Grubb Wants to Be a Head Coach Someday, But He's Not in Any Hurry
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In his introductory news conference as the University of Washington football coach exactly a year ago, Kalen DeBoer mentioned he would be bringing an offensive coordinator with him.
He didn't identify him by name that day, yet he told how this guy was someone he trusted and had worked with him for years.
We would soon find out that was Ryan Grubb, an Iowa native who first joined DeBoer at Sioux Falls in 2007 and later followed him to Eastern Michigan, Fresno State and now to the UW.
Grubb currently is in charge of one of the most prolific offenses in Husky history, one that averages 40.8 points per game over 12 games — just trailing the UW's 2016 CFP team, that put up an even 41 points over 14 outings; but surpassing the 1991 national championship team, which averaged 39.2 a game.
Naturally, the extremely glib and just a little cocky Grubb has become a hot item across the college football coaching circles with his aggressive and creative approach to moving the ball up and down the field without much resistance.
Consider in a year's time, the Huskies have gone from a morbid John Donovan offense that averaged 21.5 points and 323.4 yards of total offense — with or without him in the press box, considering Donovan got fired nine games into the season — to that 41.2 magic number and 521 yards per game.
"I've told Jen [Cohen] this and I've told Kalen this, I have a deep passion for calling plays," Grubb said, referencing his athletic director as well as his coach. "I desire to be the best O-coordinator in the country."
It appears following this 12-game sample that Grubb is well on his way to doing that, though the Broyles Award, given to the nation's top assistant coach, just named five semifinalists this week and he wasn't one of them.
His UW players swear by him, descriving Grubb as a genius after coming out of spring ball. Team leaders such as Jalen McMillan like to joke that he calls the weirdest plays, but they have great fun running them.
With the enormous success Grubb has had in such short amount of time in Montlake, people assume he automatically might move on and become a head coach or get poached by some other school waving unlimited dollars at him to run its offense.
That isn't going to happen right away, certainly not the coaching promotion to being the top guy somewhere and definitely not the coach-stealing part. He's still beefing up his resume.
Plus on Tuesday, Mike Vorel of the Seattle Times reported that Grubb recently agreed to a contract extension through 2025. A school official confirmed Grubb will earn $1.45 million in 2023, $1.55 million in 2024 and $1.67 million in 2025.
On Monday, Grubb indicated his goal one day is to become a college head coach but he seemed to temper that thought with the suggestion he's just getting started at the UW while working alongside DeBoer, his coaching mentor and longtime friend.
"I'm super happy at Washington," Grubb said. "I told my guys that and I couldn't be more fired up to keep leading this team."
The UW offensive coordinator said the big thing DeBoer has taught him is the power of making a strong personal connection with the coaches and players in an honest manner.
Where there have been hints that Jimmy Lake's staff fractured down the middle and people weren't happy at all as the program disintegrated during a 4-8 season, everyone on DeBoer's crew seems overly comfortable and content in working together and putting a 10-2 team on the field.
"Kalen is elite at building relationships," Grubb said. "At the end of the day, what every assistant coach and every player wants is somebody to value your relationship and your piece in the big part of the team. That's where people ending up performing at really high levels is when they feel they have value."
If he keeps progressing in the way he has, Grubb's time will come soon enough as a potential head coach. He has the luxury of having a lengthy and very straight-forward bond with DeBoer, where they support each other and can speak very openly about their career paths and interests. He'll know when the time is right.
"For me, I'm in a really good spot with that," Grubb said. "I don't have to beat around the bush or anything like that because what Kalen will want is what's best for me and my career. He wants me to have all those experiences as a head coach someday."
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