Tag: Josh Gattis

Why a second-straight year with Michigan’s offensive staff intact should pay dividends

How the Wolverines offensive coordinator is approaching his second year at the helm and what his focus is on this offseason.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — One reason why Michigan could or should feel confident about the offense in particular in 2020 is the offensive staff.

While there’s a lot of turnover in terms of starting players moving on with their careers, there hasn’t been so much of a constant in staff in the Jim Harbaugh era. The only year that Harbaugh had essentially the entire offense, staff-wise, return intact was 2016 with Jedd Fisch, Tim Drevno, Jay Harbaugh and Tyrone Wheatley. But after that season, Fisch and Wheatley departed, Jay Harbaugh was shifted from tight ends to running backs and the Wolverines brought in Greg Frey to work with offensive tackles and TEs and Pep Hamilton replaced Fisch as the pass game coordinator.

But there was attrition, again, the following year. Frey and Drevno departed and were replaced by tight ends coach Sherrone Moore and offensive line coach Ed Warinner. The next year, 2019, Hamilton was supplanted by Josh Gattis, who was hired to oversee the entirety of the offense. Ben McDaniels, once an offensive analyst, became the quarterbacks coach once the NCAA allowed ten on-field coaches.

So while players came and went, the staff had just as much turnover, especially on the offensive side of the ball. 2020 is the first year since 2016 that the maize and blue will return all of the coaches on that side of the ball in the same exact positions as they were last year.

Gattis is entering his second year as the offensive coordinator, with Michigan being his first destination in that role. So while he now has a year under his belt calling the shots, he also feels that having a strong, returning support staff is invaluable to the Wolverines offensive efforts.

“Retaining the offensive staff is very, very important,” Gattis said. “The ability now to go back through – we’re doing a lot of offseason studies – and making sure they understand all the details, thought process, what I’m thinking. Kinda getting those guys on the same page as me in alignment I think is very key and critical. It’s different when you’re coaching something for the first time as compared to coaching it for the second time. And so I think for a lot of our coaches, their comfort level is extremely high now going into year two in the system.”

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And Gattis feels like Michigan is closer than ever from breaking out on the offensive side of the ball.

With the team at their individual domiciles due to the state’s ‘stay-at-home’ order, this time spent in quarantine hasn’t just been about imparting schematic and playbook knowledge to the players, it’s also been a pivotal period of self-scouting — looking back on what went right and what went wrong.

While Michigan was No. 11 in the country in red zone scoring attempts per game — 4.5 red zone appearances per game, up 10 spots from 2018 — the Wolverines were No. 81 out of 130 FBS-level teams only converting 81% of those attempts into scores, touchdowns and field goals combined. Breaking down that number further, of that 81%, 61% were touchdowns, 20% were field goals and the other 19% were flat-out missed opportunities.

Gattis feels like the offense should be better — can be better. And with the time available to self-reflect, he sees a lot of times where Michigan shot itself in the foot.

“We’ve got a great offensive staff,” Gattis said. “We’ve done a lot of studies this offseason on ourselves where we’re breaking down everything. I’ve been meeting with our offensive staff every morning. I think areas for growth are – I’ve been looking at a number of different things. I think we’re right there on the cusp of really kinda scratching the surface of being something special last year. When you look at it, we had some self-inflicted wounds, but we left some big-time opportunities.

“Two areas that particularly: are touchdown drive percentages and scoring drive percentages. That’s an area of growth that I think, we, as a unit, we were about 4% off from being in the top ten in touchdown drive percentage. We had 16 drives last year that ended up in the red zone that we didn’t score on – or we didn’t score touchdowns, that we had to settle for field goals. Our scoring drive percentage, we were another 3.5% off from being in the top-tier of top ten teams and we had another 17 drives on that deal where we didn’t score and had turnovers in the red zone or had fourth-down stops. I think that seven turnovers in the red zone and four missed field goals and four turnover on downs. I think there are some areas we can improve offensively. And that’s not just players, that’s how can I help them with the call, how can we help them with the situation? Are we too aggressive? Are we not aggressive enough?

“Those are all types of things that go through these studies and that mindset for me, it’s been valuable. Because you want to try to figure out a way to put your kids in a position to be successful.”

Still, there are a lot of ways to improve, beyond just figuring out what went right and what went wrong a year ago. There’s a difference between being reactionary and forward-thinking.

As Gattis notes, football is constantly evolving, especially as offenses innovate and defenses create solutions to those perpetual problems. One of the ways that defenses have adapted is by utilizing a traditional third down set on second down, thus putting offenses at something of a disadvantage come actual third down, if the defense does its job.

