Under Nick Saban, the Alabama Crimson Tide had no shortage of former offensive and defensive coordinators who went from being an assistant in Tuscaloosa to roaming their own sidelines as head coaches at major Power 4 programs.
No one embodies this better than Kirby Smart, who left Alabama after its 2015 national championship season and is set to enter Year 10 as the head coach in Athens. Smart resurrected Georgia football and made the Bulldogs a two-time national champion.
Like anyone else, Kalen DeBoer has a long way to go before matching the number of former Saban assistants in charge at other programs. But at least one national outlet believes DeBoer’s longtime offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb, is a top assistant who could soon be in the mix for a marquee head coaching job.
CBS Sports college football analyst David Cobb believes Grubb is the top coordinator to watch as a future head coach going into the 2025 season.
For Grubb’s first season reunited with DeBoer in Tuscaloosa, he’ll be tasked with building an explosive offense around a first-time starter at quarterback. Simpson was named the favorite to lead Alabama under center after an impressive spring, with Grubb saying in April that the former five-star QB had “earned” the job after the Crimson Tide’s A-Day event.
“I know everybody wants to know about that position and where things are at, and I would say this: at the end of the day, if we’re playing a football game tomorrow, Ty Simpson would start,” Grubb said. “He earned that. I know that’s the line everybody is looking for, but that is what he earned.”
Alabama will open the 2025 season against the Florida State Seminoles at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee on Aug. 30. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ABC.
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