RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Ryan Grubb is expected to make the jump from college to the NFL and be hired as the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Friday night.
The move will thrill Seahawks fans who spent the past two years watching Grubb lead one of the most dynamic offenses in college football just a few miles away across the water at Washington.
The person spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because the team hadn’t announced the hiring.
Grubb spent the past two seasons as the Huskies’ offensive coordinator and was expected to take the same role at Alabama for the upcoming season. But Grubb ultimately jumped at the chance to remain in Seattle and join the coaching staff of new Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald.
Grubb, Macdonald and Seattle general manager John Schneider were noticed by fans at a restaurant near the Seahawks facility Friday night before word emerged of an agreement.
Seattle appears to have locked up many of its key coaching spots with Aden Durdee (defensive coordinator), Jay Harbaugh (special teams coordinator) and Leslie Frazier (associate head coach) all expected to round out the top tier of Macdonald’s staff.
Grubb openly expressed a desire to take over as head coach at Washington after Kalen DeBoer left to become the head coach at Alabama. But after the job ended up going to Jedd Fisch the expectation was that Grubb would be following DeBoer to Alabama and become the offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide.
Instead, Grubb will be staying in the Pacific Northwest and get his first shot at working in the NFL.
Grubb, 47, became one of the top assistant coaches in the country over the past two seasons with what he was able to accomplish at Washington. With Michael Penix Jr. running the show at quarterback, Washington had the second-best passing offense and a top 15 scoring offense in the country last season.
The unknown is how well Grubb’s systems will translate from the college game to the pros. At Washington, he worked with a veteran quarterback, arguably the best wide receiver group in college football and an offensive line that was named the top unit in the country this past season.
