josh gattis has progressed

A week ago Michigan fans were wrapping their heads around the idea of Josh Gattis as Michigan’s next head coach (or telling lies to prevent it). While Jim Harbaugh was interviewing for NFL jobs, however, his staff couldn’t be expected to sit around waiting to see if they’d get his. Evidently, Josh Gattis connected with Mario Cristobal, and Bruce Feldman now reports that Michigan’s Broyles Award-winning offensive coordinator is leaving for Miami.

BREAKING: Michigan OC Josh Gattis is accepting the Miami’s offensive coordinator job, per source. The 38-year-old Gattis who helped the Wolverines to the Big Ten title in 2021, won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach. Big addition for the Canes.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 6, 2022

That’s a blow. Gattis was the blueprint for the youth takeover on Harbaugh’s staff, and a leader in the cultural turnaround toward positivity that fueled their run to a win over Ohio State, a Big Ten Championship, and the program’s first-ever playoff appearance. Gattis also built an incredible, and incredibly fast, young receiving room, with Ronnie Bell, Cornelius Johnson, Mike Sainristil, AJ Henning, Roman Wilson, and Andrel Anthony set to form one of the deepest and speediest groups in Michigan history.

On the other hand, Michigan was already preparing for life beyond Gattis, who just three years into becoming an offensive coordinator in his own right was a top candidate for several open Power 5 jobs this offseason, and almost certainly would have been again in a year. Keeping him in Ann Arbor was likely going to take an Associate Head Coach designation, perhaps with a succession plan.

His choosing to leave to be the OC of another school is what sticks, and therefore I look forward to seeing the details of his Miami contract. How much money he receives, what title he gets, and most of all whether any other assistants leave could swing perceptions of how much Gattis was drawn to Miami or repelled by Ann Arbor. Michigan was set to have a breakout offense next year, with a battle between two excellent quarterback options, that receiver room, a pair of star running backs, three parts of an excellent offensive line, and two great TEs returning. Unless the money is considerably higher, it would have seemed that Michigan was a better stepping stone than the rebuilding Canes to Gattis’s future goals, and that those goals were already very close.

It’s hard, then, not to certain elements of the fanbase and the flow of false rumors as contributing factors. Harbaugh too is rightfully going to be criticized, since by all accounts he did a terrible job keeping his assistants informed of his plans, a breach of trust that’s more relevant now that he’s going to have to get them to work for him again. It also didn’t help that Michigan fans often wondered aloud if it was Harbaugh running Gattis’s offense, or if Ed Warinner was secretly teaching them how to run the ball, claims that always had more than hint of that old “Martelli is secretly running Juwan’s program” flavor of bullshit. However Cristobal is an offensive guy as well, and the Hurricane fanbase isn’t going to be any better than Michigan’s, so it’s not like that situation, at least, is changing.

Co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, another young assistant who has moved up the ranks in the program, could assume the role himself, or, since the O-Line is basically a coordinator position itself, share it with another. Most expect that to be Matt Weiss, who as of last Thursday was expected to be following Harbaugh to the Vikings. There's also speculation that they'll be moving Bellamy to receivers to open up space on the defensive staff. They also have Mike Hart. I’ve confirmed from several who would know that the report Hart was ahead of Gattis in the Harbaugh replacement sweepstakes was a complete fabrication, but Hart had nothing to do with that, and is still regarded as future head coach material inside the building. Harbaugh will probably first look around at outside options. But he should probably look to shoring up the rest of his staff first.

Things discussed:

• Pre-show: Jim Harbaugh thoughts at the tail end of The Michigan Insider.
• Question: Interim tag? What about co-head coaches?
• Harbaugh: Likely to return to Michigan, wants to see if the NFL is interested but we only see the Raiders as potentially interested.
• Mike Elston: One of the guys. If you’re going to be a lifelong DL coach might as well come home.
• Let’s play if he goes: Hart? Gattis? Macdonald?
• Outside options? We haven’t changed.
• Likelihood it happens? Only Raiders, G-Men seems like it would be weird. If the NFL really wanted Jim Harbaugh he’d be in the NFL right now. It would have to be a team that wants to make the whole operation Harbaugh’s because your GM has to be the rare type of boss who can get along with him.
• Jacksonville? Not with Baalke there. But Jim’s good friend is director of player personnel.
• Do we care that Michigan has a coach looking around? If it wasn’t Harbaugh, probably.
• Hoops: Played with guts in Champaign, PG coming around, Frankie’s not a shooter but had a super spreader event at Crisler.
• Hockey: Got lucky to win 2 against PSU, go to Minnesota when they’re trying to find a goalie (can’t have ours again).

Harbaugh is (justifiably) receiving a lot of credit for remaking his staff this offseason with guys in their thirties, but the blueprint for that strategy has been here since 2019. Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis today was named the 2021 winner of the Broyles Award for the top assistant coach in college football.

We are honored to announce the 2021 #BroylesAward Winner Josh Gattis, @UMich OC. @Coach_Gattis exemplifies the legacy of Coach Broyles and 26 years of #coachingexcellence.@UMichFootball @michigannews @espn @CBSSports @FOXSports @NBCSports pic.twitter.com/ZyQMj7TKae

— BROYLES AWARD (@BroylesAward) December 7, 2021

Gattis brought #SpeedinSpace to Ann Arbor in 2019 and achieved a perfect synthesis with the Counter/Pin & Pull power offense that Harbaugh previously favored, especially late in the season as Donovan Edwards was incorporated into the passing game. Gattis balanced a jam-packed WR room of many differing talents, fielded the best two running backs in the Big Ten according to Pro Football Focus, managed a two-quarterback situation by playing to the strengths of both while maintaining strict roles for either, and oversaw the second-best protection line we’ve charted, after the one in Gattis’s first season at Michigan. Doubtless the players, other assistants, and the head man himself had a lot to do with that too, but Josh Gattis’s fingers and playcalling were all over the most astounding victory of the season.

Congratulations Coach Gattis! Flea flickers forever!