Gattis has been seeking answers from the top football minds in the country as to how he can flip that script. And he feels like he’s getting somewhere in that regard.

“That’s been something that’s been encouraging for me as far as second down calls,” Gattis said. “It’s something I’ve really dove into some deep studies, talked a lot of NFL offensive coordinators about different things they’ve been studying. It’s changed in the game of football. You see a lot of teams now with the second down study. A lot more teams are playing third down defense on second down to keep you at second-and-long. You want to help yourself on third down scenarios by having better calls on second down. Whether that’s eliminating the third down and being aggressive and trying to get the first down on two downs or trying to cut the distance.

“I kind of rattled off a lot right there, but a lot of different studies we’re doing offensively. It’s been engaging getting everybody on Zoom meetings in the morning, getting everyone on the same page, talking philosophy, talking thoughts. I probably watched every play of the season now 50 times. That’s how much football we’re watching. You gain a ton of information, you gain a ton of knowledge about yourself, you’re studying your self-scout, just looking for ways to improve.”

Regardless, Michigan will have a lot of holes to fill personnel-wise. But given the offensive success of 2016 — a year when over half the games were essentially over by halftime — having the consistency on the coaching staff like it had that year is certainly a reason for optimism that the offense can have similar, if not better, results.

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Why Michigan’s Josh Gattis feels more prepared entering second year

The Wolverines head coach shares what he’s been able to improve upon in his second year compared to his first time as the bona fide offensive coordinator.

The Wolverines head coach shares what he’s been able to improve upon in his second year compared to his first time as the bona fide offensive coordinator.

Josh Gattis pegs one Michigan signee as incredibly underrated

Why the Wolverines offensive coordinator is through the roof about two true freshman wideouts in AJ Henning and Roman Wilson.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — While Michigan lost two wideouts from 2019 in new Cleveland Browns draftee Donovan Peoples-Jones and Texas Longhorns transfer Tarik Black, there’s still a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the wide receivers room. Especially if you’re Josh Gattis.

Gattis is the Wolverines offensive coordinator, but he also personally oversees the wideouts. Yes, there’s certainly reasons to be excited with Nico Collins and Ronnie Bell returning, as well as enigmatic second-year players such as Giles Jackson and Mike Sainristil. But they aren’t the only ones who will be making plays in the near future.

Michigan brought in three wideouts in the 2020 recruiting class with four-stars AJ Henning and Roman Wilson and three-star flex Eamonn Dennis — who could also play corner, as he comes in with a similar size and skillset as the aforementioned Sainristil.

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Looking specifically at the previous two, while Henning’s pedigree was well-known throughout his recruitment, it took a little bit longer for Wilson to gain national accolades. Hailing from Honolulu (HI) St. Louis, it wasn’t until about a year ago that he started turning heads. While 247Sports has him rated as the No. 217 player in the nation and 37th-best wide receiver in the class, Rivals was significantly less bullish, having him rated as a three-star and the 75th-best wideout in 2020.

However, looking at the duo, particularly Wilson, Gattis is enthusiastic that Michigan got something of a find there.

“The young receivers – yeah, real excited,” Gattis said. “Real excited. AJ and Roman – those guys playing with some speed. They bring a skill set that’s different. Roman’s a guy – I’m so excited about his athleticism. Had he been playing in the (contingent) states, I firmly believe he’d be one of the most talked about talked about players in the country. Same with AJ Henning, who is one of the most talked about players in the country coming in as a Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Illinois. Roman coming from Hawaii, had he been playing closer East – he’s a phenomenal player. Big time athlete, big time speed. We’re excited.”

Gattis would know a little something about talent at wide receiver.

Yes, he coached Peoples-Jones who was a sixth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but several others who were formerly under his tutelage went much, much higher.

Having spent a year at Alabama as the wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator, Gattis worked with two first-round picks in Henry Ruggs and Jerry Jeudy, as well as having worked with second-round pick KJ Hamler from his time at Penn State. Considering how much he raves about Wilson’s potential — as well as Henning’s — that bodes well for his vision of a ‘speed in space’ offense.

But how soon can those two contribute?

Last year, Michigan played three true freshmen at wideout — Sainristil, Jackson and fellow first-year player Cornelius Johnson. This year, expect something similar, especially given the limited numbers of wide receivers currently on scholarship in Ann Arbor.

“We’re gonna throw those guys in the mix,” Gattis said. “Obviously, we don’t have a ton of depth at receiver. Last year we had played two freshmen at receiver in significant roles. I think we’ll start this year out with seven scholarship wideouts, which is very low under the number of receivers we want to be at. But we’ll make it work. We’ll make it work. That is what it is. We’ve got the talent there, we’ve got all the different pieces. Most importantly, we’ve got the room.

