Josh Gattis To Miami

 Staff turnover is always expected after the type of season that Michigan had in 2021, it happens to every program that has success. Guys get promotions at other Universities, they head for the NFL. This is all fairly normal, business as usual in college football - except.

Josh Gattis is headed to Miami to be the offensive coordinator. After interviewing for a head coaching opening at Virginia, Gattis is back in the ACC where he played running back for Wake Forest, in the same role that he had at Michigan. That is the odd part. 

Michigan has had multiple departures from the staff this off season. Defensive Line coach Shaun Nua left for the same position at USC, Recruiting Coordinator Courtney Morgan left for the same position at Washington, Defensive Coordinator Mike Macdonald left for the same position for the Baltimore Ravens, Defensive Analyst Ryan Osborn joined Macdonald on the Ravens staff, and now Josh Gattis leaves an opening at the Offensive Coordinator and Wide Receiver positions as well. Macdonald and Osborn leaving for the NFL would be considered a promotion, but Nua, Morgan and Gattis leaving for the same positions at college programs that are struggling is a bit of a head scratcher. And begs the question, what is happening in Schembechler Hall?

Reports have come out that Gattis was unhappy and felt underappreciated by the administration at Michigan. There is quite a bit of speculation regarding what Gattis meant by that. Some believe that if Harbaugh were to leave then the administration would have promoted someone other than the Broyles award winner, which rubbed him the wrong way. There are reports that AD Warde Manuel low-balled Gattis during contract extension conversations. And there's even a scandalous rumor going around that I won't go into details here to avoid adding fuel to that rumor. Whatever the reasons, Gattis is gone, and took parting shots at Michigan to the current players via a text message on his way out. 

Now Gattis did get a substantial pay raise, the University of Miami has bought into the new direction of college football by schelling out bags to assistants. Gattis was making $900k a year at Michigan, his new position in Miami? $1.6 million a year. That's a nice little pay bump. Do I think Michigan should of payed Gattis $1.6 million? Absolutely not, his play calling did improve this past season but there's a lot of talk about how much of the offenses success was because of Gattis or the new additions to the offensive coaching staff. Regardless, if Manuel did in fact low ball him, it is yet another example of Michigan refusing to adapt to the changing winds of the college football landscape where NIL deals, transfer portal and paying big money to keep staff members for continuity have become more important. 

I've stated this many times now, it's time for Michigan athletics to adapt or die. They seem to be choosing the later option as of now. 

Gattis' career at Michigan was up and down. After the 2020 season there were many calling for his head. In 2021? He won the Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the country. He used that title to secure a substantial pay day for himself and a move to sunny Miami. A program that is 55-33 since 2015 and coming off an average 7-5 season that led to Head Coach Manny Diaz getting the axe and former Oregon's Head Coach Mario Cristobal taking over. 

The loss of Gattis isn't irreplaceable, and not something one would normally worry over. But the manner of his departure, and where he ended up along with the other staff departures this off season is bad optics for the program. All it takes is for a rival program to cast a little bit of doubt into recruits minds and the momentum gained from the 2021 season can disappear just like that. 

Let's hope Harbaugh has a plan, but even more important, let's hope the administration finally catches up to the modern world of college football and pays their assistants market value to try and keep them going forward.