Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis is headed to Miami to be the Hurricanes' new offensive coordinator under new head coach Mario Cristobal. This is a slightly surprising development for an assistant coach who won the Broyles Award in 2021 as the nation's top assistant coach.
Gattis was at Michigan from 2019-2021, hired away from Alabama. Gattis had so-so success at Michigan, really. His first two years were mediocre, and even in this season of success, his offense was #24 in total offense, #22 in yards per play, and #16 in scoring. That represents a peak in each category during his three seasons in Ann Arbor.
I was often critical of Gattis. His initial #speedinspace mantra turned into . . . well . . . nothing more than a mantra. He did a poor job of getting speed in space during his first two years. When he finally hit his apogee, it was with the heavy influence of newly hired quarterbacks coach Matt Weiss, who brought a lot of elements of the Baltimore Ravens' run game. The condensed sets, the tight end motions, the jet motions turning into lead blockers, etc. are all directly from the Ravens' playbook.
There are various rumors floating around about why Gattis felt his time at Michigan should be over, and I won't get into them. I'll just say that this change might be best for both parties.
I have no insight into who the next offensive coordinator might be, but Michigan has a couple potential internal hires that would make sense in offensive line coach Sherrone Moore and Weiss. That being said, Jim Harbaugh does not always seem to make the most obvious choice, so we'll just have to wait and see.
As for the optics of Gattis leaving Michigan in a huff, well, coordinators don't stick around forever. There are various things that get in the way, whether it's hurt feelings, poor job performance, taking what seems like a promotion elsewhere, etc. Keep in mind that the last Michigan offensive coordinator to stick around for three years was Al Borges from 2011-2013. Since then Michigan has gone through Doug Nussmeier (2014), Jedd Fisch (2015-2016), Pep Hamilton (2017-2018). The last offensive coordinator to stay four years was Terry Malone from 2002-2005.
Supposedly Matt Weiss is going to be moved to OC, Ron Bellamy to WRs, and Jim Harbaugh will be coaching QBs.
ReplyDeleteSo if that's true, they will need 2 coaches on defense. I just read yesterday that Larry Foote declined a job here.
There's great defensive coaches out there that would love to be at a blue blood like Michigan. I could bet they are being careful who they hire for those 2 spots.
I wasn't a fan of Gattis til this year, when Matt Weiss came on board and synced with Harball. The last three games of the season we saw what I believe was all Gattis, the use of Donovan Edwards as a receiver, after letting him ride pine all year
ReplyDeleteThis move seems to be sour grapes though:
https://twitter.com/TomVH/status/1490378413613408256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1490378413613408256%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.saturdaydownsouth.com%2Fmichigan-wolverines%2Fjosh-gattis-takes-parting-shot-at-michigan-administration-after-leaving-for-miami%2F
I think Gattis did a great job here. This year's O was the best offense in the Harbaugh era, and probably the best since Tom Brady was around. And it felt like it against OSU, Iowa, etc. That with a pretty limited QB who was the antithesis of speed in space. Credit to Gattis for adapting, fitting, and making it work.
ReplyDeleteCompare offensive rankings (per FEI) for recent coordinators:
Fisch 13 and 23.
Hamilton 69 and 15.
Gattis 26, 31, 5.
Gattis did the best and he did it under some trying circumstances due to the 2020 fiasco.
It's always a team effort but I think it's pretty insulting to not give Gattis credit for what was done. He was the OC and he called the shots. Harbaugh kept him at the same time he jettisoned Brown, Warriner, Zordich, etc.
We'll see though. Michigan has a lot more talent and experience coming back in 2022 than Miami, so if Miami is anywhere close to M, then Gattis' will have earned some bragging rights...
That all said, I don't think this loss hurts that bad unless Gattis is taking players with him. For one thing, it was inevitable. A young ambitious Broyles winner is going to end up a head coach sooner or later and Gattis has been bouncing around to move up consistently. If it wasn't now it was going to be this December. So the timeline moved up but that happens. Alabama adapts every year.
Furthermore, Gattis clearly had help. Harbaugh's fingerprints have been there in the offense throughout. Even as I-form has disappeared and FBs have been WRs, there's zero indication that 2-TE looks are going anywhere. Moore did an absolutely outstanding job with the OL, and the buzz on Weiss is very positive too. Clearly Harbaugh respects him, and that's enough for me to as well. Gattis gets credit but he didn't do it alone and it feels more like he was being pulled up than doing the pulling.
Finally, there are lots of questions on Gattis that range from the recruiting trail rumors, relationships with departing players, and how he left under cloudy circumstances. Now that all can be forgiven but Mike Locksley's comments a couple years back, coupledd with how genuinely grateful Gattis was to Harbaugh for building him up and supporting him, tells me that he really was learning on the job to some degree. It all came together this year but it wasn't an instant-impact situation like you've seen with truly elite coordinators, or like we've seen with McDonald and Mattison.
Losing Gattis doesn't seem as surprising or upsetting as losing McDonald. I think the best thing to do is look at it like you would an early NFL departure from a player you wanted to see more from. You'd love to have them back, but it's ultimately part of being successful at the college level to have to reload.
FWIW I think Gattis had a tremendous influence on Harbaugh. It went both ways and I think there was a good deal of respect there because Harbaugh could easily have fired him after 2020 but kicked Warriner instead.
DeleteThis is twitter so take FWIW, but note that Weiss is publically crediting Gattis for emphasizing running the ball.
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/MattdblU/status/1473438939843375110
Well...I suppose the Weissification of college football would be a little too self aggrandizing.
DeleteLOL. Yeah and doesn't sound quite as good does it.
DeleteDespite how he left I'll be rooting for Gattis and intrigued to see how and what he does at Miami running the show himself. I think we'll get a pretty quick sense for how much it was a Gattis offense vs how much it was a Harbaugh/Weiss offense, especially since our personnel has about as much continuity as you can reasonably hope for in college football.