Does Greg Mattison have a realistic chance of surviving the storm?
Subject line says it all.
I think Mattison's peformance has been solid. He has been a key component of this coaching regime's success at recruiting. And he has roots to the program.
Obviously, it depends on the HC. But is there precedent for a new HC coming in but keeping DC intact in a high-profile program?
Are there significantly better and obvious choices available of which I am not aware?
Though I do not buy into the "Michigan Man" prerequisite, Mattison surely represents some cultural stability for the program, so I would think he's a strong candidate for retention. I just want to know if that's an utter pipe dream...
November 9th, 2014 at 7:55 PM ^
would even consider returning. As has been noted earlier, Mattison had several reasons to come back to Ann Arbor, because of local family connections and the opportunity to work under Hoke. Now, whether he would stay based on current salary, or whether leaving and getting a lucrative buyout would be a better option, is hard to say.
I think the idea of cleaning house of the current staff might sound plausible, but if I'm an incoming coach, depending on who it is, I think they'd want to have some coaching contact with the current roster and to help keep some of these recruits on board.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:28 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^
with the overall sentiment of your post (and upvoted it), I see no need to be that harsh on Fred Jackson. Yeah, no doubt he needs to retire, but if they brought him back to be honored someday, I'd be cheering as loudly as anyone for him. He's a good man and performed well over the long term as Michigan's RB coach. But as the game appears to have passed him by, it's time for that proverbial gold watch and recliner as parting gifts.
As for Mattison, same thing. I see very few scenerios where he'd come back as DC (other than maybe for John Harbaugh). Our next HC should be able to choose his own people and I hope our next AD recognizes that, whether it's interim AD Jim Hackett or the permanent AD who hires the next HC.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 6:51 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:30 PM ^
Good coaches lose their jobs in coaching transitions. It's part of the deal. These guys have to work with each other, and asking a new coach to work with remnants of an older staff that isn't loyal to him is like asking for a disaster.
Hodgepodge coaching staffs are acceptable when you're transitioning from one successful coach to a new coach. I get why so many Michigan fans seem to want to keep someone like Mattison or Nuss or whatever. If it was a situation like when Lloyd took over from Moeller, that'd be fine. But that type of thing doen't work when you've had to fire the HC. Greg Mattison is not the only good defensive coordinator out there.
November 9th, 2014 at 9:51 PM ^
Management 101 says you don't keep the old staff. You can't have people undercutting you with their loyalty to the prior regime. Head coaches are head managers of the coaching department. Clean house.
November 10th, 2014 at 6:42 AM ^
just like Brandon did in the AD?
November 9th, 2014 at 4:30 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
No chance. He will retire and he should be very proud about his accomplishments.
He's a good coordinator, but we need new blood in Schembecher at all positions.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
I don't think it's quite cleaning out the cabinet when a new President is elected but it's much closer to that than say when a company sees a new CEO named.
I don't buy the "roots to the program" thing for a second. He's coached at ND, Florida, A&M and NW a long time ago, obviously the NFL. It's not like he's some mercenary, but it doesn't seem like he has a particular school that is his "dream job".
I guess I wouldn't mind if we kept him because he is a good coordinator, but there's still some things with this defense that aren't great. They aren't always great in their base defense and often are forced to resort to blitzing to overcome that. They were obviously carved by one of the really good teams we faced this year (ND) so unless whoever the new head coach is wants to keep him I'm fine with him walking.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:34 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:35 PM ^
i only want Fred Jackson to stay.
Only b/c, if *he* doesn't survive, what chance do the rest of us have?
November 9th, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
You make it sound like Fred is a single-cell bacterium.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^
or a zombie, which ever is harder to kill
November 9th, 2014 at 5:03 PM ^
Or a San Francisco Giant
November 9th, 2014 at 4:36 PM ^
We lost with him as DC, we can lose without him as DC.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:37 PM ^
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November 9th, 2014 at 4:39 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:40 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:45 PM ^
Nope... Yes, I've seen major improvement in the way the front seven has played from the RR days, but the secondary has gotten progressively worse. Nova, Siemian, Golson, and Cook have all sliced up our corners this season, and they STILL haven't learned how to look for the ball when it's in the air. Plus, clean house means he needs to go.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:46 PM ^
Jim gets hired. John calls him up and tells him, "hoo boy, that Mattison was the best DC I had in Baltimore, ya gotta keep him." Jim asks Greg to stay, and Greg says yes. That's it.
The key to that scenario is that the head coach made the choice. Not the shit we've had with the AD firing the OC and hiring his replacement. The head coach should be the sole decider on who works on his staff. if the head coach wants someone on his staff, that's the way it should be. Nobody should be forcing the HC to keep coaches because they were nice to the right office people or have the right friends in high places. That kind of buddy buddyism got Michigan where it is right now.
The only say the AD should have in the coaching staff is on the salary budget. If the HC wants someone and the school can afford it, there you go.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:46 PM ^
Let's face it though. Mattison's defenses have been solid, but nowhere close to as good as they should've been with his pedigree. We still have minimal pass rush, and we seem to always get torched by OSU. Mattison should know how to scheme for Meyer, but the defense always looks atrocious against them.