“Those guys are great with each other. Being led by Ronnie Bell and Nico Collins. I couldn’t be more excited about the wide receiver room right now.”

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How Michigan’s early-enrollees have fared during changes due to coronavirus

How the Wolverines offensive coordinator sees Michigan’s offensive early-enrollees getting along despite the drastic changes due to COVID-19

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Something of a casualty this offseason has been those who have enrolled early.

With the novel coronavirus changing the way the world operates, the expectation was that those who had come to Ann Arbor early would have a jump on the process, getting all 15 spring practices as well as participating in the annual spring game.

However, now those players are just like anyone else, holed up due to the current ‘stay at home’ efforts. That, though, doesn’t mean there haven’t been benefits afforded to those who did arrive at Michigan a good 6-7 months early.

Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis appeared this weekend on the In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen, and explained what those who did forgo their final semester of high school to come to Ann Arbor have experienced, and why they still are somewhat ahead of the curve when it comes to the football program — as compared to those who won’t arrive until presumably June or July.

“I think the benefit for the early-enrollee guys is they were able to get with Coach Herbert and really get the culture and the way we do things down,” Gattis said. “They got a number of good morning workouts in before they were – obviously before we were (set) to start spring ball. They really understood, okay, how do we really want to do things. How do the upperclassmen do it? And I’ll tell you what: that’s a really impressive group of young guys. How well they work, how well they pay attention. How well they pay attention to the details. There’s some impressive guys in that group. That was the biggest thing offensively for us.”

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On offense, there’s but two players who came early — offensive tackle Zak Zinter and running back Blake Corum.

Both got a little time in already, with three practices as the team readied itself to play Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl. However, particularly with Corum, there were strong anticipations about getting him ready to play in year one, despite an already loaded running backs room.

Still, Zach Charbonnet, who ended up starting in his first year last fall, was somewhat similarly in the same boat, as he recovered from an injury that prohibited him from taking part in spring practices. Thus, Corum could still find himself ready to go.

Part of why is the leadership that other former early-enrollees have exhibited. They’ve helped those along the way to help make sure they’re fully acclimated, despite the curveball that the pandemic has thrown the country as well as the football program.

That said, Gattis feels that with the different pace of things at the moment, it’s also allowed the two first-year players to understand the concepts of the college game a little bit better than had they gone though the alternative ‘normal.’

“We only had two early-enrollees,” Gattis said. “We had Zak and we had Blake. Both of those guys have done a really good job of keeping up to task. Our veteran players have also done a really good job of bringing those guys along. We make sure we check in on those guys. I think it helps with a number of mid-years we had last year. A guy like Cade (McNamara) has been really good with taking those mid-year guys in. Ben Mason has done a really good job of taking those mid-year guys in. We’ve had some guys that have been assigned to bring those guys along, making sure we’re able to get those guys adjusted. I think from the strength and the workout standpoint, they’ve done a really good job. But this was their first install. Now they’re going through their first football install truly with it being remote. So we just gotta make sure – I think the way we’re going about it in going about it a little bit slower with one a week has really helped those guys really understand.”

To some degree, the players have been quite innovative with keeping in check with their new workout regimens during what should have been spring ball.

For instance, Corum posted a video of one of his workouts, and it certainly highlights what kind of shape he’s in.

As of right now, the Big Ten extended all organized team activities to be on continued hiatus until June 1.

Gattis: Determining depth chart ‘gonna be a challenge’ without spring football

Why one of the biggest challenges without having spring ball is building a depth chart heading into fall.

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One of the biggest questions in sports today is when can they resume?

The whole world has been upended by the novel coronavirus pandemic, and while the curve in most of the United States seems to have flattened, there are fears of a second wave or any kind of resurgence once the broader stay at home orders have been lifted.

So, while some sports — baseball, basketball and hockey are all looking to either start or resume their seasons, we still don’t know if or when a 2020 college football season will even take place.

Some teams had the fortune of having started spring practice already, but Michigan was days away from the beginning of that period. Since quarantines began, the Wolverines have operated remotely. To some degree, that’s been helpful, like how offensive coordinator Josh Gattis said it’s allowed the team to be more patient with the offensive install.

But, as he told Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast, that doesn’t mean there isn’t one very key component missing to the whole process. So while the offense might know more about what it’s supposed to do, it might not exactly understand just how fast it’s supposed to do it — particularly the younger players who haven’t seen much, if any, field time.

