Grubb Is Small-Town Guy Who Became a Big Deal in Montlake

Sixteen months ago at his introductory news conference as University of Washington football coach, Kalen DeBoer mentioned how he had someone in mind as his offensive coordinator.

DeBoer didn't identify him by name, only revealing they had worked together for a long time.

Everyone would soon find out this person was Ryan Grubb who would be entrusted with fixing a Husky offense that was truly broken, yet all of this didn't immediately send any trumpets blaring.

Grubb was a small-town Iowa native. Former small-college wide receiver. Aspiring coach with previous stops at South Dakota State, Sioux Falls, Eastern Michigan and Fresno State, which included stints as an offensive-line coach and strength and conditioning coach. Nothing over the top there.

Now look at him.

Grubb, following two UW pay raises that boosted him to a $2 million salary annually, currently ranks as the nation's second-highest paid assistant coach, behind only Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who makes $2.01 million.

The Huskies OC stands to be paid higher than Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, at $1.9 million; LSU defensive coordinator Matt House and Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, both at $1.8 million; Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi, at $1.77 million, and Texas defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, at $1.7 million.

Lupoi and Kwiatkowski, of course, are former UW assistant coaches.

Montlake football, it seems, has been a lot like the Foster School of Business — it prepares you to make a lot of money.

Grubb since joining the Huskies has been offered jobs by Texas A&M and Alabama, but chose to return for a second season and build on his offensive success and an 11-2 bowl season, with all of this happening practically overnight.

"I don't know if surprised is the right word," he said after practice earlier this month. "Happy. Excited. Honestly, I mean, every season I've ever went into you're thinking of the top end of what that season could be. I felt I had enough experience as far as watching film to know what the Pac-12 was.

"Then relative to what we'd seen in spring ball and what we had for tools, not even having Jaxson [Kirkland] and Bainie [Henry Bainivalu] back, I was super optimistic, I really was."

Ryan Grubb catching a spring practice pass.

The roots for this man are something out of the Wizard of Oz. You can almost envision this guy riding a bike through a tornado and ending up in a fantasy world. Who's to say he didn't have a dog named Toto.

Grubb's tiny hometown of Kingsley has a population of 1,396 and is located on State Route 140 exactly halfway between Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Omaha, Nebraska, which are 115 miles away north and south.

President Herbert Hoover lived in Kingsley as a child. Everyone in town heads to the Doosky's East restaurant for the fried banana poppers. Locals forever will remember the crash landing of the disabled United Airlines plane that killed 111 people in 1989 in Sioux Falls, just 25 miles away.

Grubb played his college football as a pass-catcher for the Buena Vista University Beavers in Storm Lake, which is 40 miles away to the East. Actor Gene Hackman grew up there as a young boy.

Now Grubb is the Husky football genius, sort of blunt, always fun. He's seen in practice running routes and catching passes from his QBs, showing off what he once did, or sprinting the length of the Husky Stadium field after working with his players post practice to meet with waiting reporters.

In animated fashion, UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb calls the offensive shots from his perch high in the Husky Stadium press box on game day.

Offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb celebrates an Apple Cup victory in late November, surrounded by Husky offensive linemen Troy Fautanu and Roger Rosengarten.

Ryan Grubb seems to enjoy the give-and-take of a media interview session, never shying away from tough questions that come his way.

UW offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb accompanied quarterback Michael Penix Jr. back to Indianapolis to check out the NFL Combine.

Ryan Grubb is bundled up while meeting with the Husky football media contingent following spring practice on an extra chilly day.

Ryan Grubb is now on his fifth college coaching job, with stops at South Dakota State, Sioux Falls, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and Washington.

However, it's the offensive knowledge this man possesses and distributes that has everyone's attention these days.

Monken, the one coordinator paid higher than him, directed a Georgia offense that averaged 491.9 yards and 39.2 points per game.

Grubb emerged with even glitzier UW numbers of 515.8 yards and 39.7 points per game in his debut season at the Power 5 level.

Even with Alabama and Texas A&M courting him, he always knew he was coming back for another Husky season.

"I thought it would have been pretty hard for me to walk away from these guys after just one year," he said. "Think about the conversations I had with Troy [Fautanu], Rome [Odunze], JMac [Jalen McMillan] and Mike [Penix], and their families, and talking about why to come back."

Realistically, Grubb likely doesn't leave the Huskies unless he's offered a head-coaching job. When you reach his exalted pay scale as a coordinator, rarely do those sort of guys make a lateral move in terms of football responsibilities.

Consider the three assistant coaches nationally who were paid $2 million or higher in 2021 were Clemson's Brent Venables ($2.5 mill) and Tony Elliott ($2.13 mill) and Texas A&M's Mike Elko ($2.1 mill). Last season, they became head coaches at Oklahoma, Virginia and Duke, respectively.

For now, DeBoer's trusted offensive guru will continue to draw his hefty paycheck from the UW and see where another college football season leads him. He's come a long way in 16 months.

"It's unbelievable the faith the school has in me," Grubb said. "It's exciting."

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