Joel Klatt considers what Ryan Grubb’s departure means for Alabama

With Ryan Grubb’s departure, Alabama had to change course for the offensive coordinator under Kalen DeBoer.

Alabama is expected to promote tight ends coach Nick Sheridan to OC, keeping familiarity within DeBoer’s offense. Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt thinks this will all still be DeBoer oriented however.

Klatt broke down what could be next for Alabama amid Grubb’s decision.

“The carousel is also spinning at Alabama,” Klatt said on his podcast. “So Alabama hires Kalen DeBoer, he brought his coordinator Ryan Grubb, who wanted to head job with the Huskies but didn’t get it. So he brought him down to Alabama but then Grubb immediately starts looking around and he gets the Seahawks offensive coordinator position … He’s also taking his o-line coach Scott Huff to Seattle. 

“So the question that I asked myself is how big of a deal is this for Kalen DeBoer? Not that serious, because in my mind, that would be like Ryan Day losing a coordinator, like Steve Sarkisian losing a coordinator, like Lincoln Riley losing a coordinator. This is Kalen DeBoer’s offense. Grubb was excellent. There’s no doubt … But he was doing that under the umbrella of Kalen DeBoer’s offense.” 

Since it’s DeBoer running the show after Grubb leaving, rather than more of shared capacity, Alabama fans shouldn’t worry. At least, that’s what Klatt thinks.

“So if I’m an Alabama fan, that gives me some not just hope but it kind of calms my anxiety about this,” Klatt said. “They always knew that this was going to be a possibility, even when DeBoer took the job and brought Ryan Grubb in. So they knew that this was a possibility …

“This is now outside of the window of when they lost Nick Saban and hired Kalen DeBoer, which means that their internal transfer window is closed. The OC job will likely be a co-OC situation. Nick Sheridan, who’s been with DeBoer before, Jamarcus Shepard. They both came with DeBoer to Alabama from Washington. Sheridan is considered probably more in that play caller vein.” 

Ultimately, Grubb did what he wanted to do and took a chance going to the NFL. As Klatt pointed out, he likely would’ve wanted the Washington head coaching job, but the school opted for Arizona’s Jedd Fisch.

So while Grubb will call plays for the Seahawks, it’s now up to DeBoer to decide if Sheridan is the OC in name or if he’ll actually call plays. Klatt is one analyst who’d rather see DeBoer hand play calling to his coordinator, but still mold the offense.

As of now, it remains to be seen following Grubb’s departure