Michigan Football: 3 Reasons offense will be better in 2020

Michigan football will be much improved on offense next season and here are three reasons why.

Josh Gattis was hired as the offensive coordinator of Michigan football for one reason and that was to help make the Wolverines’ offense elite.

Last year was a step in the right direction. Following a slow start and an adjustment period that was natural as the offense shifted from Jim Harbaugh’s west-coast system to the shotgun-heavy offense run by Gattis.

The adjustment may have been most difficult for Patterson. Gattis did a good job of molding things to fit his quarterback, but learning that system and then getting just one year to play in it didn’t help Patterson’s final season.

Regardless, the Wolverines will have to replace Shea along with four starters on the offensive line who were drafted in the NFL. Donovan Peoples-Jones is also gone, as is Tarik Black, who transferred to Texas.

There is no doubt Michigan dealt with some departures, but in some ways, those things can help. Peoples-Jones and Black aren’t bad players at all. But they fit the previous system better than they fit what Gattis wanted to do.

The same could be said for Nico Collins but any coach worth his salt can get talented players to produce. Yet, Gattis should be able to incorporate more of what made the speed-in-space offense so popular leading up to last season and partially during the year, when it averaged 417 yards per game over the last seven outings. The offense also finished 21st in the final SP+ rankings, which was the Wolverines best finish under Harbaugh.

You might wonder how a team can improve while replacing its starting quarterback and nearly the entire offensive line, but the offense can do just that and here’s why.