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WTKA Roundtable 2/10/2022: In Love With Your Stuff Comment Count

Seth February 10th, 2022 at 10:46 AM

Couple of coaching title updates now that it’s official: Steve Clinkscale has been made co-DC. Mike Hart is the running game coordinator. Elston is the recruiting coordinator.

Things discussed:

  • Harbaugh makes good hires; looking internal was smart.
  • New OC team: Gattis grew before our eyes, can they stay as organized as they were last year?
  • Gattis: Hard to understand why he felt the way he did after the contract negotiation: Harbaugh was going to name him the guy, the regents were behind it, the other assistants were told that Gattis was the internal hire if that was the direction they went, and Harbaugh went out on a limb for Gattis in 2019 and paid a price to let him grow on the job.
  • All those rumors are absolute BS. He was never pulled off the recruiting trail, never had any off-field incidents. He is emotional and that seems to work both for and against him.
  • Coordinating is more about building the options that week than calling the plays on Saturday.
  • Moving Bellamy/Jay: Both guys are head coaches and filling out their resumes. Both great recruiters. Bellamy a more natural receivers coach, and Minter is a safeties guy so Harbaugh’s not being thrown in the deep end.
  • Minter: Vandy defensive stats don’t matter—seems he was a Plan A guy that Macdonald wanted, and a guy who loves speed. Seth: Going to see Michigan dip deeper into the Ravens playbook because they have more speed in the secondary. Have to recreate pressure with different looks instead of having Aidan run through guys.
  • Co-DCs: Not necessarily the same as the co-OCs but they’ll probably break up specific duties in scouting and game-planning—playcalling is a small thing in comparison, especially on D.
  • Elston as recruiting coordinator: Good pick and has to move on Dante Moore.
  • Harbaugh is building quite a coaching tree.
  • Hoops: Got shooting vs Purdue, don’t have any answer for Ivey. Painter is going to have an answer for the pressure. Probably can’t play Jace 20 minutes. Beat their defense, make your shots.
  • Penn State: Zone worked against them.
[Hit the JUMP for the player, and video and stuff]

You can catch the entire episode on Michigan Insider's podcast stream.

Segment two is available here. And you can watch the video here:

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Comments

mwolverine1

February 10th, 2022 at 10:53 AM ^

In Gattis's view, he was being externally recognized as the best assistant coach in the country. However Michigan was not treating him like that: they weren't going to just give the HC job to him and weren't willing to match Miami's offer. This mismatch is what caused his unhappiness

Joined: 11/23/2009

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Buy Bushwood

February 10th, 2022 at 1:30 PM ^

I don't believe he was being declared as the best assistant coach in the country.  The award affords no such boast about individual qualities.  The award is for the assistant coaching job for that season.  Gattis was notably not a winner in other seasons. He was not acknowledged as the best assistant coach in NCAAF.    

Joined: 10/24/2020

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LloydCarr97

February 10th, 2022 at 11:20 AM ^

I’m glad the Josh Gattis rumors on character related incidents were cleared up. Also every coach that moves on from UM is not evil or a bad person it’s called life and business although it’s fair to disagree with how one handles business.

Joined: 02/04/2022

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alum96

February 10th, 2022 at 10:03 PM ^

Preach

This board is no different than any other fanbase.  They will throw people under the bus and character assassinate to justify any decision.  WHY WOULD HE LEAVE! OMG THERE MUST BE A SCANDAL. ITS MICHIGAN FERGODSAKES! GATTIS CHARACATER IS A DISASTER!!!

It's gross as hell.

"We are above this!"  No it's no different here.  

Joined: 04/28/2012

MGoPoints: 82551

AC1997

February 10th, 2022 at 12:02 PM ^

I haven't finished this yet, but seeing the Jace bullet just makes me scratch my head again.  I love Jace's energy and effort.....HE IS NOT A WING.  Jace is another PF who can't stay in front of Ivey.  If you want to make an argument that using Jace in press/zone is useful, I'm listening.  If you want to make an argument that all of our other PF aren't playing well so give Jace a try, I'm listening.  

But anyone who watched the handful of minutes Jace has ever played and thinks he's a wing on either end of the court and should get 20 minutes when his offensive contributions make Williams look like Wilt just confuses me.  

If you want to squint at Jace's few minutes this year and be excited for his future - great.  But those best moments have come in press defense, diving for loose balls, and defending bigger guys - not playing the wing.  

He's basically the backup QB of this team where he looks so much more attractive than he really is.  

