When Nick Sheridan told the Alabama football quarterback room he was leaving to take the offensive coordinator job at Michigan State, he gave Ty Simpson two reasons: He wanted to be a primary play-caller, and as a former Wolverine quarterback, he wanted to be closer to his family at Michigan State.
For his part, Simpson is happy and “proud” of his position coach, who arrived with DeBoer in 2024 and will leave to join Pat Fitzgerald’s staff in East Lansing.
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“He means a lot to me,” Simpson said.
But when Sheridan informed Grubb of the move, one thing was clear to Sheridan. He won’t leave until the Crimson Tide’s College Football Playoff run is over.
“The first thing he said was, ‘I’m going to be here until the end, Grubb,'” Grubb said. “‘I’m not taking this job until we win.’ That’s like the first statement.”
Sheridan was Alabama’s offensive coordinator in the 2024 class before Grubb was hired. Sheridan was subsequently demoted and served as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2025 as his offense averaged 31.4 points and 380.1 yards per game.
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While career changes come with “complications,” Grubb said “none of those complications came from Nick” and that he showed “unwavering support” during the transition.
In Sheridan, Grubb saw someone ready for the next step.
“Nick was more than just a colleague. He was a good friend,” Grubb said. “He’s definitely a stud. In this profession, you celebrate wins for good guys, and Nick is definitely one of them. So for him, just being able to take that next step. Nick has been very, very good at building. I think that’s what you see from great coaches, they just take steps. They develop. They stop somewhere, they hang out with people, they grow, they become better coaches. I think, for Coach Fitzgerald, they have a great coach.”
Alabama also lost co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach JaMarcus Shepard, who became the head coach at Oregon State.
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No. 9 Alabama will face No. 1 Indiana in the CFP quarterfinals of the 2026 Rose Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 1.
Colin Gay covers Alabama football for The Tuscaloosa News, a USA TODAY Network affiliate. The time to contact him is cgay@gannett.com or follow him @_ColinGay on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared in The Tuscaloosa News: Nick Sheridan plans to run for Alabama CFP after taking MSU job
