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Alabama’s biggest offseason move brought even more continuity to coach Kalen DeBoer’s staff, as offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb returned — sort of — to Tuscaloosa, reuniting with DeBoer after a brief stint in the NFL.
Grubb almost became the Crimson Tide OC twice before. In the offseason before Washington made it to the national title game, Nick Saban tried to hire him, but the Iowa native opted to remain in Seattle with his mentor DeBoer and coach Michael Penix Jr.’s final college season.
Then last year, after DeBoer replaced Saban, Grubb spent three weeks with the Tide before accepting the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator job.
“Third time’s the charm,” Grubb joked earlier this month.
The last time Grubb and DeBoer teamed up, in 2023, they conducted one of the most prolific offenses in college football, as Washington led the nation in passing yards and made the national title game. The high-speed turnaround came just two years after the Huskies had gone 4-8 and ranked No. 107 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring and No. 113 in yards per play.
The challenge now is to amp up an offense that sputtered at times in 2024. The Tide averaged only 28 points in SEC play last year after averaging 41 over the previous five seasons.
“When you coach with a guy for so many years, you know what he’s gonna bring to the table,” DeBoer told The Athletic earlier this month. “You just know Ryan’s gonna bring his best every single day. He’s got a good feel, not just for quarterback and skill play and scheme, but he’s got his eyes on the offensive line, too. To have the entire offensive staff back and then to bring him on top of that, how can it be any better?”
He inherits a talented O-line and a good group of wideouts led by sophomore Ryan Williams, a preseason second-team All-American. Junior Ty Simpson, who finished spring football strong, had an impressive camp and won the starting quarterback job.
Simpson, son of Tennessee-Martin head coach Jason Simpson, looked erratic in the pocket early in spring ball and lacked poise as Grubb handed him more responsibility for running the offense. But over the last four or five spring practices, Simpson didn’t throw any interceptions.
“He caught up to the curriculum, where you could see — ‘OK, I’m getting a grasp of it,’” Grubb said.
It helped that Grubb didn’t have to go out on the road recruiting in the spring. He was able to debrief with the Tide staff and focus on preparation for the season, grinding through the details with Alabama’s analysts and watching film with Simpson, Williams and the other players.
Grubb led football IQ meetings with players to better educate them on situational football, a trick the 49-year-old coach picked up in the NFL.
Alabama’s quarterbacks only threw four or five interceptions in their first dozen practices this fall. Simpson only threw one.
“It’s fun watching (Alabama QB coach/co-OC) Nick Sheridan and Grubb go to work with the quarterbacks,” said DeBoer. “It’s high-level stuff that’s getting taught. It’s high-level but it’s also meat and potatoes, the most important stuff that’s getting taught and building from there. They feed off each other’s energy. They’re in it with no ego and just enjoy coaching ball. It’s just cool seeing those guys all believe in each other, and always searching for ways to make what we do better for our guys. And that’s the key for our guys because it might not look exactly like it did last year or the year before.”
Here’s more of what we’re hearing as the 2025 season kicks off in earnest Thursday night.