“You’re missing the speed of the game,” Gattis said. “The speed of the game, the competitive nature, that’s what you’re missing – first and foremost. Every kid is able to learn, but some kids learn differently. Some kids need to learn from correction. Some kids need to learn from the fast reps. The game of football is played fast. The ability to process information on the go, the ability to see things change. I think that’s one really key component that we’re missing through all of this. Yes, it’s what we have to go through and everybody understands it and everyone’s kind of going through the challenge themselves, but for schools that didn’t get a chance to practice any, you’re missing a significant chunk of competitive nature, competitive reps to really enhance your players.”

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With that in mind, given that there is no actual competition at the moment, what is the actual pecking order?

That’s something that particularly matters this year, as Michigan lost its starting quarterback, one of its starting tight ends, four starting offensive linemen and one starting wide receiver. Then, there’s a loaded running backs room which returns Chris Evans after his one-year academic-based suspension.

At quarterback, there’s nowhere close to a clear front-runner between Dylan McCaffrey or Joe Milton. While there’s some ideas as to who can step up on the OL, it’s never clear cut until after a significant amount of practice.

For the moment, that’s one of the things that actually does concern Gattis. While he feels comfortable with the offense in terms of the unit knowing the roles as well as the burgeoning leadership in the locker room, establishing a depth chart without having had the 15 spring practices creates an entirely separate issue.

“That’s actually gonna be a challenge that we’re gonna have on our hands,” Gattis said. “I think first and foremost, the biggest thing that we need to address when we get back is getting our guys caught up with competitive reps. Get ‘em good. Get the speed of the game down. We’ve missed those 15 practices in the spring so we’re gonna have to really speed up the process of preparing our players to be ready for the first game whenever that first game is.

“So you’re gonna have to balance that, balance all the different competitions. This may be a case where competitions aren’t quite solved leading up to the games. You don’t know what the process may be. What you do hope is that every player is out to prepare themselves from a mental standpoint where they come in and execute at a high level when the time comes. But another thing that you’ve gotta make sure that everyone’s in the right shape and I think that’s something that’s come up over this break is making sure that when we get back out there that our guys are in tip top shape. They’re in the shape to really go out there and really excel at a high level and not have to take a step back as far as worrying about conditioning – the physicality of this game, we can really take steps forward by taking advantage of this time that we have now.”

With all of that in mind, what is an ideal timeline for teams to get back to practice before the season starts?

Assuming Michigan does actually travel to Washington on time for the Sept. 5 season opener, how much time would the Wolverines need to prepare? Especially given that it’s missed out on what’s essentially two months of annual preparation.

“I think it’s been floated around six weeks,” Gattis said. “I think that’s very fair. I think it’s kind of patterned to the NFL model. Most NFL training camps get started probably about 5-6 weeks ahead of the Week One (game). The difference between the NFL and college is they’re allowed to have mini-scrimmages from preseason games to really kind of help to speed up that process to get guys game reps. Unfortunately in college, we don’t have that. So we have to be very unique about how we go about practices. I think we’re gonna have to have to get some real, live scrimmage situations in there.  Because you’ve just got to make sure you’re preparing those guys for the time that they’ve been missing in March. I would lean on the fence and say six weeks. I think our guys are doing a really good job of (preparing for) that. They’ve got to take advantage so we don’t have any setbacks when we get started in July or August that we can all start off on a good foot and have a good background as far as conditioning and our health and rehab that we have nothing linger.”

How Michigan is managing team through current stay-at-home order

How the team is continuing to work even remotely under the current stay at home order.

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While some teams had the benefit of at least starting spring practice in 2020, Michigan wasn’t quite so fortunate.

Others, such as Ohio State, had a week or more to start getting players on the field, however, when the state of Michigan’s stay-at-home order was made by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Wolverines were still days away from what was supposed to be the first of 15 spring practices.

So how has the team managed?

It’s obviously an multi-faceted situation. Not only does the football team still have to find a way to operate, but the student-athletes have continued to take classes online — a first for the University of Michigan, as the school hadn’t before offered classes in such a capacity.

Thus, there’s been some significant innovations that has had to take place. Instead of meeting in Schembechler Hall, just like much of the country, the team is meeting online. They’re still learning what’s expected of them on the field, having broader and smaller team meetings and learning playbook updates. All from the comfort of their own home.

Michigan second-year offensive coordinator Josh Gattis shared with Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast how the team has handled this ‘new normal’ and what it has been able to do from a remote, virtual standpoint.

“Technology in today’s world has created an environment for us now that we’re still fully functional,” Gattis said. “We’re creating cut-ups and installs the same way that we would in the building.  We’re doing unit meetings on Google Hangouts. We’re pushing out installs to their iPad.

