Michigan Football: Josh Gattis departs for the University of Miami

Following the news that Jim Harbaugh would be returning for the 2022 season, it was announced that Michigan football offensive coordinator Josh Gattis would not be sticking around. In what has become a rollercoaster offseason with more coaching changes than preferable for the average fan, we receive the nail in the coffin with the most recent news.

After the best Michigan football season in approximately 20 years, the Broyles Award-winning coordinator has been poached by the University of Miami under new head coach Mario Cristobal. This means that the Wolverines now have both coordinator slots to fill after the hiring of Mike Macdonald by the Baltimore Ravens.

The Macdonald hiring might have been predicted given the connections between Jim and John Harbaugh and the season Macdonald had in Ann Arbor. However, Gattis leaving for Miami seems like a step back for his career, given the current state of the Hurricanes.

However, a step back as it may be, there seems to be a much greater reason at play for why Gattis left. In a text message he sent to players detailing his departure, it appears as though Gattis was frustrated by the administration. There is a lot at play with a messy departure like this so:

Let’s speculate on why Josh Gattis would leave Michigan football and what it will mean.

For starters, his statement made it clear that Gattis felt unwanted in the current situation by the Michigan admin. With this news coming right after the news about Harbaugh’s return, it seems like Gattis was expecting the head coaching job and was potentially led to believe that he was preferred over the current coach. Without the opening to be HC, Gattis saw Jim’s return as his cue to leave.

Gattis has always been a popular candidate to receive a head job, and maybe he sees his departure as a lateral career move. However, the move might have lasting ripple effects on the Michigan offense. For starters, Gattis was an influential recruiter, bringing in many of the three and 4-stars that will be impacting the offense.

It would not be surprising to see transfers out of the receivers that have seen far fewer snaps than they could (Christian Dixon, A.J. Henning, Roman Wilson, etc.). The most concerning, however: receiver Andrel Anthony Jr., who released this tweet after news of the move broke. What could it mean? I haven’t the slightest clue, but big coaching changes, especially messy ones, always lead to transfers.

The other piece of the puzzle is who will fill the OC role? Both Sherrone Moore and Matt Weiss seem like strong internal candidates to fill the role, with the former already set as Co-OC and the latter (QBs coach) could be in a position to lead the offense with stud youngster J.J. McCarthy competing for the starting job. RBs coach Mike Hart could also step up, and many external options could fit the bill.

Is there a reason for concern as a Wolverines fan? Probably not yet. Will this be a major situation to follow and be one that definitely has an impact on the 2022 season? Most definitely.