Ryan Grubb was a failure as the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator. Maybe he is a good person, and that is more important than being a good football coach, but he got paid to do a job with Seattle and did it poorly.
A big part of Grubb's issues when transitioning from college success to Washington to the NFL in Seattle was that he couldn't seem to design creative short-yardage play-calls. In 2024, Seattle was 21st in the NFL in third-down conversions and 15th in red zone touchdown conversions.
The team has improved quite a bit in terms of red zone conversions under new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, as the team is eighth in the NFL at 66.7 percent through six games. The truth is, had Grubb been better at scheming plays near the goal line, Seattle might have made the playoffs.
Alabama's Ryan Grubb proves to be better than he ever was with the Seattle Seahawks
Head coach Mike Macdonald obviously knew Grubb's limitations and fired him a day after last season ended. The move needed to be made, or otherwise, Macdonald and Grubb would seemingly have always had opposing views on how the team should approach its offensive design.
Grubb was hired by the University of Alabama, where he rejoined Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer. The Crimson Tide is better off with Grubb. He doesn't have to account for the speed and power of NFL players when drawing up players. But that, oddly, appears to have freed him up to be more creative.
With Alabama in a tight game against the University of Missouri and facing fourth and goal from the 2-yard line, Grubb designed a brilliant play where running back Daniel Hill was lined up left of the quarterback and was able to get open because the defense was fooled by what the slot receiver was doing.
It was seemingly simple, but the execution was perfect. It was also everything that the Seattle Seahawks were never gifted with Grubb as OC. In his first NFL stint, Grubb was overwhelmed and overthought. Maybe he will get another chance in the league, but hopefully not with Seattle.
Or maybe, and better for him, he will get a head coaching gig at the college level. Ryan Grubb knows how to beat lesser-talent college defenses. What he didn't know with the Seattle Seahawks was how to be efficient and productive against professional defenses.