“So you’re really able to do everything that you would be doing if you were in the building except being able to shake a hand, pat a guy on the back from that standpoint. You’re just missing the practice reps. But our kids have done a really good job. We have unit meetings every week. They’ve done a really good job of taking notes, studying the film. And we keep it at a point where it’s always engaged in the meetings. It’s not just me presenting or me just talking in front of the unit. I’m asking those guys questions. Their face gets a chance to pop up on the screen. The other players see them. So I think that’s good. The social interaction that we are having on all the social media platforms has given us a way to take advantage of this time.”

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So how does that break down? How does the team manage its virtual time? How do the coaches?

It’s not easy, Gattis relents, because even with everything happening at home, there’s certainly a fair share of distractions. In that light, while there’s certainly a serious element to how the team handles its business in these current times, it isn’t trying to be ultra-serious at all times.

“Even though the NCAA gives you eight hours, we do some things as a unit, obviously, for probably about an hour and a half-per-week, but then it’s broken down individually,” Gattis said. “The rest of the coaches choose at their own discretion what they want to do with the rest of that time. You don’t always fill eight hours. Because obviously asking the kids to carve out eight hours of focused time where there’s no distracting texts, even for us coaches I think that’s a little bit of a challenge. You’re trying to go two hours a day and you’ve got kids screaming in the background, throwing things at the screen – but we keep it light. We have some fun.

“The best moment of the week is when we’re able to get to (be social), because you see kids faces light up, they start cracking jokes on each other. They’re just really (good friends with) each other, because I think that’s another aspect. One thing they’re missing, most importantly, is they’re missing teammates. They’re missing the part of the team where, when you join a team, that camaraderie, you know it’s a locker room that’s built in the dorm room. It’s built well beyond just when you join the football facilities. These guys are tenuous friends, they’re roommates, they hang out with each other, they go out to eat with each other. So they’re missing each other right now. Their friends (are) all across the country in different states and cities.

So, when we do have that time each week that we carve out that we’re gonna meet, that’s part of their week. They can’t wait to see each other, whether it’s FaceTime or whether it’s Zoom, whether it’s Google Hangouts. They’re dying to get back to Ann Arbor. A couple guys have already started moving back into town, and you can just tell how they miss it here.”

It’s not all fun and games, of course. And there’s something of a benefit to holding everything remotely the past month-and-a-half-plus.

Gattis notes that since the team hasn’t been able to hold practice, it’s still figured out how to install the offense. He explained the difference from how the team normally conducts the spring compared to what it’s done this offseason.

And while it’s not quite the same, it does seem one positive has come out of this situation.

“I think the one thing that this has given us is this has given us time and patience,” Gattis said. “Oftentimes in football with installs, you can kind of run through your install on one day, but you’ve gotta get to another install another day. In spring practice, you’ve got 15 practices, and typically, you like to break down our installation of the offense into about 7-8 installs. Well, you’ve gotta remember in spring, you’re gonna practice those every other day, then you have meetings, then you have a spring game, then you have some other days that you don’t really use your days quite effectively. So you’re in a little bit of a rush to install it all. Well, this has allowed us to take time. We’re covering one install per week. So we’ve really been able to dive into the details, dive into the whats, the whys. And really make sure that the kids don’t just know what their job and their responsibility is, but they also know what the other peoples’ jobs around them, so they can have a better understanding conceptually of what we’re asking everyone to do.”

There’s no telling as of yet when and how close to normal things will be in the coming weeks or months. But with these contingencies in place, the Wolverines staff seems to have found a way to keep moving forward regardless.

What Josh Gattis calls Michigan’s ‘biggest area of growth’ this offseason

There have been some changes to how the Wolverines do things and it’s already making a big impact on the team element.

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If you’ve listened to the Locked On Wolverines Podcast over the course of the past few months, at least during the recent stay at home order, then you’ve heard us talk about several aspects to Michigan and leadership.

Now we can expound a little more on it all.

There’s been some hints that the Wolverines have needed a little more leadership in the locker room, a notion which started with some words shared by Michigan cornerback Ambry Thomas after the loss to Alabama in the VRBO Citrus Bowl earlier this year.

“We could’ve been in that fight much longer — we could’ve won, honestly,” junior cornerback Ambry Thomas told the team’s Inside Michigan Football show outside the locker room after the game. “In that fourth quarter we let it slip away. Guys started getting their heads down. It’s just the mental aspect, a lot of people weren’t in it no more. It’s just next year, we’ve gotta make sure that everybody toughen up and get ready to go in big games.”

We’ve spoken to multiple people about this afterwards, including one person unaffiliated with Michigan as of current, but with strong knowledge of the inner workings there. They told WolverinesWire that one place that Michigan lagged behind Ohio State was in the leadership department, in that the Buckeyes had a stronger established player-led culture that held their teammates accountable. That person indicated that was somewhat lacking in Ann Arbor.

