruited one of Alabama’s quarterbacks
One of the major challenges Grubb faces this offseason is finding a new quarterback to replace Jalen Milroe. Ty Simpson is the presumed frontrunner for the job, after serving as the Crimson Tide’s primary backup for the past two seasons.
However, Simpson was a holdover from Nick Saban’s days in Tuscaloosa. Grubb has only been the primary recruiter for one quarterback on the Tide roster, redshirt sophomore Austin Mack.
Mack followed DeBoer and Grubb from Washington, where he had redshirted the 2023 season without seeing the field. He joined the Huskies as a four-star prospect, graduating high school a year early to do so.
In addition to Mack and Simpson, true freshman Keelon Russell is expected to compete for the job. Alabama fans will get a look at the quarterbacks April 12, when the Crimson Tide wraps spring practice with the A-Day game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
