The Crimson Tide football team hired Ryan Grubb as its offensive coordinator on Feb. 6, replacing Nick Sheridan after only one season in which the team finished 9-4.
Offensive issues and complaints arose last season with Sheridan at the helm, and the hope is that those issues will be solved with Grubb in the house.
Grubb was born and raised in Kingsley, Iowa, where he began his playing career, and he later attended Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa. There he continued his career as a running back and wide receiver, starting all four years and earning a team captain role.
In 1999, he graduated from Buena Vista with a degree in business administration. His coaching career started four years later when he took the offensive coordinator job at Kingsley-Pierson High School, his alma mater.
“I didn’t know anything. I was just trying to figure it out honestly,” Grubb told SiouxlandProud in 2024. “Just energy and commitment and love and just try to challenge the guys everyday.”
In 2005, he started working with the University of South Dakota coaching staff, helping coach the running backs. He did this all while pursuing his master’s in sports administration.
In 2006, he began working with wide receivers and finally earned his second degree. But he wasn’t content. He was looking for a big break while working other jobs.
But it didn’t take much longer until he found the kickstarter for his career. In 2007, he took the offensive line coach position and running game coordinator position at the University of Sioux Falls under Kalen DeBoer, then the Cougars’ head coach.
“Ryan took a road less traveled and chased a dream,” former head coach at Buena Vista University Joe Hadacheck said to BVU Athletics.
Grubb stayed at Sioux Falls for seven years, working as a strength and conditioning coach before moving to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after his first three seasons.
In his time with Sioux Falls, he helped DeBoer win back-to-back NAIA national titles and also won NAIA National Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year in 2008. Grubb remained with the Cougars when DeBoer went to Southern Illinois after the 2009 season, but when DeBoer jumped to Eastern Michigan for the same position in 2014, Grubb followed.
They both remained at Eastern Michigan for three years before DeBoer would again take the same position elsewhere, this time moving to Fresno State. Grubb followed, taking the same position but adding the title of run game coordinator.
When DeBoer left in 2019, Grubb took his spot as OC. Entering the 2019 season in Fresno, Grubb held two new titles, as he became associate head coach in addition to offensive coordinator. Grubb remained in those positions until DeBoer was hired as head coach at the University of Washington, and Grubb followed along.
He took the positions of associate head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach. Alongside DeBoer, he helped make an immediate impact on the Huskies. In the 2022 season with Washington Grubb led the Huskies’ offense which finished 11-2 and won the Alamo Bowl.
Following the season, former Alabama head coach Nick Saban reached out to Grubb in an attempt to bring him in as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator for 2023. Grubb rejected it, so Saban hired Tommy Rees while Grubb stayed at Washington. Grubb helped lead the Huskies to an even better season, during which they appeared in the national championship.
“That was really hard,” Grubb told On3 about declining the offer. “I respect the heck out of Coach Saban. That one was a little bit more just the guys I had in the locker room at Washington.”
Following that season, DeBoer was hired as the Alabama head coach. In hopes that business would continue as usual, he made an attempt to hire Grubb as offensive coordinator.
There was no official news, but it seemed set in stone. Grubb changed social media bios and even appeared at DeBoer’s introduction at The University of Alabama, saying, “I’m your new offensive coordinator.”
However, there was never any pen to paper. Grubb wanted to stay in Seattle, so when he wasn’t selected for the head coaching job at Washington, he took the offensive coordinator job for the Seattle Seahawks.
After a not-so-great season in the NFL, he was let go. DeBoer seized the opportunity, offering Grubb his third opportunity to come to Alabama, which he took.
“Third time’s the charm, right?” Grubb said. “I felt like I could be an addition and not necessarily have to totally uproot everything that’s going on.”
For the 2025 season, Grubb has reunited with familiar faces in DeBoer, including former Washington wide receiver Germie Bernard and former Washington quarterback Austin Mack.
With hopes of another top of the leaderboard offense like Washington had, Bernard has high expectations for what Grubb can do with Alabama.
“He just wants the best out of everybody,” Bernard told TouchdownAlabama. “He’s just aggressive with the way that he calls plays. He’s not afraid to take any chances, take any shots.”
After spending many years coaching with Grubb, DeBoer has praised him highly.
“He’s got some great play-calling experience, and you can feel that little edge that he brings,” DeBoer told SportsIllustrated. “There’s a reason why we brought him in.”
With an experienced coordinator, experienced players and established familiarity, Alabama’s offense looks to a high level of improvement from last season.