After speaking to another person, they shared that Michigan was taking strong steps this offseason to remedy exactly that — which is what we tentatively shared on the Locked On Wolverines Podcast. However, we couldn’t share the details at that time.

But now what we were told about has now been publicly discussed on the In the Trenches podcast with Jon Jansen.

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Jansen had offensive coordinator Josh Gattis on his most recent episode, and Gattis addressed the dearth of player-led leadership as Thomas had discussed previously. As we alluded to, Michigan has taken a hands-on approach at changing the culture and cultivating a stronger locker room. One major thing the team has done is hiring a former Navy SEAL captain to teach the players how to be better at holding each other accountable, and it’s already showing early dividends, Gattis says.

“We feel like the culture of our team and the leadership of our team is in the best place it’s ever been,” Gattis said. “We started small. This offseason was a really big challenge to create a culture that was driven by our players. When I say we started small, we started with breaking down our team into small groups and Coach Herb did a really good job of assigning group leaders and we also have another (person) who works with our guys with leadership is (a) former Navy SEAL captain. They’ve broken the team down into individual groups, small groups.

“The project they were assigned is clean up the locker room. How well you take care of the locker room and how well you take care of the space that you live in will determine everything else and how you carry out the rest of – get throughout your day. And our kids really did accept the challenge. That was obviously something that, from a culture standpoint, is huge. Taking care of each other and taking care of your responsibilities.

“But now that we’ve been remote, they’re doing little things. They’ve got little tasks that they do. Whether it’s make your bed today or they’re sending pictures to (team nutritionist) Abigail O’Connor, pictures of food that they’re making, food that they’re eating. They’re just doing all little different things to really show leadership. They were sending pictures to their groups as well. They’re showing accountability in the groups. They’re addressing each other. I really love the culture.”

Gattis says that the staff recognized that it couldn’t be the ones leading — especially in light of what Thomas said. The coaches can only do so much, and as cliche as it might be, a team is only as good as its weakest link.

And while we’ll have to wait and see how much of an on-field impact it might have, these new changes, the differences are already impressing Michigan’s second-year offensive coordinator.

“When you look at it offensively, I’ve got about 12 guys on offense that I meet with weekly, which I kind of consider our offensive leadership council,” Gattis said. “And the biggest message is: leadership is gonna be driven by the players. It can’t be driven by the coaches. If you can drive the leadership, the culture and the message, then someone else will. There’s always going to be an opening because there’s always gonna be some message that goes to the locker room, that goes to the players. The biggest thing that we’ve made them aware is that the message has to come from them. They’ve got to be able to hold each other responsible, they’ve got to be able to hold each other accountable. And we’ve got a unit like that, that unit right there can really set the standard and set the tone for everything. And that’s what we’ve been trying to accomplish as a team, but I think that’s probably one of the biggest areas of growth that we’ve been able to see as a team over the past few months.”

Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis hilariously believes “Michigan beat itself” against Ohio State

Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis suggested Michigan beat itself against Ohio State. No really, feel free to laugh.

File this one away in the overly optimistic and completely naive column. There’s been a lot of that emanating from Ann Arbor over the last couple of decades, yet the results continue to be the same on the field.

Michigan’s new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis was introduced to the rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan last year, and it appears he’s falling right into a pattern some of those before him have.

He took to Twitter Monday and suggested Michigan beat itself against Ohio State, and that the blueprint was set on how to beat the Buckeyes. As part of the “proof” of the template that was set, Gattis shared a touchdown run from the first quarter when the Wolverines executed (for once) with good blocks on the edge and got into the endzone on a long run.

There’s just a few problems with that. It happened on the offensive end and it’s been Dr. Blitz’s (Don Brown) defense has given up more points than a popular pinball machine over the last couple of years. You can selectively choose a play that worked early in the game, but if you can’t stop the speed, athleticism, and coaching on the other side, it’s all a moot point.

Also, if the Gattis thought he found something early in the game, why didn’t he continue to use it to run the Ohio State defense into the ground? Inquiring minds want to know. And if Michigan beat itself, wouldn’t the score have been much closer. Giving a game away generally involves a play here, or a break there. Not a whitewashing that resulted in fans leaving in disgust well before the game was over.

You also have to wonder if Michigan fans are getting tired of coaches and players talking without being able to back it up on an annual basis. From guarantees, to revenge tours, to calling out coaches that left the program, to suggesting things have been corrected and penance is coming, it has to be getting old.

Then again, maybe it’s just the Michigan way now. Talk, talk, talk before you have any success then get smacked around in The Game and the postseason. You’d think at some point, you’d just prepare like crazy, play your heart out, then celebrate when there’s something to celebrate.

