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The Tuscaloosa News
With Nick Sheridan coaching Alabama football QBs, how will Ryan Grubb divide his time?
- Story byThe Tuscaloosa News
- With Nick Sheridan coaching Alabama football QBs, how will Ryan Grubb divide his time?
Ryan Grubb has a luxury as Alabama football's new offensive coordinator.
Although coach Kalen DeBoer has given Grubb play-calling duties, co-offensive coordinator Nick Sheridan will remain as the quarterbacks coach. That's an atypical chain of command, but for Grubb, it means he's got the freedom to spend time with every offensive position. That includes quarterback, but given his background as an offensive line coach, it should translate into plenty of attention for the Crimson Tide's front, as well.
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"Coach Grubb will always still be involved with the quarterbacks. I'm a strong believer that the play caller has to be around the quarterbacks. But it allows him to do what you want a coordinator to do, and that's oversee every position," DeBoer said Monday. "He certainly has a lot of history and background with the offensive line."
Grubb coached offensive line for DeBoer at Sioux Falls from 2007-2009, and had the same role in stops at Eastern Michigan and Fresno State. This spring, he inherits an Alabama OL that returns three starters, even though one of them — left tackle Kadyn Proctor — is participating on a limited basis due to injury. The UA staff must replace former starters Elijah Pritchett and Tyler Booker , at right tackle and left guard, respectively. Booker was UA's best offensive lineman last year at left guard, and leaves a major void as a strong candidate to be a first-round NFL draft pick in April. Pritchett struggled at right tackle for most of the year, and transferred out after the season.
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For Grubb and offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic, developing a right tackle who will be a performance upgrade from last season will be of paramount importance this spring. Grubb has experience as a quarterbacks coach as well, but the line is where his background lies.
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"Eyes start in certain spots when you're a coordinator, beyond just the quarterback," DeBoer added. "I think his eyes ... yeah, he can see it all, see them line up on the perimeter, but he also really is feeling and seeing and has an intuition with what's going on up front with the offensive line. That's really good with he and coach (Chris) Kapilovic."
Reach Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X @chasegoodbread.
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This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama football's DeBoer reveals how OC Grubb will spend practice time
