A conversation with first-year Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis is a whirlwind of football buzzwords: “RPOs,” “multiple personnel, multiple formation,” “pro spread,” “four-way threat,” “no-huddle offense.”
And that’s just off one question.
Breathlessly pontificating on his scheme, Gattis is fully in his element. It’s something the 35-year-old has formulated ever since a decision to switch from NFL safety to offensive GA at North Carolina in 2010 – he took the first job available and ran with it. The arrival of a guy like Gattis is something Michigan fans have been waiting for. One thing is clear about the Wolverines’ OC through the buzzy window dressing: Change is here.
“It’s a different brand of football,” Gattis told 247Sports.
Michigan sent a private plane to pick Gattis and his family up after Jim Harbaugh hired him away from Alabama. Fans have recognized the former All-ACC Wake Forest player more times than Gattis can count since his arrival in Ann Arbor. There’s a palpable level of anticipation around Michigan’s offensive shift.
The Wolverines have won 10 games in three of Harbaugh’s four seasons in Ann Arbor, but little of that success is attributable to the offense. Michigan’s never ranked better than 42nd nationally in yards per play during Harbaugh’s tenure with an average of 66th nationally. Of Harbaugh’s 13 non-overtime losses at Michigan, the Wolverines scored 20 points or less in 11 of them.
Harbaugh had long zigged when college football zagged, employing a slower, multi-formation, pro-style scheme that worked so well at Stanford. Gattis’ hire, which will see the Wolverines mostly work out of the shotgun and pistol, signifies a shift as Harbaugh enters Year 5. Gattis said Harbaugh ceded full control of the offense when the hire went through. And while Gattis is overturning much of what the Wolverines were, his scheme change is more adaption than a Darwinian obliteration of what was.
“I would be foolish to come in here as the OC and not keep some things we did really well,” Gattis said. “I’ve been able to mesh. It’s the best of everything.”
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It's a bit ironic, as Michigan tries to establish a hold in the ever-competitive Big Ten East, that there's a Penn State flavor to all this. Gattis joined James Franklin’s 2012 Vanderbilt staff and later worked as wide receivers coach at Penn State through the 2017 season, before leaving for Alabama.
Gattis’ offensive vision truly exploded with color in 2016 after Franklin hired Joe Moorhead as his offensive coordinator. Moorhead brought with him a no-huddle system that relied heavily on RPOs (run-pass options) to place pressure on a defense. These were not simple built-in flare screens if the box didn’t look right to the QB. These RPOs, which you see coaches like Lincoln Riley use to a devastating effect, isolate a key defender that the quarterback reads. If an offense can’t block that defender, the quarterback throws to where he would’ve been. If an offense reads that defender dropping back, they can run to that spot.
Offense is naturally an attacking state. But these RPOs are truly a weapon for an offense that’s constantly a man short (the QB was long thought of as a singular distributor).
“[Moorhead] showed me a different way,” Gattis said. “He’s a brilliant offensive mind, one of the smartest coaches I’ve ever been around. He had a great impact and teaching me about how to gain a plus-one number on the defense.
“You have to continue adapting.”
That mantra applies fittingly to the Wolverines. Harbaugh is considered one of the elite college football coaches and is paid as such. But he has yet to win a Big Ten crown — or even beat Ohio State. A big part of those failures lie with the offense, and Harbaugh’s made the effort to change.
“[Gattis'] style of offense, he’s really good at explaining it and showing us how to coach it,” Harbaugh told reporters earlier this spring. “How’s it been for me? It’s been really good. Really enjoying it. Really learning a lot.”
The most noticeable difference for the Wolverines in 2019 will be a lack of huddles. The quicker an offense can line up, the faster Gattis, quarterback Shea Patterson or the offensive line can identify the defender(s) who will determine if a play is successful. Execution is still necessary. But generally, the play will work if a quarterback reads a particular defender correctly.
Speed is another buzz word that gets thrown around with no-huddle systems. Gattis said Michigan will have “five different” tempos they’ll work from depending on the situation. Gattis cautioned that the Wolverines won't be “Chip Kelly fast” but there should be a noticeable difference in the pace at which Michigan gets to the line. The Wolverines work with 15-minute practice periods. Early in spring practice the Wolverine offense would finish its scripted set of 20 plays with five minutes to spare.
“We’re going through all kinds of kinks now,” Gattis said with a laugh.
Michigan will look like Michigan at times. Gattis said his best overall unit is the offensive line, which brings back four starters. The Wolverines will keep some of the power elements that define Harbaugh's offense. With them, however, will be more potential QB reads and stretch plays to the outside that allow Michigan to attack in more varied fashion.
The philosophy is simple: “If we can’t block them, we’re going to read them.”
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Gattis’ introduction to Michigan: A road trip.
The “rookie treatment” involved a two-week cross-country recruiting dash alongside Harbaugh. The pair jammed out, argued over who’d pay for meals and even who’d drive. That’s an unusual trait for a head coach. Usually, at least in Gattis’ experience, an assistant picked the coach up from the airport, heated the car up in the mornings and drove full time.
“That’s not who Coach Harbaugh is,” Gattis said. “He wants to drive.”
When considering Gattis is a first-time play caller and Harbaugh has a long history with a particular pro-style scheme, one must wonder if that need to take control will tentacle into Gattis’ offensive room.
Gattis insists that’s not the case.
He said Harbaugh “handed him the keys,” and Gattis is barreling forward in his effort to alter Michigan’s offensive DNA. As for the first-time play-caller element, Gattis said he isn’t worried about that. He’s prepped for this role – under some of college football’s best coaches – for a long time.
“(Experience) helps you give confidence,” Gattis said. “But I don’t think that’s what you can hang your hat on. It’s your preparation and your performance, having a scheme that’s aggressive that opposes its will on the defense allows you to be successful more than whether you’ve called plays for 10 years. Every game I’ve been a part of I’ve been a part of some sort of play-calling sequence, whether that’s offering advice or making halftime adjustments, suggesting plays throughout the game. I’ve been very active along the way, and (Harbaugh) understands what he’s getting out of me.”
Wade through Gattis’ enthusiasm and you arrive at a central question: Will this be the year Michigan’s offense emerges as a force?
Michigan has an experienced quarterback, offensive line and the riches at skill positions high-level recruiting provides. Gattis is fond of saying when talent and scheme DNA meet, that’s when you arrive at results.
Asked if the Wolverines have both, Gattis is direct: “We do.”
