An NFL insider’s view on Seahawks OC change and what’s next

The Seattle Seahawks are charting a new course on offense after an up-and-down 2024 campaign.

Brock: Two reasons Seahawks moved on from OC Ryan Grubb

The Seahawks relieved offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb of his duties on Monday, less than 11 months after the former longtime college coach was hired by Seattle for his first NFL job. Grubb had a success-filled run as the UW Huskies’ OC in 2022 and 2023, but that didn’t translate to nearly the same level of production across town with the Seahawks.

Seattle finished in the bottom half of the league in scoring, ranking 18th in points per game (22.1) and 21st in points per drive (1.89). Most notably, the Seahawks struggled to establish an effective ground attack, ranking 28th in rushing yards per game (95.7) and 19th in yards per carry (4.2). They ran the ball on just 37.2% of their plays, the fifth-lowest rate in the league.

Grubb’s struggle to get the run game untracked was likely the biggest reason he was let go. First-year Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald appeared to indicate that on Monday when he told Seattle Sports’ Brock and Salk that “the direction our offense was going was different than the vision I had for our team.”

On Tuesday, NFL writer Ted Nguyen of The Athletic weighed in on the Seahawks’ decision during an appearance on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

“I would say I was surprised,” Nguyen said. “I think especially when a coach is making a jump from the college ranks, there is gonna be an adjustment period. It’s just two totally different games. … I thought he would get a little bit more grace, but this is a prove-it league and things move fast.”

Not enough variety

Nguyen pointed to a lack of diversity in Grubb’s formation usage and play-calling as the biggest issues with Seattle’s offense.

According to Nguyen, the Seahawks ran more than three-quarters of their plays out of shotgun. They ran a particularly large chunk of plays out of the same personnel grouping – one running back, one tight end and three wide receivers. They also used motion and designed rollouts at some of the lowest rates in the league.

Nguyen said that at the college level, it’s not as important to mix up personnel and formations. Grubb had immense success with his pass-heavy scheme on Montlake, where the Huskies rode the most prolific offense in college football to a national championship game appearance in 2023.

But at the NFL level, variety becomes much more important.

“In college, you could just stay in shotgun,” Nguyen said. “You don’t have to mix up your personnel and formations as much. … And obviously that type of offense worked really well (at) Washington.

“But I think in the NFL, you have to be more varied as far as using motion, getting your quarterback off his spot (and) just mixing up more personnel and formations. And I think the Seahawks did some of that a little later in the year, but I guess it was just too little, too late.”

The O-line woes

One reason Nguyen thought Grubb might get another year to prove himself was due to the limitations he faced with Seattle’s struggling offensive line.

The Seahawks once again had major issues up front, which were compounded by the fact that they cycled through 10 different starters due to a slew of injuries and the sudden midseason retirement of center Connor Williams. According to Pro Football Focus, Seattle ranked 24th in run block grading and 26th in pass block grading. ESPN’s metrics paint a similar picture, with the Seahawks ranking 21st in pass block win rate and 28th in run block win rate.

The biggest problems were along the interior at both guard spots and center.

“The hardest thing to deal with for a quarterback is when you’re getting interior pressure,” Nguyen said. “When you have pressure on the edges, you can step up and do some things athletically to avoid those pressures. But when you have pressure up the middle constantly, it’s very hard to deal with. So I think coming into the offseason … that has to be a No. 1 priority – fixing the interior of that line.

“I think that’s one of the reasons I’m also surprised at the Ryan Grubb firing,” he added. “I thought maybe they were going to give him a chance to call the offense with an improved offensive line.”

What Seahawks should look for

It seems pretty clear that the Seahawks will prioritize finding an offensive coordinator who is committed to running the football.

But as Nguyen said, it’s not just about running more often. It’s also about doing it in a creative way.

“With the way the league is moving now and how defenses are trending – they’re getting smaller, playing a ton of two-high (safety) defenses and kind of daring you to run – I think the best teams in the league right now are finding ways to run the ball,” Nguyen said. “And it’s not just outside zone like it’s been in the last few years. Some of the really good teams have a very varied running attack. They can run gap schemes, they can run traps, and they can run outside zone and they can do a really good job of marrying the run and play-action passes.

“And that also helps the offensive line,” he added. “So I think finding somebody like that – that’s where the league is trending now.”

Listen to the full conversation with The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Seattle Sports. 

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