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How Ryan Grubb Firing Led the Seahawks to the Super Bowl With Klint Kubiak

Published: January 29, 2026, 10:15 AM ET
3 min read

Following the 2024 NFL season, Mike Macdonald knew he needed to make an offensive change. The Seahawks had won 10 games, but he wasn’t happy with the offensive side of the ball. 

Seattle missed the playoffs due to tiebreakers with Ryan Grubb as their offensive coordinator, and their offense lagged in key areas, especially with overall balance. 

Despite a winning record, the Seahawks ranked near the bottom of the league in running plays and rushing yards in 2024, failing to leverage dynamic backs like Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet. 

The offense lacked and Macdonald saw enough. He made a hard decision in January 2025 to fire Grubb and call upon one of the best young offensive minds in the NFL, Klint Kubiak

Kubiak brought a more balanced, run-oriented scheme that prioritized efficient play design and complementary football. Under his leadership in 2025, the Seahawks’ offense shifted dramatically, and it has helped lead them to the Super Bowl favorites. Seattle finished the regular season 14-3, won the NFC West, and earned the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the first time since 2013.

Seahawks on Super Bowl With Klint Kubiak

Massive Offensive Transformation

The 2025 Seahawks were elite on the offensive side of the ball this season. Seattle scored 483 total points during the season, an average of 28.4 points per game, which ranked third in the NFL

Under Klint Kubiak, the offense became far more efficient, turning opportunities into points and putting constant pressure on opposing defenses. They rarely stalled on their drives. 

The Seahawks totaled 4,860 yards of offense, which was caused by elite balance. They rushed for 1,563 yards, while piling up 4,048 passing yards through the air. 

This allowed them to control game flow, win time of possession battles, and avoid becoming predictable, something that had plagued the offense the year before.

Sam Darnold threw for over 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns, excelling in Kubiak’s scheme. He played with confidence, consistently taking what defenses gave him while still pushing the ball downfield when opportunities arose. 

On the receiving end, Jaxon Smith-Njigba emerged as a true star, racking up an astonishing 1,793 receiving yards and serving as the centerpiece of Seattle’s explosive passing attack. 

The production symbolized an offense that finally maximized its ability, and it’s only going to get better in the coming seasons. 

The choice to fire Ryan Grubb was critical for the Seahawks success. Seattle was riding an offense that didn’t fit Macdonald’s vision of Seahawks football. 

Grubb’s departure allowed the offense to be reimagined, and Kubiak was the perfect man for the job. The Seahawks are currently a 4.5-point favorite (-115 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook) in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots. 

You’ll have a hard time finding many media members picking against the Seahawks in this game because of their elite explosion on offense, combined with their powerful defense. 

If they repeat their offensive success from the playoffs in the Super Bowl, New England will have difficulty competing in this matchup.

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Tanner Kern

Tanner Kern

Sports Betting Analyst & On-Air Host

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Tanner Kern has been working in the betting industry since 2020. He currently is a social media content creator at DraftKings and contributes to multiple sites in addition to WSN, including Forbes and VSiN. He is also the cohost of the podcast Ride the Line at WSN.
Email: tanner.kern@wsn.com
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