Seahawks to hire ex-UW Huskies coach Ryan Grubb as offensive coordinator

The Seahawks got their man, and Ryan Grubb gets the chance of a lifetime.

An NFL source confirmed Friday night that the Seahawks have hired the former University of Washington assistant as their offensive coordinator, joining the staff of new coach Mike Macdonald.

Grubb, Macdonald and Seahawks general manager John Schneider met Friday night to iron out the details. The announcement is expected within days, possibly Saturday.

Macdonald and Schneider — who has final say on all personnel and coaching staffing now — set their sights on Grubb from almost the minute that Macdonald’s hiring as Pete Carroll’s successor was made official Jan. 31.

The Seahawks also interviewed Chip Kelly and considered Detroit passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand. But Kelly had been deemed a longshot from the start, and it became clear he was not in the picture Friday morning when he left his head-coaching job at UCLA to take over as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

Sources confirmed the Seahawks wanted Grubb all along, taking a chance on a coach who has never worked in the NFL. Like his mentor, former UW coach Kalen DeBoer, Grubb has made a meteoric rise up the coaching ladder the past few years.

Grubb first worked with DeBoer when he joined the staff at NAIA Sioux Falls in 2007. He later worked alongside DeBoer at Eastern Michigan and Fresno State before following DeBoer to UW.

He planned to follow DeBoer to Alabama, spending the past few weeks working there to put together the Crimson Tide’s 2024 recruiting class.

Many had surmised that Grubb was staying at Alabama on Wednesday when he made an appearance at a booster function on national signing day and said, “I’m Ryan Grubb, I’m your new offensive coordinator.”

But Alabama’s website had continued to list only DeBoer under its coaches section. And one source had said following Grubb’s statement at Alabama that “nothing had changed” in regard to Seattle’s pursuit of Grubb.

And that proved true Friday night when news broke that Grubb will break from DeBoer to return to Seattle and become the Seahawks’ OC. NFL teams do not release official terms of contracts, but coordinators often can receive contracts up to three years in length. It’s likely the Seahawks gave Grubb a substantial deal for him to leave Alabama.

Certainly, the Seahawks are heavily invested in Grubb as he fills the most important position on Macdonald’s staff. Macdonald’s background is in defense, and he has said he plans to continue to call the defensive plays.

That put a lot of pressure on the Seahawks to get the OC hire right.

Macdonald had foreshadowed that someone with a college background could get the job when he said at his introductory news conference that NFL play-calling experience was not a priority in an OC.

“It’s not near the top of the list [of priorities],” he said. “We’re looking for the right person to come in here and build this thing, so we want somebody that’s open-minded, that has a growth mindset, that can connect with their players, and build a system that’s unique to the Seattle Seahawks that’s going to live here for a long time and who’s going to be the one spearheading it.”

Though the Seahawks had interest in Grubb from the start, one reason for waiting to make the hire official was to allow a 30-day window for Alabama players to enter the transfer portal to pass.

Nick Saban announced he was retiring as Alabama’s coach, opening a 30-day window. But the window passes Saturday.

There have also been rumors that Scott Huff, who was UW’s offensive-line coach in 2022-23 and followed DeBoer to Alabama, could now follow Grubb to Seattle.

There were indications Friday night that it could happen, but that it was not a done deal. ESPN reported Friday night that Huff is expected to join Macdonald’s staff.

Before Friday there had not been any reports of the Seahawks hiring any offensive coaches, appearing to allow the new offensive coordinator to have a significant say in the staff. 

The Grubb hiring fills out what appears to be the most significant spots on Macdonald’s staff. 

It was confirmed earlier Friday that Seattle will hire Aden Durde as defensive coordinator. Seattle is also expected to hire Jay Harbaugh, the son of Jim, as special-teams coordinator.

And a source confirmed that Seattle has hired former Vikings coach Leslie Frazier as associate head coach.

The offensive coordinator job will be Grubb’s first in the NFL.

But the Seahawks hope he can replicate the success he had at UW. The Huskies went a combined 25-3, including 14-1 last season with an appearance in the national championship game against Michigan.

The Huskies finished 13th in the nation in points scored in 2023 at 36.0 and seventh in 2022 at 39.7.

That was with a pass-heavy offense that featured Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Michael Penix Jr. The Huskies finished second nationally in passing yards per game in 2023 at 343.7.

Macdonald, meanwhile, is coming from a Baltimore offense that led the NFL in rushing attempts and yards in 2023, guided by dual-threat QB and league MVP Lamar Jackson.

But Macdonald said in his introductory news conference that he is not married to a specific offensive philosophy.

“The percentage of when you run the ball and how much, that’s all adjustable,” Macdonald said. “To me it’s going to mirror our football team. We’re going to be a physical football team. We’re going to have answers. We’re going to try to be explosive and really build it around the players that we have. We’re going through the process right now of who’s going to be helping design that and ultimately calling plays.

“To have a specific answer for you what it’s going to look like, I can’t do that now. But that’ll come into focus here sooner than later.”

The news of Grubb’s pending announcement as offensive coordinator capped a day in which there were increasing rumors that he was part of Seattle’s search, despite his statement at Alabama on Wednesday.

The rumor mill kicked up that much more when several posts on the social media site X reported that Grubb was in the Seattle area Friday night. A couple of posts even featured photos of him in a Renton pub with Schneider and Macdonald.

Those three may well have been celebrating that they are now the Seahawks’ new power trio.

It was Schneider who took over control of personnel following the dismissal of Carroll. Schneider led the search that landed Macdonald, signing him to a six-year contract — the first head-coaching hire of his career.

With the hope that Macdonald can fix the defense, the two set their sights on Grubb to lead the offense.

Now they are all in place to lead Seattle into the post-Carroll era.