Greg Mattison is Leaving for Ohio State
For the second time in his career, Greg Mattison is departing Michigan with a giant middle finger, and leaving a giant hole.
Michigan assistant expected to accept job at Ohio State https://t.co/j4wcjDyLDr
— WolverinesWire (@wolverineswire) January 7, 2019
After the 1996 season, Mattison, then Michigan's defensive coordinator, left to join Bob Davie in the same position at Notre Dame. Michigan's 1997 defense, which owed much to Mattison's recruiting and eye for talent, then won a national championship without him.
When he returned to Ann Arbor in 2011 Mattison was more heralded—justifiably so—than head coach and friend Brady Hoke. Greg inherited the worst defense perhaps in the history of the program, gave them an identity, and recruited the bulk of a unit that was, by 2015, once again among the nation's elite (except in the one game that matters).
That wasn't the last coaching transition Mattison helped to rescue here. Mattison planned to leave when Brady Hoke was fired—even boxing up his office. However Mattison had deep connections with the Harbaughs, earning his first coordinator job from Jack at Western Michigan in the mid-1980s, and serving as John's defensive coordinator for two years with the Baltimore Ravens. As he had when Davie was replaced with Tyrone Willingham in 2002, Mattison—still under contract—accepted a demotion to defensive line coach, keeping his room intact under Jim Harbaugh. For another four seasons, Mattison remained one of the top assistants in the nation in recruiting while producing elite defensive linemen, whether they came that way (Rashan) or had to be stolen back from the fullback room (Winovich).
At 70 with his contract expired, Mattison was expected to remain or retire as a Wolverine. While no official statement has confirmed it so far, it appears that new Ohio State head coach Ryan Day offered Mattison a chance to be defensive coordinator again. It was reported shortly after the Mattison news that current OSU DC Greg Schiano won't be retained, and Pete Thamel just reported that 49ers DB coach Jeff Hafley will be accepting a "co-" defensive coordinator role there. Hafley, like myself, is 39 and has never been a DC.
Impact: So, it's not a good look, either for Michigan nor Mattison, whose reputation shifts immediately from Septuagenarian of Swag to college football's worst Benedict Arnold. Losing an accomplished and well-known assistant to the very fine people in Columbus will be press released as exactly the kind of deep blow its orchestrators intended it to be. Superficially swiping your rival's 70-year-old assistant, however, creates as many questions about longevity tomorrow as petty high-fives today. Mattison's defensive line expertise is superfluous at Ohio State, who poached top DL coach Larry Johnson Sr. from Penn State when Franklin took over, so at best this is a temporary move for Ohio State while they groom Hafley.
Michigan could also be fine. Rising star OLB coach Al Washington would have been tough to retain this offseason; Washington, like Mattison, is a strong recruiter with deep Ohio ties and in fact was previously the Michigan coach rumored to be considering an OSU job. Mattison's departure instead should clear the way for Michigan to promote Washington up the assistant chain while returning him to his most natural coaching position; Washington was Don Brown's defensive line coach at Boston College and at most of his other stops.
That all of course depends on whether Brown himself stays with Michigan or accepts the Temple head coaching job that Manny Diaz just bounced from. Harbaugh will have to wait a few more tense weeks to have a good idea of who's going to be coaching with him in 2019.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:42 PM ^
shoot.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:42 PM ^
Deuces, Matty.
Liked you and all but wish you nothing but professional failure from here on out.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:42 PM ^
Dying to hear the back story here...
January 7th, 2019 at 2:52 PM ^
Wonder could it involve Don Brown wanting to be absolute boss on D. Any indications that could be the case?
Beyond that, this worry: neither the D NOR the O look like they are resting on terra firma at present.
EDIT: Seems to be some potential affirmation of this first below, and the first might suggest that the D remains in pretty strong hands.
January 7th, 2019 at 4:06 PM ^
This could be true seeing that the Temple HC job is still open.
January 7th, 2019 at 6:00 PM ^
I thought that if there were drama, it would be on the offense side. D always seemed solid. Then at the end of the year, Soloman transfers, Gary/Bush decide not to play in bowl, and Brown (who we all thought was happy ending career as DC) interviews for HC.
Want to know back story....coaching discord or pushed into retirement? Only now 20 years later we are hearing about the discord on D that ended up gelling the '97 D.
Not that they needed it, but now they have a spy with great insight into DB's D.
Of note, Mattison is co-DC, sharing it with a younger co-DC. Maybe Mattison just expected to coach DL and recruit.
January 9th, 2019 at 12:31 AM ^
Bush said he wasn't medically cleared to play and I have no reason to believe that is not the case.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:43 PM ^
I wish him the best in his endeavors with ohio state, but I hope they lose every year.
January 7th, 2019 at 5:40 PM ^
Don't know how wishing for the former helps bring about the latter?
