Over the last five to six days since Kalen DeBoer was named the head football coach at Washington his staff has steadily come together.
On Monday, the school made official his first assistant coaching hire by naming Ryan Grubb as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Grubb has spent the past five seasons on the Bulldogs' staff, first as offensive line coach and run game coordinator (2017-18) before being elevated to offensive coordinator in 2019.
Shortly before the Huskies released a press release that confirmed what had been widely reported, Grubb posted a note on social media to deliver the news.
"I want to thank Coach DeBoer and Jen Cohen for the opportunity to lead the Huskies' offense," Grubb said in a statement. "I feel strongly that this can be one of the best offenses in the Pac-12. I'm looking forward to getting to know our players and this community, and getting to work for this historic and successful program."
Grubb first served as an assistant for DeBoer when he began his head coaching career at Sioux Falls in 2007. Since then the two have spent 10 of the last 11 years on the same coaching staff with one effectively being the key for the other, and vise-verse.
"Special OC. The next 'big thing'," one source said of Grubb after DeBoer was announced as the head coach at UW last Tuesday.
"Watch some Fresno State games this year. Masterful play-caller, hard worker, and a good man. He's probably more of an X's and O's guy, but has the chops to recruit, too."
With DeBoer naming Grubb both coordinator and QB coach it continues what UW has done in previous years with one coach holding dueling roles.
It also marks the first of 10 assistant coaches that will comprise DeBoer's staff on Montlake. The expectation is a majority of the assistants will be announced this week with the remainder being finalized after the early signing period this month (Dec. 15-17).
This past season DeBoer and Grubb led Fresno State, with senior quarterback Jake Haener at the controls, to the No. 2 scoring offense in the Mountain West at 33.6 points per game, good for No. 28 in the country and significantly higher than the Huskies who finished tied with Rice at No. 106 averaging 21.5 points per game.
"In our time working together, Ryan has consistently produced highly effective offenses and, through his leadership, has excelled in developing young players. I know he'll continue to do that here at UW, working with our quarterbacks and as the leader of our offense," DeBoer said of Grubb in a statement.
Grubb has extensive history with coaching offensive line (2014-16 at Eastern Michigan; 2017-19 at Fresno State) in addition to the last two years working with quarterbacks. During his introductory press conference last week DeBoer said he will remain heavily involved in the offense, and could be the one calling plays for the Huskies' offense in 2022.