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AC1997

February 10th, 2022 at 1:17 PM ^

You're not the only one Seth.  And I truly am happy that Jace is more promising than I thought when people wanted him to be a walk-on.  I'm also frustrated that we have no one that's wing-like and ready to play.....

Kobe and Frankie are soooooooo rough right now.  That's disappointing.

Joined: 09/19/2008

MGoPoints: 13824

Shop Smart Sho…

February 10th, 2022 at 1:43 PM ^

I think people look at Jace, see he's 6'7" and not super-thick, so they just see him as a wing. Which is funny, because on the roster he's listed as a guard.

There were two guys who were the right size, shape and athleticism to potentially guard opposing wings. One of them is transferring and the other is red shirting. 

At that point, I'm not sure why your immediate thought as a coach isn't to become the best zone team possible.

Joined: 07/10/2008

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SpacemanSpiff

February 10th, 2022 at 12:43 PM ^

Does having co-coordinators make anyone else a little nervous? I remember the mess that was play calling when Pep Hamilton, Tim Drevno, and Jim Harbaugh were all weighing in on every call. I'm concerned that we're going to see something like that again. We've even got a run game coordinator to throw into the mix!

A big part of me is worried we're walking into a too many cooks situation on both sides of the ball. If everyone is in charge, no one is. Another part of me is wondering if this isn't just a case of title inflation. It happens everywhere, why should college football be any different?

Joined: 12/31/2020

MGoPoints: 174

Dizzy

February 10th, 2022 at 1:00 PM ^

Just speculating here, but my read on why Gattis wanted out wasn't about money, it was about respect. 

It appears that Jim wants to go heavy into analytics, based off of his recent interview with the Vikings. I think it's a smart move, considering how many people think analytics is the future of football.

In turn, that was going to mean an elevated role for Weiss and a diminished role for Gattis (more plays are going to be chosen based on what the numbers say). Essentially, he wouldn't have been the sole play caller anymore. Plus, you have to factor in Moore as a Co-OC and Hart getting the bump up to run game coordinator. Gattis must've felt slighted by the fact that he went from the likely head coach, to a reduced role in the offense. All this after he did such a great job this past season. On top of all that, Michigan wasn't willing to match Miami's compensation package. If I'm him, I'd be feeling pretty burned, too. I don't fault the guy for wanting out.

 

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Dizzy

February 10th, 2022 at 1:23 PM ^

Edit: Poor choice of words on my part. I don't know if Michigan refused to match (or had the chance).

As I said, I'm just speculating. It does seem unlikely to me that they wouldn't have had a chance to counter if they really wanted to, and I would be surprised if they didn't know roughly what Miami was offering. Maybe the bridge was already burned by that point anyways? Either way, I don't think money was the primary reason he left, but their offer didn't seem to be on par with Miami.

Seems like whatever went down left him feeling pretty bothered. 

Joined: 08/29/2011

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bluesparkhitsy…

February 10th, 2022 at 2:53 PM ^

Michigan *couldn't* make a strong play to keep Gattis at the time he left.  There's not a chance Manuel undermines Harbaugh's authority by increasing the Gattis offer unilaterally, and Michigan certainly wasn't in a position to tell Gattis he was about to be the head coach.  But by all legitimate accounts, Michigan was willing to work to keep Gattis (and for a price) had Gattis been interested.

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gbdub

February 10th, 2022 at 2:52 PM ^

"Michigan likes Gattis and would have promoted him to HC if Harbaugh left" and "Michigan doesn't value Gattis as only the OC enough to offer 'top coordinator money' in the situation where Harbaugh, Weiss, Moore, and Hart are all still on the staff" are not mutually exclusive.

Best guess is that Harbaugh thinks Weiss, Moore, and Hart added a lot of value last year and Gattis was a valuable contributor / "CEO of the offense", but not so valuable that Michigan was going to prostrate itself before him to keep him around.

Gattis' text kind of implies he expected some prostration (and a fat check) and didn't get it. So it could just be that Gattis is more valuable to Miami than to Michigan, and both Michigan and Miami acted accordingly, and Gattis is entitled to go to the place where he is more valuable. 

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alum96

February 10th, 2022 at 9:59 PM ^

"

  • All those rumors are absolute BS. He was never pulled off the recruiting trail, never had any off-field incidents. He is emotional and that seems to work both for and against him.

BUT BUT BUT MGOBLOG FANS HAVE TO RATIONALIZE EVERTHING! NO ONE WOULD LEAVE US! HE WAS CLEARLY SLEEPING WITH PARENTS LEFT AND RIGHT!!! IT MUST BE !!! NO ONE WOULD LEAVE MICHIGAN FOR MIAMI!!! ROAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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