Seattle hiring Ryan Grubb: Alabama offensive coordinator ran prolific offense under Kalen DeBoer at Washington

After accepting an offer to become Alabama’s new offensive coordinator, Washington’s former OC Ryan Grubb will return to the West Coast for that same position with the Seattle Seahawks and fill one of the top vacancies left in the NFL coaching cycle, according to 247Sports.

Grubb, 47, had been linked to Seattle after the Seahawks lost Shane Waldron to the same job with the Chicago Bears. But the former Washington assistant then appeared to finalize a deal with Alabama to become new head coach Kalen DeBoer’s OC, even telling boosters Wednesday at the Crimson Tide’s Bryant-Denny Stadium that he’d accepted the position.

Now, just days later, Grubb is NFL-bound, per Matt Zenitz, and will be tasked with running the offense under new Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald.

The move marks a return to the state of Washington for Grubb, who served as the Huskies’ assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the last two seasons. Prior to that, the Iowa native spent five years with Fresno State in a multitude of assistant offensive positions, as well as multi-year stops with Eastern Michigan, Sioux Falls and South Dakota State.

Grubb has never held an NFL job, however, so his role as the Seahawks’ new OC will be his first pro position of any kind.

It’s worth noting that Grubb has strong ties to 2024 NFL Draft prospect Michael Penix Jr., who transferred to Washington the same year Grubb joined the program. Penix Jr. is widely considered one of the top QB options in this year’s class, and Seattle could be in the market for another signal-caller with Geno Smith, 33, a potential salary-cap casualty coming off an uneven season.