It's understandable that the recent departure of Alabama football's here-today, gone-tomorrow offensive coordinator, Ryan Grubb, generated some hand-wringing in the UA fan base. He directed one of the most potent attacks in the country at Washington the last two years, despite inheriting an offense that ranked a dismal 114th out of 130 FBS teams in 2021. He did well enough after the first of those two seasons to catch the attention of Nick Saban, who explored hiring Grubb to replace Bill O'Brien.

But when he took the Seattle Seahawks' offensive coordinator job last week, did he really take the magic with him?

For now, consider the magic Kalen DeBoer's.

GOODBREAD: NCAA rules on NIL have always been a joke, but now they're even funny in court

NICK SABAN COMMEMORATIVE BOOK: Relive Nick Saban’s epic Alabama football coaching career with our special book! Preorder here.

Alabama's new head coach deserves that presumption entering his first season with the Crimson Tide, and by extension, his decision to tap tight ends coach Nick Sheridan as OC deserves the benefit of the doubt.

DeBoer hired Grubb as an offensive line coach at multiple coaching stops before Grubb got his first shot to run the show. Before they ever got together, DeBoer's 2006 Sioux Falls team ran the table at 14-0 for an NAIA national title. The last time DeBoer and Grubb were separated, in 2019, DeBoer was Indiana's OC and directed the third-best offense in the Big Ten. That would be expected at a marquee Big Ten program like Ohio State. But it's a real feat at IU, particularly considering that quarterback Michael Penix Jr. played in just six games due to injuries.

Just as Saban, as a coach with a background vested in defense, had a hands-on approach at Alabama on that side of the ball, so too will DeBoer be hands-on offensively.

It's his show, after all. With or without Grubb.

Saban energy on GameDay

Retired Alabama coach Nick Saban's decision to join the ESPN College GameDay crew guarantees absolute bedlam on the UA campus the first time — and for that matter, every time — the show descends on Tuscaloosa for a home game. Seven months early, let's go ahead and call the shot: Georgia at Alabama on Sept. 28. Without predicting either team's record at that point, a clash between the SEC's two dominant programs, complete with Saban's on-set analysis, figures to be too much for GameDay to resist.

Etc.

The timing was good for Alabama basketball to catch some rest without a weeknight game this week. Of its seven remaining games, starting with Texas A&M on Saturday, only one currently has a losing SEC record (Ole Miss). The stretch includes a trip to Lexington next weekend to face Kentucky, two games against Florida, and a home game against rival Tennessee. ... Here's guessing former Alabama LB Dont'a Hightower will flourish in his new role as the New England Patriots' linebacker coach. His football intelligence and instincts for the position were part of what got him on the field as an Alabama freshman in 2008, and the two-time Pro Bowler spent the last 13 years playing for two of the game's preeminent defensive minds: Nick Saban and Bill Belichick. ... Terry Saban has written the forward for The Tuscaloosa News' commemorative book on her husband's 17-year run at Alabama.

Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Who's the genius, Alabama football's Kalen DeBoer, or ex-OC Grubb?