Seahawks take a big gamble hiring Ryan Grubb as their offensive coordinator

Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider rolled the dice when he hired the youngest head coach in the NFL, Mike Macdonald. He's letting it ride with the hire of OC Ryan Grubb, who has no NFL coaching experience. It's a gamble that I believe will pay off handsomely in the end.

No one can say John Schneider doesn't have guts. No one is certain what role he played in the Seahawks' decision to move on from Pete Carroll, but he is the guy who's still in the building. Schneider took his time in his coaching search, and by general acclaim made by far one of the best hires of the offseason when he brought Mike Macdonald to Seattle.

Schneider played it a bit safer when he and Macdonald added Leslie Frazier as the assistant head coach. There wasn't too much risk when they added Jay Harbaugh as the Seahawks' special teams coach. Macdonald worked with him at both the University of Michigan and with the Baltimore Ravens. The addition of Aden Durde as the Seahawks defensive coordinator was more of a surprise. But he has been the Dallas Cowboys defensive line coach for the past three seasons, All of which points out what a gamble the hire of Ryan Grubb truly is.

The Seattle Seahawks swing for the fences with NFL newbie Ryan Grubb

I was going to write "neophyte", but it would have made the headline run over one line. Plus I didn't want to have to define the term for some random Cardinals fan that wandered in here. Anyway, Ryan Grubb brings a wealth of experience to the Seahawks. The only experience he doesn't have is a work reference from an NFL team. That's a bit unusual, as not too many people land coordinator gigs in this league without at least one stop somewhere as a line coach, passing coordinator, or even a quality control specialist - aka, make sure the QB has the plays taped to his wrist.

While Grubb hasn't spent any time on an NFL sideline, he does indeed have more than solid credentials. It's hardly news to most 12s that Grubb called the plays for the Washington Huskies for the past two seasons for their former head coach Kalen DeBoer. As Bob Condotta outlined for The Seattle Times, Grubb had already followed DeBoer to Alabama. Apparently, the lure and challenge of the NFL won out.

Grubb has been noted for his innovation and, well, wizardry as an offensive architect and play-caller. The Seattle Times Mike Vorel described some of that magic in his profile of Grubb just a few weeks into the 2022 college season.

UDub wide receiver Rome Odunze, projected as a first-round pick in this year's draft, gave a bit of an insider view of the spells Grubb's offense weaves on the opposition, "We talk about that a lot, how the shifts and the motions and the different things that we do can confuse defenses and get them in certain looks. It’s just a great feeling. You’re almost licking your chops when they shift into that position and (you think), ‘Oh, yeah. That’s right where I need him.’ It’s fun to see it all work together."

The same article cites the attention to detail and the repetition needed to make it all work, along with the adjustments that a team needs to make to meet the challenges posed by the defense. You know, all those things the Seahawks haven't been doing for the past few years. It's not just me saying that.

As you may recall, Tyler Lockett called his team out for not adjusting to the other guys. I think it's safe to say this coaching staff won't keep plugging away with what doesn't work. Yes, bringing in an OC with zero league experience may be a calculated risk, but there are far more reasons to believe that Ryan Grubb is another great hire for the Seahawks.

Read more from 12th Man Rising