If anything, with how the scores have gone over the last couple of years, the blueprint seems to be set on how to beat That School Up North, not the other way around. But you won’t hear the players or coaches in Columbus talking nearly as much as what you hear coming out of Ann Arbor.

 

 

 

Bob Shoop describes first impressions of Michigan football

The new Wolverines safeties coach shares how his experience will impact his new role, why Ann Arbor is special and reforging relationships.

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Any time you can get an experienced, solid former defensive coordinator as a position coach, it’s a win.

Such is the case for Michigan, who hired two former DCs to fill the vacant safeties and linebackers position groups.

The more notable of the two is Bob Shoop, who comes to Ann Arbor from a successful stint at Mississippi State, where he oversaw the No. 1 defense in the country in 2018. He has a long track record of producing top defenses, including in 2014, when he and Penn State had the No. 2 defense that year.

Now, he’s coaching safeties for the Wolverines, and he’s elated to have joined the program, he tells Jon Jansen on the In the Trenches podcast.

“It’s been great,” Shoop said. “I’ve been on the job for a little over a month now and had the opportunity to finish recruiting and get to know some of the players on the roster and the coaches on the staff. It’s a great honor to be a part of such a prestigious program.”

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But, while Shoop doesn’t have previous coaching experience that saw him overlap with Jim Harbaugh much — he was the DC at Penn State when Michigan beat the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley in 2015 — he does have a lot of familiarity with various names already on the staff in Ann Arbor.

Don Brown was the defensive coordinator at Yale during Shoop’s senior year playing offense there. They coached together there in 1989, when Shoop was a graduate assistant. Further down the line, Shoop was a defensive backs coach under Brown when he was the head coach at UMass. He coached with Josh Gattis for two years while at Penn State and against him when Gattis was the co-offensive coordinator at Alabama.

So there’s a lot of familiarity for the Yale graduate in Ann Arbor, even if the surroundings are somewhat new.

“Unfortunately – or fortunately – in my career, I’ve had a lot of unique experiences where I’ve changed jobs, I’ve moved around a fair amount and I’ve been at a lot of great, historically traditional programs,” Shoop said. “I think the first thing you do is you try to identify the culture of the program and it’s very clear that Coach Harbaugh has set a great culture for this program as an alumnus, someone who’s very proud of the brand, very proud of the Block M. And I played for Coach Brown, so I know the culture that Coach Brown is trying to create on defense. It’s comfortable to me a little bit in that I’ve worked with Coach Brown, I’ve worked with Josh Gattis, I’ve worked with Ed Warinner. I worked with some of the analysts, so I knew those guys.

“But, like you said, it’s about – I consider this to be a relationship-based industry. And trust, honesty, respect are words that mean a lot to me. So the first week on the job, what I tried to do is get to know the ten players I’ll be coaching at safety. And not just to get to know them as football players – I sure did watch the film. I’ve watched a lot of practice film and I’ve watched them with Coach Herb in the weight room and on the field. But more getting to know their families, getting to know their background, getting to know their journey – how they got to Ann Arbor. And I’ve really enjoyed that as much as anything – developing relationships.”

But, naturally, it’s different taking on a position group rather than overseeing a defense as a whole. Which, has its advantages and drawbacks.

Shoop loves the lore of Michigan, which is part of what drew him to Ann Arbor to coach safeties instead of seeking out another defensive coordinator opportunity. He hopes his experiences leading the charge will help open up Brown’s eyes to things he might be missing on one hand, but there’s the other challenge.

He hasn’t been known as a great recruiter, so that will take some time for Shoop to get acclimated. However, he’s aware that’s a big part of his new job, so he’s taking on that challenge head-on.

“At this stage, I’m just trying to fit in and trying to get a feel for my role!” Shoop said. “As a position coach, your role is different than as a coordinator. So I’m looking forward to being involved with the big picture part of the program. As a Yale graduate, I truly believe in the combination of academics and athletics and I think Michigan provides one of the unique experiences with regard to that – the combination of academic achievement and athletic excellence. The tradition and history of the program – I’ve already read two books on the history of Michigan and Michigan football since I’ve been on the job here. So I’m excited and very proud to be a part of that.

“And then, helping on Coach Brown’s side. I have unique experience as a coordinator, as does Brian Jean-Mary. So I think we can bring some unique perspective and maybe help Coach Brown with any blind spots he might have. There are very, very few. And certainly as a teacher, leader and role model to the young men I have the opportunity to coach and work with on a daily basis.

