Michigan Wolverines Football: Josh Gattis Has Plans For His Running Backs

Michigan Wolverines football offensive coordinator Josh Gattis inherited a running back room with almost zero experience when he first arrived last year. That won’t be the case this season, but it remains to be seen how much better it can be.

Zach Charbonnet and Hassan Haskins both played well at times, though both battled their share of injuries. Getting Chris Evans back for a fifth year will also be beneficial, while freshman Blake Corum showed off his explosion in early workouts as an early enrollee.

“I’m excited. When you look at the room we had there last year, we had a ton of inexperience,” Gattis said. “We had guys that didn’t have the opportunity to be a part of spring football practice. Both were out all spring last year, so they missed a huge chunk of physical development from January to August. Even Hassan started the season banged up and Zach went through some injuries there.”

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Adding Evans back to the mix after a year-long suspension and getting junior Christian Turner back healthy will add depth. Coach Jay Harbaugh did a great job developing them, Gattis added.

Corum, meanwhile, clocked a 4.4 40 in showing off his speed.

“Blake Courm is really, really exciting, brings a level of explosiveness at the running back position,” Gattis said. “I just think the amount of growth you’re able to go from year one to year two is going to be exciting for those guys. Very rarely do you walk into a situation and have all completely new players at one position. I thought the job those guys did by the end of the year was really impressive."

But you don’t go from having a senior running back [Karan Higdon] who’s a really good player, rushed for 1,000 a couple seasons in a row, to having someone who had never taken snaps in game without growing pains, he continued.

“That was a challenge. We had some hiccups early on with some ball security things, protection deals, but to see where our guys were by the end of the year, I’m excited about the growth in that room and the leadership, just being able to carry over the game experience,” Gattis said. “That’s going to allow those guys to elevate their game even more.

Familiarity and continuity helps too, he added – not just with the running backs, but at all positions. At the same time, losing spring ball hindered their opportunity to blossom even more.

"Overall as a team losing the competitive reps, losing the good on good … spring gives everyone the opportunity to get an equal amount of reps,” he said. “That’s an advantage during the season. In the season we’re trying to prepare the guys that are going to go out and play on Saturdays, so first string takes the majority of the reps, second string takes a smaller percentage, third string takes a smaller percentage. When you get into spring, you can divide all the reps up equally, make sure guys are all getting the right amount of reps to be successful, as well as taking the right amount of reps with the first or second string or third string.

“Really, it’s [about] the details … the footwork, the hat placement. We had very few missed assignments last year, but it came down to small things. Obviously, there’s all kinds of decisions that take place into plays. Is my footwork matching the footwork I should take? Is it my technique, my hat leverage? is it catching the ball, finishing the play ... Is it ball placement? A number of different things happen on plays to allow it not to be successful. It’s not necessarily a learning deal, but fine tuning … discipline in the details. Are we disciplined enough to carry out the details needed?”

Getting them there is the next step, Gattis said. He trusts the running backs and all of them will be that much better even with no spring to prepare.

Chris Evans’ Return Adds To The Deep Room

Evans, meanwhile, started practicing with the team during Citrus Bowl practices and showed Gattis plenty.

“We’re excited about Chris,” Gattis said. “He’s a veteran player, played a lot of football. I remember being in this conference [at Penn State], seeing Chris play as a freshman, seeing the impact he was able to play early on. He has a unique skill set not just because of his versatility just as a runner, but his ball skills which are pretty elite for a guy at his position.

“Our job is to maximize as much out of players as he can. I think his role is one that provides versatility. There are a number of different ways and opportunities we can get him out in space and get the ball in his hands. I think that’s where he’s going to be exciting .. all the ways we can use him. He fits right into what we do.”

They did a lot of similar things with Giles Jackson last year, Gattis noted … now they’ll also have a guy they can hand the ball to in addition to running routes out of the backfield.

“Blake Corum brings that same skillset, adding to the guys we already have,” Gattis said. “We have depth at the running back position. We have some good choices.”

They’ll have to find the balance in playing time, he added, and they plan to implement some two-back stuff, possibly. For now, though, he’s happy to have options.

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