Seahawks Officially Hire Ryan Grubb as OC — Here's What They're Getting

Seattle just couldn't let go of a football character such as Ryan Grubb, with the former University of Washington offensive coordinator officially hired by the Seattle Seahawks on Tuesday for the same role.

By now, of course, this was no secret whatsoever. New Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald earlier in the week had openly talked about adding Grubb to his staff while the announcement was delayed by a Super Bowl embargo on teams releasing news within a certain window of the NFL's championship game.

For Grubb, it's been a meteoric rise through football's highest levels.

Twenty-seven months ago, Kalen DeBoer was announced as the new Husky coach and simply said at his introductory news conference he'd be bringing his offensive coordinator with him from Fresno State without mentioning the guy by name.

Almost no one in that room could have said "Ryan Grubb" without first looking up the OC on the football roster for the Mountain West team.

He and DeBoer previously coached together at Sioux Falls, Eastern Michigan and Fresno State for 15 seasons and now they would spend two more at the UW.

Staying in the PNW.

We've named Ryan Grubb as our Offensive Coordinator. pic.twitter.com/fc3x4zuVBD
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 13, 2024

Everyone in Montlake soon was introduced to a scruffy, shoot-from-the-hip sort of guy who the Husky players and Seattle-area media members would take an immediate liking.

They would learn he was a small-college football player from Iowa, a wide receiver, who had become a hog farmer once he was done playing and he eventually turned to coaching.

Without being disrespectful, Grubb would tell everyone exactly what he thought as he climbed the ladder. He was direct and honest. Funny, too.

Twice this reporter ran into the high-energy offensive coordinator wandering the press box on the road, trying to find the men's restroom just minutes before kickoff in a humorous fashion, practically pleading for directions.

Once everything began on game day, Grubb was so bold and brazen with his calls, which often involved going for it on fourth down, that DeBoer cautiously had to ask, "Are you sure?"

It took Grubb just one season and 12 months in Seattle to build a reputation for aggressive and entertaining offensive football that Alabama and Texas A&M found so appealing they tried to lure him away.

Later Grubb would intimate that only a step up in employment would take him away from the UW if it was his call, meaning he had to become a head coach or, in this case, turn to a pro football career.

Alabama still has to be wondering why it could never coax this offensive mastermind to spend more than a few weeks in Tuscaloosa.

One reason was he wasn't awed or overwhelmed by the place known to others as some sort of football shrine. Another was it was time for him and DeBoer to each do their own thing.

The Seahawks couldn't help but notice what he was making happen on the other side of Lake Washington and had to have this former hog farmer to make them a bolder and more entertaining football team. The NFL may never be the same again.

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