Michigan Football: 3 reasons hiring Josh Gattis is a home run

Gattis should open things up

While it’s hard to know exactly how Michigan’s offensive system will be affected by the hiring of Gattis, one thing seems to be sure, you can expect more spread concepts and more throwing.

Before going to Alabama to be the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach, Gattis coached at Penn State under James Franklin. He had input in the Nittany Lions spread system and while I don’t expect Michigan to go full spread, I think there will be a move in that direction.

At this point, we know Gattis is going to call the plays, but we don’t know how much input Harbaugh will still have on the offense. I’ll say I don’t think we have seen the last power runs we will see at Michigan football and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It was great watching Michigan run the ball eight straight times on the opening drive for a touchdown against Penn State.

But you have to have more than one punch to throw. If you get behind, if your running game isn’t working, you have to be able to win games in different ways. That’s why this hire is important. The Wolverines need to be able to win a shootout. In the past, that wasn’t possible. With Gattis, it just might be.