It always felt a little strange.

In the days and weeks that followed after it was reported that Ryan Grubb was set to become Alabama’s offensive coordinator, it never really felt like he was all in. Even after Grubb was at an Alabama Signing Day event wherein he introduced himself as the Tide’s new OC, it still felt … strange.

Like, why hadn’t Alabama announced the hire? Why hadn’t he announced the move? Where was his bio page on the team website?

Add it all up and it wasn’t strange when multiple outlets reported that Grubb would instead be staying Seattle, but going to the NFL to become the Seahawks offensive coordinator. Whether the timing of that move was made with the 30-day transfer portal window in mind, as the Seattle Times reported, is a different discussion.

What we know is that Grubb isn’t following Kalen DeBoer to Tuscaloosa. That means a lot of things.

Two things can be true at the same time. One is that DeBoer might’ve had a good idea that something like this could happen. Alabama AD Greg Byrne told the Tuscaloosa News that there was a plan in place and that the move didn’t catch the new Tide coach by surprise.

Yeah, I know. It would be strange if Byrne said, “I can’t believe Grubb would leave after a few weeks on the job. We’re totally caught off guard.”

He didn’t say that. Obviously.

DeBoer has been with Grubb all but 1 season during their past 10 years together at FBS programs (more on that year in a bit). There’s a reason Grubb was coveted by Alabama in each of the past 2 offseasons. It’s because he’s one of the best offensive minds in the sport after being the primary play-caller for top-15 offenses in consecutive seasons. That’s for a Washington program that had an offense that finished outside the top 100 before Grubb and DeBoer took over.

Grubb isn’t some young hotshot looking for his next opportunity. He’s a 47-year-old guy who has been grinding for the better part of 2 decades. When DeBoer called him in 2007, Grubb was pouring concrete and trying to get into coaching when he was offered $2,700 for 5 months to be the Sioux Falls OL coach/assistant strength and conditioning coach/equipment manager.

There’s a trust factor. Grubb had it in spades working with DeBoer. Any future OC under DeBoer will need to have that.

It’s possible that DeBoer doesn’t find that trust in the open market, and he either keeps his play-calling internal with someone like new Alabama tight ends coach Nick Sheridan or calls his own number.

Any option won’t be as good as Grubb. The idea of one of the sport’s top offensive minds calling plays for Jalen Milroe, AKA the guy who finished higher in the Heisman Trophy voting than any returning player, was intriguing. An adjustment was needed, but this notion of turning Milroe into Michael Penix Jr. would’ve never made sense. They see the game in different ways, and utilizing the quarterback run game with Milroe is different than it is with a guy who had 4 season-ending injuries.

Grubb and DeBoer haven’t always been that pass-heavy either when they were together or in that season when they were apart.

Speaking of that season when those 2 were apart, go back to 2019 Indiana. DeBoer left Fresno State to become Indiana’s OC/quarterbacks coach. Not only did Indiana’s offense improve by 5.5 points per game with its first 8-win season in 26 years, but look at what DeBoer experienced. Penix went down with a season-ending injury, which shifted the offense to the mobile Peyton Ramsey.

What else happened? DeBoer’s Indiana offense averaged 36 passes and 36 rushes per game. And when they reunited at Fresno State, the duo had an offense that averaged just 6 more pass attempts per game than rushing attempts.

DeBoer adapts. How he adapts to this could largely define his Year 1.

But let’s not forget — DeBoer was always going to have to replace Grubb. If he was elite, he was going to get a head coaching job. If he wasn’t elite, he was going to get fired. Even Kirby Smart eventually left Nick Saban. Of course, it helped that Alabama got 8 years of Smart’s brilliance to establish a foundation.

In Year 1, DeBoer isn’t trying to establish a foundation. Lord knows Alabama isn’t lacking that. He is, however, trying to establish an identity. Grubb gave him an immediate path to do just that. That path still exists, but it’s just trickier.

If I’m DeBoer, I’m not taking on full-time play-calling duties. In a different era of college football, that’s fine. In this era, I don’t think that’s a long-term solution. I’d rather see DeBoer take the Lane Kiffin/Josh Heupel approach as the CEO with someone else handling primary play-calling duties. That’s a tricky standard to set at times because it takes a trusted play-caller running an offense that they don’t have full control of. You’re not coming in and installing the triple option on DeBoer’s watch.

Then again, Grubb always praised DeBoer because he didn’t micromanage the offense. He said that amid leading Washington to its best season of the 21st century. That was the dynamic when DeBoer was at his best.

To be his best at Alabama, it was natural to assume that he and Grubb tag-teaming an elite offense would be in the Tide’s DNA. It won’t be. At a place where every offense in the last 15 years averaged at least 32 points, there are some significant Year 1 questions.

But if Alabama has answers, that wouldn’t be strange at all.