New Coordinator Josh Gattis: 'This Was An Opportunity I Truly Believed In'
Just days after getting the job as Michigan’s new offensive coordinator, Josh Gattis was given the rookie treatment.
That meant crisscrossing the country in a rental car with head coach Jim Harbaugh to see high school recruits. On that road trip, the two bonded during their hours in the car, sharing jokes and eating dinner together every night. Whenever the bill came, the pair would battle to decide who would pay. Normally Gattis drove the car, but when there was a snowstorm, Harbaugh wanted to take over.
The trip didn’t just represent a recruiting expedition. Instead, it was a chance for the two offensive minds to develop a closer relationship and learn about each other’s personalities.
Before hiring Gattis, Harbaugh had had small conversations with him, but he was not looking to leave yet. When the circumstances aligned, he jumped at the chance to come to Ann Arbor.
“When he called, it was just a no brainer for me,” Gattis said. “I didn’t really inquire to much about what the situation was going to be. This was an opportunity I truly believed in. It goes back to my familiarity with this conference. When you go against Michigan for four years, you develop an appreciation.”
In his four seasons at Penn State, he had to battle against Michigan. Returning to the conference, he understands what it takes to be successful in the Big Ten.
The chance to join Harbaugh’s staff was an easy one for him because it meant he had the good fortunate of joining an offense that was already on track.
“Very few times are you able to go into a program and takeover as an offensive coordinator of a winning program,” Gattis said. “You’re going in not trying to figure out what went wrong, but how you can make it better. That was something that was very intriguing to me when this offer came open.”
Coming from Alabama, he is bringing with him a new offensive philosophy for the Wolverines. His catchphrase, speed in space, has caught on with the unit.
For him, the mantra embodies trying to put the defense in conflict.
“When we talk about speed in space it’s not only skill guys, it’s also getting our running backs out,” he said. “Trying to create open holes and putting conflicts on defense from a run-pass conflict standpoint. One of the things we talk about on offense is having to dictate the aggressiveness of the defense. We feel like if we can stay aggressive on offense, we can limit how aggressive the defense is going be.”
While it might be a new offensive system, the current offensive personnel fit what he is bringing to Michigan.
“It’s not necessarily a certain style of player, it’s really the schematic things that we are able to do on offense, being able to put the defense in conflict from a number of different ways,” Gattis said. “When you look at the number of athletes we have on offense, we are very versatile.”
The biggest change for the offense under Gattis is the speed he brings.
“When people ask who we are from an offensive standpoint, we’re a pro-spread,” he said. “We’re no huddle. We don’t huddle ever, but we still have a big pro style emphasis and one of the things about speed in space is, we’re still going to have a mindset that we are an attacking offense, but we’re also a physical offense. We’re not just going to go out there and dink-and-dunk the ball around throwing bubble screen.”
However, while things might be tweaked, the way the offense worked in the past is not going to be scrapped entirely.
“There are some things we are doing a lot differently, but I would be foolish to come in as an offensive coordinator and not keep some of the things that we’ve done great over the past,” Gattis said. “It’s really been a mix of things that I’ve done in my past, but keeping some of the best things we’ve done here in the past.”
Harbaugh has given Gattis the freedom to run the offense the way he sees fit. He is installing the type of plays and the concepts he likes to run, but in the end, it’s all about attention to detail from his players.
“A lot of the things we’re going to present are going to look differently as far as scheme wise, but when you get down to the roots of the foundation, the blocking schemes are the blocking schemes, the pass schemes are the pass schemes,” he noted. “You have to keep emphasizing the fundamentals and the techniques in order to be successful.”
Come the fall, Gattis will be calling the offense from the box. While he has never called the plays for an entire game in his career, he said he is well prepared for it.
“When you look at the track record of offenses I’ve been around, I have no concern at all,” he said. “It starts in your preparation. There’s guys that have called plays for 30 years, but if you don’t do what it takes to put your kids in position to be successful Monday through Friday, you’re not going to be successful on Saturdays.”
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