The Mike Macdonald-Ryan Grubb partnership is over. On his Weekly Radio Show on 710, Seahawks Head coach Mike Macdonald announced that Grubb would not return as the team’s offensive coordinator for a second season.
“I just think we need to go in a different direction,” said Macdonald. When asked to clarify, Macdonald took the high road in his answer.
“It’s really as simple as I felt the direction our offense was going was different than the direction that I had for the team, and I felt like it was a necessary decision at this point,’’ Macdonald said.
PHILOSOPHICAL DIFFERENCES
The decision to fire Grubb was based on a philosophical rift. I say rift because when Macdonald hired Grubb, their philosophies on attacking a defense were in synch. So what happened? Would Macdonald have fired Grubb if the team made the playoffs? Since we will never know, an educated guess is that Macdonald lost faith in Grubb’s ability to dial up creative plays in the run game. It is no secret around NFL coaching rooms that the Seahawks were unable to run the ball on a consistent basis. The key to having a good run game is running the ball when you need and want to run it. The Seahawks offense rarely did both. The team rushed for over 100 yards nine times this season and was 6-3 in.
THE RUN NUMBERS VS THE PASS NUMBERS
There was a massive disparity in the run game numbers compared to the pass game numbers. The Seahawks finished the season with 1,627 rushing yards (28th) on 383 attempts ( 29th) and averaged 4.2 yards per carry ( 17th). The passing numbers were a direct opposite. The team finished the season with 4,020 passing yards ( 8th) on 593 attempts( 7th) and scored 21 aerial touchdowns ( 20th). The offense gave up 54 sacks, which was 3rd highest in the league. The offensive line had its struggles and changes. The only constants were on the left side of the line; left tackles Charles Cross and left guard Laken Tomlison were the only two offensive linemen to start all 17 games. Olu Oluwatimi took over for Connor Williams in Week Ten, and Abe Lucas returned to the starting lineup the same week.
PLAYER REACTIONS
The firing of Grubb surprised many of the players who were cleaning out their locker rooms when they were told the news. The reaction was mixed.
“It’s a crazy thing, for real. It’s the NFL. At the end of the day, we’ve got to control what we can control. We had a chance to control it and just the favor didn’t fall in our hands this year,” Riq Woolen said. “But we got something we can build off of. We know we’ve got a great team and we just got to keep going in the right direction.”
“I don’t really have [a reaction] yet, because I found out about 35 minutes ago,” offensive tackle Abe Lucas said. “So, I mean, obviously, I hold no animosity or ill will toward Grubb. I think Grubb’s a good coach and good what he does and wherever he ends up next, he’ll be successful.”
ANOTHER HIRING SEARCH
The firing of Grubb will send the Seahawks on a hiring search for a new offensive coordinator, something the team has done several times under John Schneider. Since 2018, the Seahawks have hired and fired three offensive coordinators. Grubb followed Shane Waldon, who lasted three years ( 2021-2023). Brian Schottenheimer preceded Waldron, and he also lasted three years ( 2018 -2022)
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