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ORLANDO, Fla. — There was a time earlier in the 2019 season when many Michigan football fans were intent to see senior quarterback Shea Patterson ride the bench in favor of any number of the backups.
But one person who never lost faith in him: his offensive coordinator, Josh Gattis.
One person WolverinesWire spoke to midseason before Michigan was about to take on Illinois — who requested anonymity, as they couldn’t speak publicly about the matter — shared that Gattis and the staff never lost faith in Patterson, despite conflicting reports from various outlets otherwise. While that game did little to satiate the bloodlust of Patterson’s detractors, many started coming around the following week, when Patterson’s electric second-half performance against Penn State got Michigan within striking distance after the team found itself in a 21-0 deficit.
From there, while the running game took front and center in games against Notre Dame (due to inclement weather) and Maryland (a different person told WolverinesWire, again on the condition of anonymity, that Patterson was ill in that game), Patterson bided his time, and it paid off.
The last three games of the regular season featured three consecutive 300-plus yard outings, the first-ever stretch of its kind in Michigan football history. With four touchdown passes against MSU and five against Indiana, Patterson also became the first-ever Wolverine to throw four or more TDs in consecutive games.
On Sunday at the VRBO Citrus Bowl media availability, Gattis shared why he never lost faith in his offensive personnel, headlined by Patterson, and why he’d take Patterson over anyone else in the country given what he’s seen on the field and inside Schembechler Hall.
“I’ll go to battle with this guy any day of the week. This is Sugar Shea Patterson right here,” Gattis said. “Just to see his confidence throughout the year continue to rise each and every week, his preparation, his performance. You know, obviously, statistically he did some pretty amazing things throughout the year as far as a number of 300-yard passing games. But I think there was some adversity that we faced offensively. And I think Shea is one of the leaders and Ben (Bredeson) is one of the leaders that really took ownership of it. And no one put their head down. They continued to fight and continued to push through, and that’s a testament to their character.
“You know, there was a point in the year when a lot of people were saying, give up and quit. ‘Hey, this isn’t working. This isn’t this.’ But none of our kids believed that because they truly knew who we were in practice, they knew who we were in practice, who we were in games. And it was a testament to their character, to fight through everything.
“So I couldn’t be more proud of Shea and Ben, both of these guys. But specifically when you see Shea, this guy’s a player, man. He’s been playing at an extreme high level for us and he’s been the leader of our offense, leader of our team. And, like I said, I’ll go to battle with him any day out of the week versus any team in the country.”
Gattis and Patterson will battle together just once more, with the latter’s final game as a Wolverine coming on Jan. 1 at 1PM EST in the VRBO Citrus Bowl against Alabama. That game will take place at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.