January 7th, 2019 at 2:45 PM ^
Where is Jerry Montgomery?
January 7th, 2019 at 3:25 PM ^
Currently the DL coach for the Packers.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^
The OSU angle is weird to me. I initially saw this as 1) Mattison wanted 1-2 more years; 2) M/Harbaugh/Brown urged retirement (so they could promote Washington); 3) Mattison said F that and bolted.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:51 PM ^
Absolutely agree with this. Has there been anything definitive that Harbaugh/Brown decided to not renew his contract? I hate the fact that we are losing Matty to OSU but if he was in a way let go, it gives me a little hope that there is indeed plans being made behind the scenes to improve our program. For the past week and a half, around here you would think Harbaugh has been in the Bahamas with no such thought on our program at all. I of course do not believe this to be the case so it will be nice to hear some details regarding this coaching move.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:55 PM ^
The reports saying the "not renewing his contract" is false are all carefully worded. Sounds like it may be true but Michigan doesn't want to air dirty laundry.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:56 PM ^
Conflicting reports about whether or not his contract was not renewed -
January 7th, 2019 at 4:20 PM ^
Because Harbaugh has a history of not working hard??? This is a guy that climbs trees for recruits and sets up summer camps all over the country. Harbaugh is not perfect but he rarely is outworked.
January 7th, 2019 at 5:03 PM ^
Mattison has a strong history with Meyer.... and at his age and accomplishments, I cannot imagine he enjoyed being second fiddle to Brown... I'll say it, and prefer to have him the DC than Brown, whose unsound D scares me, without a strong DL, its a liability. Bring back Hoke as DL coach... seriously...
January 7th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
Even if this is true, it's an enormously petty and childish thing for Mattison to do. He could easily get another job at over half the programs in the country.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:10 PM ^
Not a DC job at a Top 5 program like Ohio State. And lets be honest...the rivalry really only exists for fans. For (most) coaches, its just a job.
I've been with the same company for a dozen years, but if a competitor offered a substantial promotion and raise, I'd go Marcus Hall on the way out while wearing my new team colors. Pretty sure most people would.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:24 PM ^
Agree totally. I'm a couple years younger than Matty, and would do the same thing if offered a promotion and raise. It's not like he has a Michigan pension waiting for him.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:46 PM ^
Can confirm. I'm in an industry that puts a high value on industry experience. We hire directly from our competitors routinely...and they return the favor.
If the company that is our most direct barrier to market share called me up with a 100% raise (or whatever Mattison is getting), I'd be gone by the end of the day. Many people have done exactly this.
January 7th, 2019 at 4:16 PM ^
The difference between you three and Mattison is that if you left your job for a competitor, no one would care except for your kids maybe. You'd be sending a message to no one but maybe a few coworkers.
Mattison is a public figure coaching a football team with 3,000,000 fans.
And he's 70.
And he's already been a DC.
And he's already won a national championship.
And he's already rich.
January 7th, 2019 at 5:13 PM ^
Even though everything you just said is factually correct, why should Mattison be forced to make career choices based on how it's perceived by fans? Yes it sucks that he's leaving for OSU of all places, but sometimes you have to make whatever choice you feel is best for yourself and accept that people won't like it.
January 7th, 2019 at 4:31 PM ^
jackie robinson retired because he refused to play for the hated giants after his trade. sports are different than real life.
January 7th, 2019 at 4:21 PM ^
I guess this is where I differ from many here (and apparently GM):
First, universities and college sports are NOT corporations. The entire concept of "competitor" or "rival" is completely different. Yeah, for coaches it's a bit different, but it seems to me that universities and college sports are among the few places where loyalty and belief in your institution matter.
Second, GM is a 70 year old millionaire. Is money really that important to him/you at that age? I'm unlikely to have that kind of money, but if I do, I sure hope that MOAR money is far down my priority list.
Third, I would never, under any circumstances, move to Columbus. Yuck. Thanks for the offer - pass. Just my personal feeling about that place and those people.
Fourth, OSU's athletic department is demonstrably unethical and shady. Ethics matter, and I wouldn't want to be associated with that place.
January 7th, 2019 at 6:49 PM ^
That last one is the one that gets me....it’s a bad, bad look.
GMatt is forever off my Xmas list
January 7th, 2019 at 6:59 PM ^
I know a guy that did that, went Marcus Hall and then some on his way out of the company I worked for.
A year later the boss he had when he worked for us was hired by his new company to be his boss's boss; his Marcus act hadn't been forgotten and he got the axe before the month was out.
