In retrospect, Ryan Grubb not joining Kalen DeBoer at Alabama was a big deal

Hindsight is always viewed in 20/20, but it should have been obvious then, and it certainly is now, that Ryan Grubb's decision to stay in Seattle to become the Seahawks' offensive coordinator was a big blow to the 2024 Alabama offense.

Grubb has long been considered one of the best playcallers in the sport. Nick Saban made a run at bringing Grubb to Tuscaloosa a couple of years ago.

His continuity with Kalen DeBoer cannot be understated, either. Grubb was the offensive coordinator and play caller in every single season DeBoer has been a head coach until now. Grubb had worked under DeBoer since 2007.

Grubb was reluctant to leave the Pacific Northwest. He interviewed and pushed to get the head coaching job at Washington following Alabama hiring DeBoer. The Huskies ultimately hired Arizona's Jedd Fisch instead.

Grubb accepted the Alabama offensive coordinator job. He helped the Crimson Tide through National Signing Day but was ultimately only on the job for a month. The Seattle Seahawks had an opening for an offensive coordinator, a position that would allow Grubb not to uproot his family from Seattle. He interviewed and was ultimately hired.

To make matters worse, Grubb took newly hired offensive line coach Jay Huff with him to Seattle. Huff coached a unit in 2023 that won the Joe Moore Award as the nation's best offensive line.

That left Alabama needing to make a couple of hires in February right before the beginning of spring practice. At OC, DeBoer chose to stick with someone he knew and promoted Nick Sheridan to offensive coordinator.

Sheridan worked with DeBoer at both Indiana and Washington. After DeBoer left Indiana to become the head coach at Fresno State, Sheridan stuck around in Bloomington and replaced DeBoer as the program's offensive coordinator.

Sheridan spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Indiana and had little success. He was fired following the conclusion of the 2021 regular season. DeBoer hired him to coach Tight Ends at Washington. He was expected to have a similar role at Alabama.

Instead, Sheridan has been thrust into a role he simply wasn't prepared for. He was not nearly experienced enough to be given the reigns as the offensive coordinator of a program like Alabama.

It will be interesting to see if DeBoer makes another run this offseason at Grubb. He's done well with the Seahawks, leading Seattle to the No. 10 ranked offense in the NFL in total yards. But whether he's enjoying the NFL game more than he did college is unknown.

In any case, I would expect some staff changes at Alabama next season. There's a good chance Sheridan will still be on the staff, but I do not expect him to be the team's offensive coordinator and primary play-caller in 2025.

Whether it is Grubb who replaces him or DeBoer rolls the dice on a proven play-caller outside of his coaching tree remains to be seen.