Ryan Grubb finally coming to Tuscaloosa has allowed Alabama to return to an elite level. It may sound crazy to think the most important person on the coaching staff is the offensive coordinator, but that became clear based on how the end of the Nick Saban tenure ended, and the start of the Kalen DeBoer era began. After Steve Sarkisian left for Texas, the Crimson Tide offense took a nosedive. On paper, it did not look bad with Bill O'Brien running the offense, but there are many who felt Bryce Young's career was wasted with him as the offensive coordinator.
Coach Saban knew how special Grubb was when he tried to bring him to Alabama before his final season in Tuscaloosa. I am confident that would have allowed Saban to exit the game on top. Tommy Rees seemed to have started learning, but his inexperience as a play caller or knowing how to fully use Jalen Milroe kept the Tide from an elite level in 2023. When Coach Grubb didn't come to Tuscaloosa in 2024, we all know how frustrating the offense was, and that made Nick Sheridan the play caller after being a tight end coach despite Kalen DeBoer being known as an offensive mind himself.
Grubb finally making it to Tuscaloosa has turned Ty Simpson from just another guy into a Heisman contender, has put the offense in the right position at key moments to beat four straight ranked teams in a row, and even has the running game on an upward swing after a long streak of inconsistency from the running back position.
His presence and reunion with Coach DeBoer have allowed the program to be restored from a slight fall off since the 2020 season. Of course, fans would like to see more scoring in the second half of games, but he usually puts a wrinkle into his play calling, which determines the game. We saw it with the Jam Miller play to beat Georgia, as well as the 4th quarter score against Missouri. His ability to dial up plays has allowed for several 90+ yard scoring drives and even allows the fan base to be more comfortable with a bend but not break defense. This team is on the cusp of being another great team in the rich Alabama history, but that will come down to how well our offensive coordinator continues dialing up a near as good an offense that we've seen in a while.