How will the new Seattle Seahawks OC have to edit the NFL’s playbook?

There is a lot of intrigue surrounding what the Seattle Seahawks offense will look like this fall under new offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb.

Seahawks on Grubb’s new offense: ‘It’s completely different’

Grubb, 48, comes to the NFL after a hugely successful two years as offensive coordinator at UW, where he oversaw the Huskies’ high-flying offense that was one of the most common offenses in college football. He previously had success at Fresno State, Eastern Michigan and the University of Sioux Falls at the NAIA level.

As he adapts his plan from college to the NFL, are there certain aspects of his playbook he will have to jettison? Grubb was asked this question during last week’s press conference.

“There are always things you can get away with in one league that you know you can’t get away with in another league,” Grubb said. “I mean, even the Mountain West to the Pac-12, all that type of stuff that I think absolutely applies, and you have to find things that are realistic.”

Huard’s shot

On Monday during Brock and Salk’s Blue 88 segment on Seattle Sports, former NFL quarterback Brock Huard expanded on this topic.

Huard said one of the biggest differences Grubb will experience at the NFL level is narrower tags. Hash marks are 18 feet, 6 inches apart on an NFL field, as opposed to 40 feet apart in college. This means that once the ball is spotted on one side of the markers, college offenses have over 20 feet of extra space to work on the opposite side of the field. College party invitees often try to use this extra space to their advantage.

“The shortcuts (in college) create more space and more formative opportunities,” Huard said. “You can still play four-on-one (formations in the NFL). You can still hire a guy to create this kind of platform, but you won’t get the space advantage you would with a broader field in college. So there will be some things that will be formally toned down, simply because the game is played more in a phone booth.

Huard said another major difference for Grubb is that there will be smaller differences in size and strength at the line of scrimmage. Last season, the Joe Moore Award-winning UW Huskies had a significant offensive advantage in almost every game they played. This certainly won’t be the case in the NFL, where the talent gap between opponents is much smaller.

“You don’t move people to the Pac-12 like you move them in high school and college or the Mountain West to the Pac-12,” Huard said. “You just aren’t. … It’s about inches (in the NFL). (Former NFL linebacker) Dave Wyman loves to talk about (what it’s like) fighting for every blade of grass, fighting for every inch of advantage – not feet, not yards, how not to knock people off the ball.

With that being said, Huard is confident Grubb will have a successful transition to the NFL. As Huard noted, he has plenty of experience adapting and succeeding at every stage of his career, from small NAIA schools to the UW Huskies, who reached the College Football Playoff championship game last season.

“I think Ryan Grubb knows exactly what he’s getting into,” Huard said, “and I think he’ll adapt to the new environment as much as he has over his 20-year career.”

Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player above. Listen to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6-10 a.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

More Seattle Seahawks coverage

• Pickup: How the Seahawks can get the best out of DK Metcalf
• Blue 88: The best way the Seahawks can use DL Dre’Mont Jones
• Changes Big Ray sees in Seahawks OL Olu Oluwatimi
• Salk: Why the Seahawks’ O-line injuries are a bit concerning
• What Bump from Seattle Seahawks CB Riq Woolen said that makes Bump stand out

Follow @CameronVanTil