“Probably the biggest thing when you go from a coordinator to a position coach is I think there’s a different level of expectation in regard to the recruiting aspect, too. I’m really looking forward to jumping in and competing with the guys on our staff and the guys around the country to be one of the top recruiters as well.”

Now that he’s in Ann Arbor, Shoop is soaking everything in.

He’s come here once before when coaching under James Franklin, but now that he gets to go to Michigan Stadium as a member of the coaching staff, he’s in a different level of awe.

As he tells Jansen, he’s just proud to be a part of an institution that has so much tradition as well as a culture that’s dedicated to winning on the field and in the classroom.

“In 2014, when I was at Penn State, we came here and played Michigan when Coach Hoke was here,” Shoop said. “That was my only other experience in The Big House. Twice now, we’ve had recruiting events where we’ve gone over there. I feel like I’m one of the 2022 or 2023 recruits. I’m sitting there, staring out the window, looking at the Block M, imagining running out of the tunnel and touching the sign. Now, I’m in the press box on game day, so I might not have that experience actually getting to run through there. But, when I think about it, I think about the tradition. I think about the history. I think – whether it’s being the winningest program in the history of college football, whether it’s the largest stadium in The Big House. Whether it’s the largest indoor facility, the largest weight room. Just to be a part of something as special as this place, I just feel very, very fortunate to be a part of this family and a part of this university.”

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Why Josh Gattis expects Michigan’s offense to surge in year two

What makes the Wolverines offensive coordinator think that the offense can take a step forward in 2020.

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Usually, college football teams benefit from one or two particular things: returning experience or consistency in coaching.

Michigan’s a little low offensively on the first part, but on the second, for the first time since 2016, it returns all of the coaches on that side of the ball. Perhaps more importantly, it retains Josh Gattis, whose offense started to take off near the end of 2019, when the playbook became more familiar to the players, and the mistakes stopped adding up as spectacularly as they did in the early going.

While the Wolverines are looking at a new starting quarterback, essentially four new offensive linemen, and technically a new starting wideout, there’s still a lot experience returning, as well. This won’t be a situation where the team is relying on veritable unknowns. Whether it’s Dylan McCaffrey or Joe Milton under center, they’ve been on campus for some time. All of the expected contributors at wide receiver don’t just have experience, they showed explosiveness as the season wore on. The offensive line will have new blood, but most of the expected new starters have been around for more than a year. At tight end, Nick Eubanks leads the charge, but Luke Schoonmaker and Erick All were key contributors a year ago. And the RB room is just loaded from top to bottom.

Speaking with Jon Jansen on the Inside the Trenches podcast, Gattis noted his room full of experienced playmakers stepping into larger roles. The way he sees it, it puts Michigan at an advantage, the personnel mixed with his offensive strategy that finally started to take ahold late in the season.

If Michigan can come in ready, limit the mistakes and focus on what it can control, there’s no reason why this offense can’t take a major step forward.

“That’s exciting, because you always try to find as many mismatches going into a game that you can create,” Gattis said. “Whether that’s by personnel or alignment, whether that’s by motion or formation, how you’re attacking an opposing defense into areas that puts them at their weakness. When you’ve got all the eligible skill guys that you have, it puts you at a great opportunity to do that.

“Now, are we there yet? Absolutely not. We’ve still gotta develop. I think every skill position for us has an area we need to focus on. Specifically, when you look at receivers, we gotta catch the ball more consistently. We had some big time opportunities, whether that’s pass breakups or drops, I think when you look at our passing game, I’ll tell you an interesting stat: of our 203 incompletions last year, we had 125 that were catchable. Whether the ball was just off the tip, whether it was a dropped ball or a broken up pass. But 125 plays of those 203 should have been caught. And then when you get how many opportunities we had in space with a corner, a safety with our running backs, that’s an area we’ve gotta improve in making the last defender miss, being able create explosive plays.

“So these are challenges I presented to those groups already. One: the consistency of catching the football, throwing the football. And easy opportunity plays. Whether the quarterback was right, with the right decision, the ball is going to the right decision, to the right location – now you’ve gotta make that play. It wasn’t far off. We really kind of hurt ourselves at times, whether that’s getting our running backs one-on-one in space against a corner or safety and we’ve gotta make those guys miss.

The stat that Gattis brought out is important, because some of that has to do with the uncertainty of assignment and a lack of focus.

If Michigan can come in and control the controllable, then Gattis sees no reason why the offense can’t just be good — it can be better than it was a year ago.

“I (know if) we can accept that challenge right there and just work on that challenge and not anything else, we’ll be a much better team and a much better offense next year,” Gattis said. “Just by winning your one-on-one battles. That’s why I’m really excited about spring, getting those guys all out here in different positions and getting them the ball so they can win those one-on-ones.”