What recent OC hire history says about Ryan Grubb's standards with Seahawks
What the last 3 years of new OC hires says about Seahawks OC Ryan Grubb: Seaside Joe 1916
There is patience with quarterbacks, there is patience with most players, there is even patience with head coaches, but there is no patience for a new offensive coordinator. When a team hires a new offensive coordinator, they are obviously expecting a spark on that side of the ball by the very next season. The only time to put up or shut up is now.
That puts as much, if not more pressure on Ryan Grubb as the Seahawks offensive coordinator than what Mike Macdonald must feel as Seattle’s new head coach or John Schneider as the “new” GM. That might sound counterintuitive, but if the Seahawks rebuilding plan shows immediate weaknesses, Macdonald has a lot more power to blame Grubb than Grubb has to blame Macdonald or Schneider. Because Grubb has no such power.
Grubb is an unusual hire because he didn’t come through the NFL ranks (I wrote a Grubb history/guide last week), but he has the same standards to meet as anyone else in the position. As you will see, if the average length of employment of an offensive coordinator is any indication then those standards are as impossible to meet as matching the lifestyle of your favorite Instagram account or YouTuber.
Virtually unattainable.
How many teams made offensive coordinator changes in 2023 and did any of them achieve the desired “spark” they were looking for?
New 2023 offensive coordinators:
16 teams—yes, half of the NFL—had a new offensive coordinator in 2023. It is important to note that some of these new names had as much power to control the offense as what Aden Durde will have as Macdonald’s “defensive coordinator” because they didn’t call plays. In those cases, we will put the blame or credit on the head coach who calls offensive plays; for example, Sean Payton.
The Broncos head coach is also an example of why there isn’t as much pressure on Macdonald as his assistants or players just yet: Payton blamed Russell Wilson for Denver’s offensive issues last season and the Broncos were happy to comply with his wishes to replace Wilson. Not every coach or coordinator had a person below them who they could blame for last season.
New 2023 HC/OC hires:
Shane Steichen, Colts (OC: Jim Bob Cooter): Had immediate success, improving Colts offense from 30th in scoring to 10th despite needing Gardner Minshew to start 13 games.
Frank Reich, Panthers (OC: Thomas Brown) : Immediate failure, his play calling was deemed disastruous and was handed over to Brown, but Reich was fired after a 1-10 season and Brown was let go with the rest of the staff after the season.
Sean Payton, Broncos (OC: Joe Lombardi): With a 32nd ranked offense, there was nowhere to go but up for Payton. Denver’s offense was improved but still sucked and now the pressure really is on Payton to prove he can be successful without Drew Brees.
Spark? 1 out of 3 saw an immediate spark.
New OC/New HC in 2023:
Surprisingly, there were only two offensive coordinators in a similar position to Grubb’s status right now as being hired by a new defensive-minded head coach.
OC Drew Petzing, Cardinals (HC: Jonathan Gannon): Petzing hasn’t been deemed as “ready” for a head coaching position just yet but he was praised for making the most out of Arizona’s dire situation when Josh Dobbs was the quarterback. Without context, there are few statistical positives about Petzing’s first season as an OC. In context, he’s one good season with Kyler Murray away from being a popular name on the 2025 interview cycle.
OC Bobby Slowik, Texans (HC: DeMeco Ryans): Slowik is Petzing, if the Cardinals had C.J. Stroud and a really good supporting cast. The Texans gave Slowik a raise this year after interviewing with the Falcons and Titans while getting interest from several other teams, including the Seahawks.
Spark? We’ll say 1.5 out of 2, as Petzing was better in his .5 season with Kyler
Slowik’s first season would be an ideal outcome for Grubb’s first season. But soon you’ll see just how exceptional 2023 really was for the Texans offense and after we review the rest of last year’s hires, plus 2021 and 2022, just how short the life span is for offensive coordinators.
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This will really help put Ryan Grubb and Mike Macdonald’s first season into perspective as we get closer to training camp and Week 1.