Michigan football fans have been clamoring for the Wolverines to hire an offensive coordinator and Jim Harbaugh finally did it by landing Josh Gattis of Alabama.
Michigan football fans have been on edge recently after the departure of assistant coaches Greg Mattison and Al Washington to Ohio State.
But the same day Washington decided to leave for Ohio State, Michigan football recruiting director Matt Dudek teased some good news on his Twitter account, as did tight ends coach Sherrone Moore.
Well, after a couple days of waiting patiently, Michigan football fans finally got their wish with some big coaching news and it has nothing to do with the defense. Instead, it’s all about offense as Jim Harbaugh finally hired a legitimate offensive coordinator in former Alabama Co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Josh Gattis.
The news was first reported by Bruce Feldman.Â
BREAKING: #Alabama Co-OC Josh Gattis will become the new offensive coordinator at #Michigan, sources tell me & @ChrisVannini. This is a big addition for Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines: https://t.co/Nxcf5X2EVn
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 10, 2019
The news of a new offensive coordinator will be welcomed by Michigan football fans who were tired of the playcalling of Pep Hamilton and Harbaugh. By the end of the season, following blowout losses to Ohio State and Florida, it was clear Michigan needed to adjust on offense and Gattis, who previously worked under James Franklin at Vanderbilt and Penn State, could be the ticket to doing just that.
While many speculated that Gattis was going to join the Maryland coaching staff as offensive coordinator, Michigan football swooped in and made a coaching hire that will be even more significant than the losses suffered earlier this week.
Yes, Michigan still needs to figure out what do to with its linebackers coach, although Chris Partridge could easily move back there and at defensive line coach, but the truth is, this staff needed a true offensive coordinator more than anything and the fact that Harbaugh made the move is an acknowledgment that his offense wasn’t good enough.
As they say, the first step to fixing a problem is admitting that one exists and Harbaugh finally has.
Of course, we all know what Penn State has done in recent years with Trace McSorley and Saquon Barkley, as well as what Bama was able to do last season with Tua at quarterback.
When Clemson and Alabama duked it out in the national championship game, Michigan football fans were openly jealous of watching their wide-open offenses and wished that the Wolverines would play that way.
Well, it looks like Harbaugh was watching too and now, we will finally get our wish. Michigan’s offense is finally set to break out of the stone age and for Wolverines fans, that is a really, really exciting prospect.