Inside The Huskies

UW Coach Comparison: Carroll Looks, Sounds Different Than Dad

The new offensive coordinator and line coach has a style all his own.

Dan Raley

Brennan Carroll watches offensive tackle Aidan Anderson hit the sled.
Brennan Carroll watches offensive tackle Aidan Anderson hit the sled. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Brennan Carroll has the unenviable task of replacing two guys who left the University of Washington football team for the Seattle Seahawks, with a slumber party at Alabama in between.

Carroll, of course, has already been there, done that -- the Seahawks part, that is.

Brennan Carroll, 45, worked six of the 14 seasons that his father Pete lorded over the local NFL franchise before branching out again on his own and joining Jedd Fisch's coaching staff in Arizona and now in Montlake.

He steps in for Ryan Grubb, 48, as the UW offensive coordinator and Scott Huff, 44, as the Husky offensive-line coach.

One of those other guys produced one of the college game's most prolific passing attacks for two seasons, while the other pieced together the nation's top offensive line as the 2023 Joe Moore Award recipient.

Brennan Carroll usually presents an upbeat image at practice.
Brennan Carroll usually presents an upbeat image at practice. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Carroll, however, hardly should seem daunted by the exploits of his predecessors. He's very comfortable in his own skin, and paint-brush beard for that matter, if not his laid-back demeanor in his dealings with everyone. He's at least an octave or two lower than his energy bunny father, who ran around hugging everyone and talking very fast.

The biggest difference from staff to staff is young Carroll works the Husky offense from the outside in, meshing things as the coordinator and line coach; while Grubb, who doubled as the quarterbacks coach and offensive leader, put things together from the inside out, beginning with Michael Penix Jr.'s throwing arm.

It's two different approaches aiming for high-level results, with Carroll and Fisch insisting on running the ball in a more emphatic manner that mirrors an NFL offense.

Brennan Carroll replaced Ryan Grubb as UW offensive coordinator.
Brennan Carroll replaced Ryan Grubb as UW offensive coordinator. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Carroll has 20 years of full-time coaching experience that also counts stops at USC and Miami, spending another six seasons with his father.

Grubb is entering his 20th season as a college and pro coach, with previous stops at Fresno State, Eastern Michigan, Sioux Falls and South Dakota State.

Huff enters his 19th year of coaching following a career previously split between the UW and Boise State.

While Grubb and Huff are coming off milestone moments as coaches, Carroll has his work cut out for him in rebuilding an entire new Husky offensive line, largely out of young, untested players and transfers.

How well he puts together the line will go a long way in determining the effectiveness of an offensive unit put together on the fly. If Carroll can work some magic with what he inherited in holdover Huskies and acquired with portal transfers and freshmen, he might prove to be an upgrade over his highly productive predecessors.

For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington

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Dan Raley

DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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