The Alabama Crimson Tide lost their Rose Bowl matchup with the Indiana Hoosiers 38-3 to end their 2025/2026 College Football season. The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX this past Sunday to end the 2025/2026 NFL season.
Ryan Grubb left the Seahawks for the Crimson Tide last offseason. While that wasn't the only change Seattle made -- acquiring Sam Darnold turned out to be one of the greatest NFL free-agent bargains of the decade -- that is certainly one that was felt in the Emerald City. Klint Kubiak was so effective in his place that he was hired by the Las Vegas Raiders on the night he won the Super Bowl.
Credit to Saturday Down South's Derek Peterson, who put Grubb's impact on the Crimson Tide into words, very succinctly.
"After Alabama hired the Seahawks’ recently-dismissed offensive coordinator, Seattle immediately won a Super Bowl and Alabama produced one of its worst rushing seasons ever," Peterson wrote.
Kenneth Walker III became the first running back in 28 years to win the Super Bowl MVP award, which only adds fuel to the fire that Seattle couldn't have moved on from Grubb more successfully if they tried.
Kalen DeBoer's Ryan Grubb ace in the hole failed miserably
Kalen DeBoer's first season in Tuscaloosa didn't include Grubb because the play-caller didn't want to leave Seattle for West Central Alabama. Ultimately, he didn't have the choice to stay, and he was essentially forced to take his good friend DeBoer's offer to join his Crimson Tide coaching staff.
Nick Sheridan couldn't hack it, but his running game was robust with Jalen Milroe scrambling out of the pocket to make something of nothing during broken plays and Jam Miller and Justice Haynes combining for over 1,000 yards rushing. Alabama's top three rushers barely cracked 1K collectively.
Grubb was supposed to be the ace in the hole that unlocked DeBoer's offense. He turned out to be a major negative, and now DeBoer is left scrambling to make something with his own recruits after relying on Nick Saban's blue-chip holdovers.
Titletown is in the Pacific Northwest these days. With DeBoer and Grubb running the show offensively, it doesn't look like Tuscaloosa will regain that crown anytime soon.