Kalen DeBoer defends OC Ryan Grubb, calls him a ‘great play-caller’
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Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer expressed confidence in offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb during his weekly press conference on Monday.
The vote of confidence comes after Alabama‘s offense struggled mightily against Tennessee on Saturday in Knoxville. The Crimson Tide averaged just 3.7 yards per play and were shutout in the second half.
It was the second straight week that Alabama has failed to score a touchdown after halftime in a losing effort.
Despite those struggles, DeBoer declined to lay the blame at Grubb’s feet.
“I think he’s a great play-caller,” DeBoer said. “I think you put an offense together and understand tendencies and things like that … there’s a lot of scenarios that go into struggling at times as an offense. Again, it comes down to execution in a lot of those moments.
“Our 4th-and-1 calls, I think they’re really good calls. They’re calls we were ready to run in that game.”
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DeBoer and Grubb have a long history of working together — usually on elite offenses. Grubb and DeBoer have been on the same staff off-and-on at various programs, including Washington, Fresno State, Eastern Michigan and Sioux Falls.
“Thing about Ryan is that he’s evaluating and is as critical of himself as anyone,” DeBoer added. “It’s always been like that. It goes back 15 years, at least, 20 years that I’ve known him.”
Alabama will look to get back in the win column this weekend against Texas A&M.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
