How’d Ryan Grubb Feel About Coaching From the Sideline Against Eastern Illinois?

For the first time in his Alabama coaching career, Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb coached from the sideline during Alabama's 56-0 victory over the Eastern Illinois Panthers.

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Grubb has been coaching from the press box all season prior to Saturday, but the change was something that he said had been tugging at him all season long, and he felt like he could make a difference being on the sideline with the Crimson Tide's quarterbacks.

"It was great. It's something I have been thinking about since, honestly, the beginning of the year," Grubb said, "and the last few weeks, it's kind of been adding up on me a little bit. And I just thought that I could make a difference, honestly. Some of it was for me, selfishly, to make sure that my communication with the coaches, the players, was where I want it to be, so I feel good about the plays that I am calling the next series. But even just being down there with Ty and Keelon and Austin was great. Obviously, I think the world of Nick and trust him. He does just a fantastic job with those guys on the sideline. But for me, just being right there in the thick of it of being able to make the adjustments that I want to make, felt really good. It was great being down there."

Grubb hasn't coached from the sideline often, spending every game during his time at Washington in the coaches' box and several games during his time at Fresno State in the coaches' box.

"There’s a lot of factors that go into it. I did it a few times at Fresno. Some of it has to do with comfort level, with two parts. Number one, the people that you have in the box as far as eyes in the sky, and then also where you’re at with the guys on the sideline. So I tend to focus more on the positive part, meaning the guys that are in the box for us, Tyler Hughes and Mitch Dahlen, are as good as it gets. Those guys both have been in our system for a number of years. So whatever information I need to collect that I don’t think I have a good enough vantage point on, I normally get accurate information from those guys. So I have a lot of confidence with that, and I felt like, just again, the collaboration on the field, the in-game adjustments can happen quicker for me and the rest of the guys."

It is yet to be determined if Grubb will coach from the sideline or the coaches' box during Alabama's matchup with the Auburn Tigers in Jordan-Hare Stadium, but with how loud the stadium and how involved the crowd can get, it may be beneficial for the Tide if Grubb is on the sideline with Ty Simpson and the rest of Alabama's offense.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.