Ryan Grubb shares advice for young college football coaches

Young coaches, grab a seat and settle in, because Washington offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb has some career advice for those of you trying to make your way up the ladder.

Grubb has now coached football for over 20 years, many of which came at the hip of Kalen DeBoer, as the two built successful programs at several stops across multiple levels of college football. Of course it was long road to get to this pinnacle, the CFP title game, but Grubb says that he didn’t always have his focus on the big picture as he came up the ranks.

In fact, when asked his advice to younger coaches today, he emphasized the need to focus on the task at hand, whatever job a coach is currently at.

“My advice to young coaches or guys that are trying to climb up is be where your feet are planted, number one,” explained Grubb. “Again, I know that’s cliche and it’s not sexy, but it’s exactly what you have to do.”

Looking back at his own climb, Grubb believes his attention to the job he had at the time was crucial, since he wasn’t constantly worrying about how to reach the next rung of the ladder.

“I think that every time I’ve got an opportunity, me personally, I look back and I reflect after I’ve moved on that that’s what I did a great job of, is being exactly where I was and absolutely selling out to whatever my role was in that position. I think that that’s the most critical component.”

Nowadays, though, he sees a lot of younger coaches get caught up in what lies down the road rather than taking care of the task at hand in their current jobs.

“I think far too often young coaches can start to daydream and think about being at Washington instead of being a really, really good O-line coach at Eastern Michigan. That was my focus when I was there, is making this place the best it can be. Big times where you’re at.”

Ryan Grubb didn’t begin his coaching career leading a playoff-caliber offense with a Heisman finalist at quarterback. To get there, he first had to excel as the running back coach at South Dakota State, and then as the quarterbacks coach at Sioux Falls, also as offensive coordinator at Fresno State alongside DeBoer before both guys landed at Washington, where they finally broke through on the biggest stage college football has to offer.

According to Grubb, one key to long-term success down the road in coaching, or perhaps in any career path, is to remain solely focused on performing well in the job you currently have, whether it’s a dream position or just one small step to eventually get there.