Mike Macdonald made the decision to fire OC Ryan Grubb after just 1 season. Why he did it
Twelve months ago, the Seahawks chose John Schneider’s path over Pete Carroll’s.
The team fired Carroll after his 15 years as its head coach and executive vice president for football operations. In doing so, Seahawks chair Jody Allen and vice chair Bert Kolde gave Schneider, the general manager, control and authority of the coaching staff and all football matters for the first time. Schneider confirmed that in January 2024.
That was before the Seahawks hired Mike Macdonald as their new head coach.
Monday, the 37-year-old Macdonald again showed he is in charge of how his Seahawks play the game.
He again showed he will make the decision to change when guys aren’t performing as he demands.
In the middle of the season, Macdonald cut both his starting inside linebackers.
Monday, he fired the play caller of his offense — because he didn’t align with how the head coach wants his team to play.
League sources with direct knowledge of the move told The News Tribune on Monday morning it was Macdonald’s decision, with Schneider’s support, to fire Ryan Grubb as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator after just one season.
Macdonald made his decision upon the team’s return from its 30-25 win at the Los Angeles Rams in the final of a second consecutive season without a playoff appearance. That’s the first time that’s happened with this franchise since the 2008 and ‘09 seasons.
“I felt like the direction our offense was going was different than the vision I had for our team,” Macdonald said on his weekly day-after show on KIRO-AM radio Monday. “I felt like it was a necessary decision, at this point.
“This are tough decisions to make. These are really tough decisions to make.
“But the team comes first. We just felt like this was best for the team.”
Grubb was the Seahawks’ first offensive coordinator hired with no NFL coaching experience in almost 30 years — since former Washington State University offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski was Seattle’s OC on its 1995-98 teams.
Grubb, 48, joins Jeremy Bates 14 years ago as Seahawks offensive coordinators fired after just one season on the job. Carroll fired Bates from his first NFL play-caller job following Carroll’s first season in charge of the team in 2010.
Macdonald and Schneider hired Grubb less than 12 months ago, about two weeks after Seattle hired Macdonald. That was after Grubb had gone with head coach Kalen DeBoer from the Washington Huskies’ run to the national championship game in January 2024 to the University of Alabama.
Macdonald heralded the arrival of Grubb in February 2024 as the Seahawks adding a play caller who is “open-minded” with a “growth mindset.”
Grubb’s Seahawks threw the ball, a ton. The team spent most of the season leading the league in pass attempts; it finished seventh in passes and eighth in passing yards. Smith broke two of his own team records for passing in a season, yards (4,320) and completion rate (70.4%).
Second-year wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba tied Tyler Lockett’s team record with 100 receptions this season. Smith-Njigba tied for ninth in the NFL in catches.
Geno Smith praises Ryan Grubb
Grubb called the four touchdown-pass plays Smith threw to set a career high in the final game of the quarterback’s 12th NFL season Sunday at Los Angeles.
Grubb’s play calls earned Smith $6 million in incentive bonuses based on passing statistics and wins this past season.
After the final game in Los Angeles, Smith praised Grubb and said he looked forward to his play caller’s second year with the team in 2025.
“I think Grubb is an excellent coordinator and an even better man,” Smith said the night before Macdonald fired the QB’s play caller. “Our first year, obviously there were some ups and downs. There were some things that we can improve on, and we’ll work hard to get those things fixed, but I believe in this system. I believe this is a really good system and it’s going to be really good for a long time.
“I think Grubb has exactly what it takes to be a great coordinator in this league. It’s his first year. You have to give the guy some grace. He’s figuring things out, too. I thought he did an outstanding job leading the group.
“I love the passion that he brings to the game, and he made me a better quarterback.”
Smith said of Grubb: “As he gets to dive into the offseason and really look at the ways that he can get better and that this offense can get better, I think he’s going to have an even better second year.”
Not in Seattle.
Why? Because Grubb’s Seahawks didn’t run the ball enough.
Ryan Grubb’s downfall
Ultimately, Grubb’s offense didn’t run consistently enough for the rugged mentality Macdonald wants on offense and throughout his team.
Grubb’s nadir came in Seattle’s galling home loss to the eventually 3-14 New York Giants, in October. Lead back Kenneth Walker, a 1,000-yard rusher two seasons ago, got just five carries among Grubb’s 58 play calls in that game. Thirteen of Grubb’s first 15 play calls in that game were passes, including while the Seahawks led in the game.
“I think we had plenty of run game in the plan. Didn’t have anything to do with not having enough calls for that. Just didn’t get called,” Grubb said after that loss. “For us, we leaned on the wrong thing. I think if we get Ken 10 more touches, 15 more touches, things are going to look different.
“That’s 100% on me.
“My job is to make sure we get all our guys in the best position possible to win the game. And I didn’t do that.”
Grubb apologized — then often still didn’t run.
The Seahawks finished 28th in the 32-team NFL in rushing offense, at just over 95 yards per game. They were 29th in rush attempts.
“Ryan’s a heck of a football coach. We did some really great things on offense this year,” Macdonald said. “I mean, Geno had a bunch of career highs throwing the ball. We did some really cool situation stuff. I know Jax had a great year. So we did a lot of great things.
“It’s just, my vision for our offense, I think, was ultimately just different for where I thought Ryan thought it was going.
“So, we respect the heck out of him. We wish him the best.”
This story was originally published January 6, 2025 at 12:11 PM.
