BREAKING NEWS: OC Ryan Grubb fired after 1 year

[pittpnthrs]

I will say, it's odd that Macdonald said Scott Huff is a Seahawk, implying that he's staying, given the OL was, to put it lightly, pretty bad this season. One would also think he & Grubb would be a package deal. We shall see.

The only thing I can think of is that Huff really didn't have much to work with. Meaning that besides Cross and Lucas, the rest are pretty dismal.

 

[pittpnthrs]

It was an overall failure. The defense against the Giants? The Defense against the Packers? The defense against Minn after the offense gave them a late lead? Defense against the Rams yesterday? And more.

This staff took a .500 roster from the last 3 years and produced about the same results to me. It is exciting because we are Hawks fans, and the change gave us hope. But it was not great on either side of the ball.

Fans are being way too forgiving of the defense in my mind. The offensive stats on a more detailed basis were up just a tad over last season. Yards per game rushing was slightly up as were points per possession, etc. Last season was bad as was this season. So, change is in order. But to me, it is personnel on the OLine , the cornerbacks, and some other areas and not as much coaching.

As for the defense, it had some moments against bad teams but was not good at all against good teams or when it mattered most.

I wonder why Hawks fans are so forgiving for the defense and not the offense?

The OLine is a problem and has been. No OC will magically correct that unless the personnel is upgraded across the OLine.

While I agree there is still work to be done and maybe the schedule contributed some, the defense did go from #30 last season to #14 this season. MM seems to know what he's doing, but it's going to take another season or two to get some people in place.

 

[Kamcussionator]

One thing that puzzled me throughout the year is the mid-season roster moves to improve the defense, but nothing on the offense.

In retrospect, I wonder if MM fired Grubb in his head a long time ago and decided to wait for the new OC to come in before committing to new players?

DK's endorsement of Grubb a couple weeks ago is telling as well. Was he trying to get fans off his OC's back or his HC?

I liked Grubb. I thought we were dynamic and ran the ball well (4.6 per) -- just needed to do it more.

When talking about 'direction' I'm pretty sure "run first" is what MM meant. The Ravens were 2nd in the league in rushing attempts this year and the Seahawks were 29th...

 

[bigskydoc]

The only thing I can think of is that Huff really didn't have much to work with. Meaning that besides Cross and Lucas, the rest are pretty dismal.

Or MM's realization that, no matter how good your offensive line, and line coach are, they will look like trash when NFL defenses know exactly what you are throwing at them on most plays (pun intended). The first three games were a bit of a fluke. Defenses hadn't figured out the scheme and tells. That didn't last long. In college, you can get away with this. In the NFL you can't.

Even if one doesn't believe that we were telegraphing plays, it seemed pretty clear that the play calling was not designed to account for the deficiencies of the line. Every NFL line has weaknesses. Good coordinators scheme around the weaknesses. It felt like Grubb overlooked the weak areas. If we had a top 5 line, I think his scheme would be quite successful, but not Lombardi level. His scheme would make an NFL average line look bottom 5. No where was this more evident than how dismal our red zone offense looked, especially the regression of Smith, who had to be superman to make this offense hum. Geno isn't super man.

I was a proponent of giving him another year, until the Jets, Cardinals, Packers sequence. He went back to what he was doing at the first of the season. It just became too obvious that he was not adjusting to the NFL game. The Bears game was the final straw. No excuse for that.

 

[fire_marshall_bill]

I think the OL is mostly coaching, and some talent evaluation. I am thinking MM would be looking for a mobile and young QB, who makes the D guard the entire field, and can supplement the running game. Remember, players fall in the draft, or are not judged appropriately. There is always talent, you have to find the "Diamond in the Rough". Either that or lose games. I would have let the rookies play against the Rams. Save money on your QB bonuses. He MUST be gone soon anyway. They are never going anywhere with Geno. He simply doesn't have IT.

I don't remember the o line being above average since 2006 or 2007. Unger was pretty good, but that was like 2013 and before. Pete managed to work around it somehow, but they don't have the talent to hide it right now.

Grubb is not the problem. My guess is MacDonald hated the lack of a running game. Overall though, I didn't think the play calling was off. They kept Bevell around forever and he sucked. I remember them scoring 3 points against the Lambs in 2016, back when the Lambs were still a doormat.

 

[Ozzy]

I think Grubb has a bright future as an OC. He did some really cool things but the first year steep learning curve just got away from him. I wouldn't be shocked at all if down the road he gets another shot and runs with it. I also agree with Mike wanting to go another direction too as it obviously didn't fit what he wanted to do.

 

[pittpnthrs]

Or MM's realization that, no matter how good your offensive line, and line coach are, they will look like trash when NFL defenses know exactly what you are throwing at them on most plays (pun intended). The first three games were a bit of a fluke. Defenses hadn't figured out the scheme and tells. That didn't last long. In college, you can get away with this. In the NFL you can't.

Even if one doesn't believe that we were telegraphing plays, it seemed pretty clear that the play calling was not designed to account for the deficiencies of the line. Every NFL line has weaknesses. Good coordinators scheme around the weaknesses. It felt like Grubb overlooked the weak areas. If we had a top 5 line, I think his scheme would be quite successful, but not Lombardi level. His scheme would make an NFL average line look bottom 5. No where was this more evident than how dismal our red zone offense looked, especially the regression of Smith, who had to be superman to make this offense hum. Geno isn't super man.

I was a proponent of giving him another year, until the Jets, Cardinals, Packers sequence. He went back to what he was doing at the first of the season. It just became too obvious that he was not adjusting to the NFL game. The Bears game was the final straw. No excuse for that.

Yeah for sure. Just speaking of retaining Huff though. Grubb was a big factor in causing the Oline to look worse than it probably is, but it's still not good talent and ability wise.

 

[Kamcussionator]

I think Grubb has a bright future as an OC. He did some really cool things but the first year steep learning curve just got away from him. I wouldn't be shocked at all if down the road he gets another shot and runs with it. I also agree with Mike wanting to go another direction too as it obviously didn't fit what he wanted to do.

I see what you did there...

 

[WmHBonney]

I don't remember the o line being above average since 2006 or 2007. Unger was pretty good, but that was like 2013 and before. Pete managed to work around it somehow, but they don't have the talent to hide it right now.

Grubb is not the problem. My guess is MacDonald hated the lack of a running game. Overall though, I didn't think the play calling was off. They kept Bevell around forever and he sucked. I remember them scoring 3 points against the Lambs in 2016, back when the Lambs were still a doormat.

Nobody on this team had anything to do with keeping Bevell. Not even JS.

 

[Somos doces]

Minor quibble with this thread’s title. The Hawks hired Grubb on Feb. 13, 2024, so he didn’t actually make it one year with the team.

 

[CouchLogic]

Minor quibble with this thread’s title. The Hawks hired Grubb on Feb. 13, 2024, so he didn’t actually make it one year with the team.