Alabama has a new offensive coordinator, with Kalen DeBoer having re-hired Ryan Grubb following Grubb’s one-year stint with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks.

Grubb was briefly the Crimson Tide’s OC about a year ago, though he never coached in a game or even attended a formal practice. He left for Seattle after first agreeing to join DeBoer in Tuscaloosa, then was replaced by Nick Sheridan (both had worked under DeBoer at Washington, Grubb as OC and Sheridan as tight ends coach).

The 48-year-old Grubb has a strong resumé in the college game, having enjoyed great success with offenses led by quarterbacks such as Michael Penix at Washington and Jake Haener at Fresno State. He’ll now try to get the most out of an Alabama offense that quite often underachieved in 2024 with Jalen Milroe at quarterback.

Milroe is gone to the NFL, though there are some excellent offensive weapons remaining in receivers Ryan Williams and Germie Bernard and running back Jam Miller. Junior Ty Simpson is the presumptive starter at quarterback in 2025, though sophomore Austin Mack and perhaps even 5-star freshman Keelon Russell might have something to say about that.

The expectation is that Alabama’s offense under Grubb will become one of the best in the country, as Washington’s was when he was on-staff there. And if so, he would quickly become a beloved figure around Tuscaloosa.

But who is the greatest offensive coordinator in Alabama football history? Here’s a short list (in chronological order):

Mal Moore (1971-82, 1990-93)

Moore is the only person on this list who was an Alabama graduate, having served as a backup quarterback for the Crimson Tide under coach Paul “Bear” Bryant in the early 1960s. After one year at Montana State, he returned to his alma mater as a graduate assistant in 1964. Moore was a defensive backs coach from 1965-70 before moving to offense as quarterbacks coach, just as Alabama was installing the wishbone offense in 1971. He stayed on the staff until Bryant’s retirement after the 1982 season, directing Crimson Tide offenses that led the SEC in scoring eight times in 10 years from 1971-80 (the 1973 team also set a conference record that still stands by averaging 366 rushing yards per game). Moore later returned to Alabama on Gene Stallings’ staff, helping the Crimson Tide to the 1992 national championship. Moore did not have the title of offensive coordinator for most of his career, but was Alabama’s primary game-planner and play-caller on that side of the ball. As a player, assistant coach and the later athletics director who hired Nick Saban, Moore was a part of 10 national championships. He died in 2013 at age 73.

Homer Smith (1988-89, 1994-95)

Regarded as one of the most intelligent and innovative offensive minds in the game’s history, Smith had two separate two-year stints at Alabama, one under Bill Curry and the other under Gene Stallings. He was also head coach at Army and offensive coordinator three different times at UCLA, where at one stretch his Bruins won the Rose Bowl three times in four years with three different quarterbacks. Smith’s 1989 Alabama offense was one of the most-efficient in school history up to that time, leading the SEC in both total offense and scoring. He returned to Tuscaloosa six years later following his third stint at UCLA and helped the Crimson Tide go 12-1 while developing quarterback Jay Barker into a Heisman Trophy finalist. Smith’s West Coast offense didn’t mesh well with Stallings’ more conservative approach, so he was fired after the 1995 season. He spent his last two years in coaching (1996-97) at Arizona, but later retired to Tuscaloosa. Smith died in 2011 at age 79.

Jim McElwain (2008-11)

After running the offense at Fresno State in 2007, McElwain was brought in by second-year Alabama coach Nick Saban to help get the most out of quarterback John Parker Wilson. He did just that, helping the Crimson Tide to an SEC West championship in 2008. Though defense carried Alabama to national titles in 2009 and 2011, McElwain’s 2009 offense featured Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram and the 2011 offense led the SEC in rushing at 214.5 yards per game. (The Alabama offenses in 2011 and 2012 — the latter directed by Doug Nussmeier — featured arguably the most-dominant lines in program history.) McElwain is also the only Crimson Tide OC of the Saban era to be part of multiple national championships. He left Tuscaloosa after the 2011 season to become head coach at Colorado State, and later was head coach at Florida and Central Michigan. He retired at the end of the 2024 season after 40 straight seasons in coaching.

Lane Kiffin (2014-16)

Kiffin is widely credited for helping modernize offensive football at Alabama, installing no-huddle, spread and run-pass option concepts previously absent from Saban’s repertoire. Previously offensive coordinator at USC and head coach at USC, Tennessee and with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, he was part of three straight SEC championships and the 2015 national championship with the Crimson Tide. Kiffin helped both Blake Sims and Jake Coker become high-level college passers and facilitated Derrick Henry winning the 2015 Heisman, while the 2016 Alabama team quarterbacked by Jalen Hurts led the SEC in total offense and scoring. Kiffin had agreed to become head coach at Florida Atlantic prior to the 2016 College Football Playoff, and didn’t stay on for the national championship game loss to Clemson after Saban reportedly told him to move on. After three successful years at FAU, he became head coach at Ole Miss in 2020.

Mike Locksley (2018)

Locksley was only offensive coordinator at Alabama for one season, but that team featured one of the greatest offenses in program history. The Crimson Tide averaged 45.6 points per game, 522 yards of total offense and 323 passing yards — all three school records at the time (the total offense mark remains second). Alabama that season had an embarrassment of riches on the offensive side of the ball, including Tua Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts and Mac Jones at quarterback; Damien Harris, Joshua Jacobs, Najee Harris and Brian Robinson at running back; DeVonta Smith, Jerry Jeudy, Henry Ruggs and Jaylen Waddle at receiver; Irv Smith Jr. at tight end and Jonah Williams, Jedrick wills and Alex Leatherwood on the offensive line. Locksley — who had also been co-offensive coordinator under Brian Daboll on Alabama’s 2017 national championship team — left Tuscaloosa in January 2019 following a CFP title game loss to Clemson, becoming head coach at Maryland.

Steve Sarkisian (2019-20)

Sarkisian — the former head coach at Washington and USC — filled in for Kiffin for the 2017 CFP national championship game loss to Clemson, then returned as full-time OC three years later. Alabama won the national title in 2020 and might have in 2019 if not for an historic season by SEC rival LSU and a season-ending injury suffered in November by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Sarkisian’s two seasons running the Alabama offense are arguably the greatest in program history, with the two-highest averages in points per game (47.2 in 2019, 48.5 in 2020) and passing yards per game (342 in 2019, 358 in 2020). The Crimson Tide’s average of 541 yards per game in 2020 is also a school record. Sarkisian led an offense that included three of the top five Heisman finishers in 2020 — wide receiver DeVonta Smith (the winner), quarterback Mac Jones (third) and running back Najee Harris (fifth). He left after that season to become head coach at Texas.

So there’s the list.

Based on production, Sarkisian seems like the correct answer to our initial question. Moore has the title when it comes to hardware (and longevity), though Smith, Kiffin and perhaps McElwain deserve extra points for both re-making the way Alabama played offensive football and getting the most out of the talent at-hand.

Who’s your pick?

Creg Stephenson has worked for AL.com since 2010 and has covered college football for a variety of publications since 1994. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @CregStephenson