No matter how bad it gets, leave with some dignity. You never know what might be down the road.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^
I guess he really wanted to be a DC again. That or he was getting pushed out - God knows why that'd do that though - and got pissed off. I'm sure he's going to be near the $2m mark, so that's a win financially. But that's a apt description, a giant middle finger to UM indeed.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:46 PM ^
I knew Mattison pretty well from the 1990s. He's an asshole (personally) which is probably why some of the players don't seem too upset about his departure. This looks just like it looked when he left for ND. Except now he's 70 and instead of looking like an opportunistic traitor, he just looks like a guy at the end of his career that is trying to cash a check.
But he can coach, for sure. But so can Al Washington.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:47 PM ^
Mattison in a red hat will be weird.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:48 PM ^
January 7th, 2019 at 8:03 AM ^
I have nothing new on Pep, and Matty would retire before he ever went to OSU.
LOL. I believe umbig11 probably had good intel to make this statement. We can never keep nice things. You have to laugh or you would go insane. Now the next hire DEFINITELY needs to be a guy that can recruit.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:53 PM ^
That was probably as a DL coach. Can't really fault him for a million dollar pay raise and the chance to be a DC again.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:09 PM ^
Or... amazing I know, he was completely clueless about the situation and pulled "he'd retire before going to OSU" out of his ass.
He clearly has good intel sometimes. He also, clearly, passes off hunches as intel.
January 7th, 2019 at 4:12 PM ^
Spot on, and at the same time, too kind.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:15 PM ^
It's Ohio State. I can fault him for that.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:49 PM ^
I think Brown is staying, otherwise Temple would have already announced him. Furthermore, I think Brown finished his self-scouting and did not renew Mattison. Gut feeling is that Al Washington was promised the DL position plus a chunk of Greg's $ to stay. Also, gut feel is that Bush (senior) was promised the Safety job and Partridge is moving back to LBs/Viper. If true, I think we won. Why ?
- Solidifies young recruiters for Ohio, NJ and Florida
- Puts position coaches in their best, highest use based on skill set
- Adds more NFL pedigree to the staff
I just don't get OSU hiring Mattison, other than to poke Harbaugh in the eye and steal some secrets.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:55 PM ^
Having an NFL pedigree is not the positive you think it is...
January 7th, 2019 at 3:25 PM ^
Example A: our shitshow of an O game planning
January 7th, 2019 at 2:56 PM ^
Is there some kind of NDA schools have in their coaching contracts about sharing "trade secrets" from other programs if they get poached? It just seems all kinds of messed up that Mattison could've been in meetings for how Brown is going to change/correct the defense, then Mattison can now take that knowledge to OSU and put them at a significant advantage.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:04 PM ^
Eh, change up the terminology and they'll be fine. It's the last game of the year anyway - it'll all be on film by the time it's any use to Ohio.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:19 PM ^
Considering the last OSU game could not have gone any worse than it did, I'm not sure what big secrets he has to share anyway.
January 7th, 2019 at 4:16 PM ^
We save a lot for OSU. I can tell you 62 specific examples. Also after a few weeks of offseason training our offense will be a lot better.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:58 PM ^
Interesting takes Mongo! I just don't get the whole coach bringing secrets to a rival program. Wasn't that what Warriner was supposed to bring us this year? How did that work out for us? Harbaugh and Brown aren't dummies. This news I don't think shocked them one bit.
January 7th, 2019 at 2:58 PM ^
The secret-stealing angle doesn't make sense. The risk/reward equation is nowhere near compelling enough if the position is truly for DC. You don't higher away a middle manager from your competitor and promote him to CFO just to learn the few remaining tricks you don't already know.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:54 PM ^
I don't remember who, but someone on this board had the following take on programs hiring opposing coaches (very much paraphrasing here):
- coaches are smart, there's very little that last year's game planning can tell them that they can't see on tape.
- there are very few TRUE "surprises" during a game, it's just a matter of coaches being able to train and course correct in real time
- the most valuable information a new hire brings is on personnel
It made sense to me. I expect Mattison to get a cursory debrief when he arrives, and immediately get to evaluating his new team.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:00 PM ^
Need more Bush
January 7th, 2019 at 3:14 PM ^
I agree this is the most likely rationale for what just happened. Brown wanted to make a change (maybe as one condition for him staying here) and Mattison was not renewed. I think Michigan will end up better off after this change, overall. Getting a younger, experienced guy in the job who can recruit well is a gain. But yeah, I don't get it either, especially from Ohio State's perspective. The only thing that makes sense at all is their ongoing petty, small-minded desire to get us any way they can. Spending that much money on a 70 year old coach when they have other better options seems like a stupid way to get us though.
January 7th, 2019 at 3:43 PM ^
Spending that much money on a 70 year old coach when they have other better options seems like a stupid way to get us though.
Yeah, they have the last game in November to make us look bad. Why do something stupid now?
January 7th, 2019 at 3:16 PM ^
How would you compare your gut, Comrade Mongo, to Sam Webb's?
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