Ryan Grubb may come to Alabama football with the reputation as Kalen DeBoer’s quarterback guy. But the new Alabama offensive coordinator was not a quarterback first.
Grubb was a tight end, fullback and running back first, playing for four seasons at Buena Vista University. From there, he has coached running backs, wide receivers and the offensive line, someone who was in charge of multiple program’s run games.
As Grubb takes over a Crimson Tide offense, the quarterback position remains at the forefront. But the Alabama run game may be the most important piece to Grubb’s puzzle in 2025.
Grubb is inheriting a unit that averaged 10 more rushing attempts per game than pass attempts in 2024. It’s an Alabama unit that finished with more than three rushing touchdowns per game.
But heading into 2025, it’s a unit in flux.
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Alabama no longer has Jalen Milroe, who accounted for more than 35% of Alabama’s rush attempts, over 32% of the team’s rushing yards and nearly half of the Crimson Tide’s rushing touchdowns. Alabama no longer has Justice Haynes, who is one of three Crimson Tide backs that had more than 27 carries in 2024.
In 2025, with a quarterback battle looming large, Alabama is returning less than a fourth of its scoring production in the run game.
What will Grubb’s run game at Alabama look like? And what does it mean for backs like Jam Miller or Richard Young?
What does run/pass balance look like in Ryan Grubb offenses?
The pendulum has swung in both extremes in Grubb’s offenses.
At Sioux Falls, as the team’s offensive line coach and run game coordinator, Grubb’s offenses were heavily run-first, peaking in 2008 when the Cougars averaged more than 51 carries per game compared to 23 pass attempts. From 2007-09, the Cougars averaged three rushing touchdowns and more than 189 rushing yards per game.
In Grubb’s first 15 seasons in college football, in stops at South Dakota State, Sioux Falls, Eastern Michigan and Fresno State, his offenses averaged more pass attempts than rush attempts twice.
But for the past five seasons, four of which have been with DeBoer as an offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Grubb has led his offenses to the other extreme.
In five seasons at Fresno State, Washington and with the Seattle Seahawks, Grubb’s offenses have been extremely pass heavy. With Michael Penix Jr. and Geno Smith as his quarterback, Grubb’s offenses have averaged at least 10 more pass attempts than rushing attempts each game.
Ryan Grubb approach to running backs
No matter the balance of the run and pass game, Grubb offenses have seemingly leaned toward the use of multiple running backs.
Since 2017, Grubb has had five seasons where multiple running backs have finished a season with at least 100 carries. He’d be continuing a recent trend at Alabama, which has had two or more 100-carry running backs or quarterbacks in each of the last three seasons.
But Grubb has had his share of bell-cow backs.
In 2019, Ronnie Rivers led Fresno State with 177 carries, 899 rushing yards and a Mountain West-leading 13 rushing touchdowns.
In 2023, while Penix finished second in the Heisman Trophy race, Dillon Johnson had 233 carries — 14th most in college football — for 1,195 rushing yards and a Pac-12-leading 16 rushing touchdowns.
Running backs in Grubb’s offenses have not been major threats in the passing game.
In 2019, Rivers had 43 catches for 348 yards and three touchdowns, the best receiving season of any Grubb running back.
What does Ryan Grubb hire mean for Alabama football run game?
Alabama already has an idea of what the top of its running back depth chart looks like.
Miller is set to return in 2025 after leading the Crimson Tide running back room with 145 carries, 668 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in 2024. But he will look to bounce back after a rough end to 2024 where he didn’t score a touchdown while averaging 3.1 yards per carry in his final five games.
After Haynes’ transfer to Michigan, 2025 may give Young a chance to shine. A former top-55 recruit, Young has 36 career carries across two seasons, three of which have been scores. Grubb’s offense seems to favor multiple running backs, which could favor Young as the most experienced back behind Miller.
Both Miller and Young are built like prototypical Grubb running backs. Both are smaller, sturdy, seemingly north-south running backs who will be tasked with providing stability for an offense with a first-time starter at quarterback.
Alabama will open the 2025 season at Florida State Aug. 30.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him atcgay@gannett.com or follow him@_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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