The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1111798
MAY 2019 THE WOLVERINE 19 together nicely, and the coaches have done a great job of making that hap- pen. The tempo is a huge change, and so is going from huddling to not hud- dling." Harbaugh's words that day were music to the ears of Michigan fans ev- erywhere. It was no secret the play- calling process — though still a bit of a mystery — had largely run through him in 2018, with the coach admitting he had the final say on which plays were run. Allowing Gattis to have full control of those duties in 2019 marked the first time since Harbaugh arrived prior to the 2015 campaign that he has put complete trust in someone else's hands to handle the task. Perhaps even more importantly, though, it signaled a huge change in U-M's offensive philosophy. During his first four years on the job, Harbaugh placed an importance on time of possession and controlling the clock by grinding out drives on the ground. The mindset worked during Michi- gan's 10-game winning streak last season from Sept. 8 to Nov. 17. U-M held the ball for 34:18 per game last year, which was the fifth-best mark in the nation. However, the philoso- phy was largely ineffec- tive in the team's three losses to Notre Dame, Ohio State and Florida, when Michigan aver- aged just 344.6 yards in those three games — 74.9 yards fewer than its season average of 419.5 (50th nationally). The news that Gat- tis would be installing a no-huddle, up-tempo style came as quite a sur- prise, seeing as how it's basically the opposite ap- proach from what Har- baugh has employed much of his coaching career. F a n s g o t a b r i e f glimpse of Gattis' hurry- up, "Speed In Space" (as he has dubbed it on Twitter) operation dur- ing Michigan's April 13 spring game, though the play-calling was expect- edly vanilla that day. Nevertheless, it provided the public with a vision of what's to come, and gave them a sense of the pace and aggressive style the new coordinator will operate with in the fall. "I actually called the entire spring game off the script, which is how I also do it in practice — this is my of- fense and I know what I want to call and what I want to accomplish," Gattis explained April 19. "I never realized until you're in that [offensive coordi- nator] seat how much it controls your brain — I often find myself texting my phone reminders so I don't forget my own thoughts. "Being able to run my own offense and be in charge from that standpoint doesn't allow my brain to stop think- ing about the next play. It's been great putting the kids in position to be suc- cessful and helping them understand how I think, and developing a culture where we all think alike. "I have a level of confidence in both myself and in what we're doing offen- sively, and I truly believe in it because I've seen it be successful at a number of other places." Gattis went on to explain that Har- baugh has been "amazing" in the sup- port that he's given his new assistant — and, perhaps most surprisingly, has been relatively hands-off with the new attack. "Coach Harbaugh has really given me the freedom and the authority to run it the way we see necessary to put our kids in position to be successful," Gattis said. While there are ob- viously still aspects of the offense that need to be ironed out over the summer and during fall camp, the players seemed to have a solid grasp of it during the spring game — espe- cially the quarterbacks, who gave rave reviews after their first public opportunity to run the system. "I like that we have the option to [run or throw]," senior Shea Patterson explained af- ter the spring game. "It's a new dynamic of not huddling, but we've adjusted well to it after there were some grow- ing pains at first," red- shirt sophomore Dylan McCaffrey chimed in. "It bodes well for us as an offense when you're able to get the play in faster and catch the de- fense off guard a little bit. "It's still a learning curve, but it'll be good to nail it down in fall camp." ❏ Gattis will coach the wide receivers at Michigan while also calling plays and serving as the offensive coordinator. He has coached wideouts at every stop along the way during his coaching career. PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN Gattis "I have a level of confidence in both myself and in what we're doing offensively, and I truly believe in it because I've seen it be successful at a number of other places."