RENTON — Ryan Grubb went from being one of the hottest college coaching commodities, to a genuine curiosity as a coach in the NFL.
One of the great unknowns about the Seattle Seahawks entering this season surrounds their first-year offensive coordinator and whether the offensive system that Grubb helped Washington take all the way to the national championship game a season ago in college will be able to translate to the NFL with the same success.
It won’t be the same system. But what made Michael Penix Jr., Rome Odunze and Jalen McMillan stars at Washington and one of the most feared offenses in the country are the foundations to the offense that will be run by Geno Smith, DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett.
Will it work? Good question. The Seahawks will get a first glimpse of where the offense stands this weekend in their preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.
“It’s the same challenge you have with any offense — first-time install, new faces, whether it’s coaches or players, the translation piece getting everybody on the same page speaking the same language is always the difficulty,” Grubb said. “And then having the patience, just the stick-to-it of getting through that part.”
Ask the players, though, and the ones that will be out there as Grubb is calling plays hold a strong belief what he’s created will have success, even if it’s a little quirky and different from past offensive systems.
“I think there are some cool schemes in there that sometimes you don’t see unless you kind of do your like alternate stuff in Madden, you know, where you kind of alternate routes,” said Lockett, entering his 10th season.
“With Grubb and his system, he’s proven that he can stretch the field or if you have to throw short or underneath, it’s there too,” Smith said. “The best thing that he does, he gives us options, he gives us answers.”
“Coach Grubb is a perfectionist,” wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said.
It’s been a rapid rise for Grubb, whose first job as an offensive coordinator at the Football Bowl Subdivision level didn’t come until 2019 at Fresno State. That parlayed into two seasons in the same role at Washington where the Huskies ranked in the top 15 nationally in total offense and scoring offense, and were top two in passing offense both seasons.
With Penix under center and three future NFL draft picks at wide receiver, the Huskies were must-watch entertainment because of what the offense displayed.
Grubb originally seemed destined to join Kalen DeBoer’s staff at Alabama after his departure from Washington, but the chance at the NFL without having to leave Seattle was too enticing an opportunity.
Despite being in the NFL barely six months, Grubb seems to be enjoying some of the differences from college.
“The easier part is the amount of time that you have to focus on football and your team, just the players that are here. I don’t have to worry about anybody that we’re trying to bring into this building,” Grubb said. “I’m just focused on our players here and the family that is the Seahawks. I think that part has been tremendously rewarding just to be able to think about ball all the time, focus on football.”
Only needing to focus on football has allowed Grubb the time to see what parts of his college system will morph to the NFL. When it comes to the pass game, one of Grubb’s hallmarks at Washington was an ability within the scheme to create mismatches to the Huskies advantage.
Second-year wide receiver Jake Bobo believes Grubb will be able to create those same advantages for the Seahawks.
“His offense is different from some of the offenses I’ve played in where you feel like you kind of have to get yourself open at times,” Bobo said. “I’ve never been quite in an offense that is almost tailored to the receiving corps, the skill players, back, whoever to where Grubb is going to find a way. He’s going to scheme it up to put guys in a position to get open probably the easiest they have in their whole lives, their whole careers.”
