Washington OC Ryan Grubb reportedly set to join Alabama staff after saying he won't be Huskies' next coach
Grubb has worked with Kalen DeBoer dating back to their days at NAIA Sioux Falls
Ryan Grubb won’t be the next coach at Washington.
The Washington offensive coordinator announced late Saturday night that he wouldn’t succeed Kalen DeBoer with the Huskies. Hours after Grubb’s statement on social media, ESPN reported that he’s expected to follow DeBoer to Alabama and become the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator.
— Ryan Grubb (@GrubbRyan) January 14, 2024
"Though I wanted to be, I will not be the next head coach at the University of Washington," Grubb wrote. "It would have been a dream to stay here and fight to maintain the standard that had been re-established. I showed up every day early and stayed late gladly to fight for my family ... and with tears in my eyes, I know my last day in Husky Stadium has come."
Grubb was immediately mentioned as a top candidate to succeed DeBoer after DeBoer replaced Nick Saban at Alabama. Instead, it looks increasingly likely that Washington athletic director Troy Dannen will make an external hire.
Grubb's reported move to Tuscaloosa means Alabama is getting Grubb as its offensive coordinator a year later than initially planned. Grubb interviewed to be the offensive coordinator for the Tide after the 2022 season but decided to stay in Seattle for another season. Alabama eventually hired Tommy Rees from Notre Dame to replace Bill O’Brien.
Grubb has been a longtime assistant with DeBoer, dating back to their days at NAIA-level Sioux Falls. The school was 67-3 in DeBoer’s time as head coach from 2005-09. Grubb joined the Sioux Falls staff in 2007 and spent three seasons as the team’s offensive line coach and run game coordinator. He then was the team’s offensive coordinator until 2013 before joining Eastern Michigan’s staff in 2014 when DeBoer was the offensive coordinator.
Grubb went with DeBoer to Fresno State in 2017 and coached the Bulldogs’ offensive line for two seasons while DeBoer was the offensive coordinator. He stayed in Fresno and became the offensive coordinator when DeBoer went to Indiana to run the Hoosiers’ offense in 2019 and kept calling plays for the Bulldogs after DeBoer took over for Jeff Tedford ahead of the 2020 season.
At Alabama, Grubb will run an offense that will have no shortage of talent — even with some transfer portal departures — and a dual-threat quarterback in Jalen Milroe. His excellence at throwing deep passes should be a great fit with the vertical pass concepts DeBoer and Grubb put on display at Washington with Michael Penix Jr. The 2023 Heisman runner-up threw for over 9,000 yards in his two seasons as Washington's starting quarterback.