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November 9th, 2014 at 5:17 PM ^
Minimal pass rush? We haven't been spectacular, but they've been really coming on as of late. How many sacks did we have again yesterday? Six, all by d-linemen.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:47 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:50 PM ^
You don't have a firm grasp on how the world works.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^
Do you people not know how this works?! Let the new coach hire his own staff. Mattison is a great coach, but new leadership is needed. The new coach needs to bring in his OWN staff who he trusts and has good chemistry.
November 9th, 2014 at 4:53 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 4:55 PM ^
The time to serve notice that Michigan is 100% going in a new direction is now. I don't see how you can do that by keeping anyone.
November 9th, 2014 at 5:02 PM ^
Put me in the group of those who think either Harbaugh would ask Mattison to stay and Mattison would say, "yes."
November 9th, 2014 at 5:02 PM ^
...maybe if John begs.
So you call the odds on that.
Nonethelss, subject says it all, then 4 paragraphs?
November 9th, 2014 at 8:36 PM ^
The essence of the question was in the subject line.
The four following paragraphs were self-indulgent.
November 9th, 2014 at 5:03 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 5:04 PM ^
He's 65 and his last three defenses have been more good than great. I'd be OK with it if he's retained but I don't think it's an absolute prerequisite of the new coach.
November 9th, 2014 at 5:13 PM ^
quit drinking and go to bed, Mattison is a top 10 defensive coordinator in the country.
November 9th, 2014 at 6:55 PM ^
He may have been that at one point, but now he's more like top 30-40. I'm pretty indifferent as to whether he stays or goes.
November 9th, 2014 at 5:15 PM ^
November 9th, 2014 at 5:24 PM ^
"Subject line says it all."
Did it though?
November 9th, 2014 at 5:46 PM ^
Well one things for sure, he's not going to come out and say "Oh I'll definitely stay if you hire Jim!" But I believe it would be possible. If he wants to stay in Ann Arbor, why not stay in the same position if the new incoming coach wants him?
It's very difficult to evaluate our defensive capablities under Mattison as the last time we had a good offense (Denard) was 2011, and the D was great by any measure. This should weigh heavily in GMAT's evaluation as it was a huge turnaround from 2010 (109th!>16th in dFEI). Our D has regressed in lock step with our offense and I'm inclined to believe that this is expected. Our 2013 offense was especially good at backing up 20-30 yards on some drives to go with the turnovers, so we couldn't even HOLD field position for the defense. And they have been on the field an awful lot over the past 3 years.
But I won't just make excuses for him. The frustrations include poor 3rd and 5+ play where our blitzes JUST DON'T GET HOME and we can't get off the field, Blake Countess' regression from a promising freshman campaign (although I blame injury mostly, just a step slower and it's killing him). The bright spots are stout run defense and we tend to pass the eye test as far as getting general push, solid tackling, swarming to the ball, etc. My feeling is, GMAT has the abliity to recruit and coach a top 10 D, IF WE HAVE A COMPETENT O. I would not be mad if he was retained by the next head man.
November 9th, 2014 at 6:38 PM ^
Whelp, I guess the answer to my question is a resounding, "No," despite Mattison's extensive history with the Harbaughs.
I have a soft spot for him as I really enjoyed the 90s defenses that he was involved with, and it goes back to my time in Ann Arbor.
Sigh.
From Wikipedia:
Coaching career[edit]
On January 18, 2011, the Ravens announced that Mattison had accepted the defensive coordinator position at the University of Michigan. In returning to Michigan, Mattison reunites with Michigan head coach Brady Hoke, who is a close friend of Mattison's and was the Wolverines' defensive ends coach during Mattison's previous stint as defensive coordinator at Michigan. His contract at Michigan makes him among the highest paid college football assistant coaches in the country.[1] He was selected as one of five finalists for the 2011 Broyles Award.[3]
On January 26, 2009, Mattison was named promoted defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Ravens ; he was the successor of former defensive coordinator Rex Ryan.[4]
He was the team's linebackers coach, a job he got in part due to his relationship with John Harbaugh. During his time at WMU, Mattison coached alongside John Harbaugh, who was a graduate assistant and assistant coach. Harbaugh, then head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, hired Mattison to coach the Ravens linebackers. The job was Mattison's first NFL coaching position in 37 years of coaching football.
At Florida, he served as co-coordinator of the defense with Charlie Strong. Charlie Strong also served as assistant Head Coach and Linebackers coach while Greg also pulled double duty working as Defensive lines coach. During this time he was a part of a successful defense and team that went overall 31-8 in games played and won a national championship by beating Ohio State 41-14 in the BCS Championship game in 2006.
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Prior to his time at Florida, Mattison coached at University of Notre Dame from 2002 to 2004 as the defensive coordinator under Bob Davie until the Ty Willingham era (during which he served as defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator). Prior to his time at Notre Dame, Mattison coached the defensive line at the University of Michigan from 1992 to 1996, while also serving at the defensive coordinator in 1995 and 1996. During his time at Michigan, the Wolverines led the Big Ten Conference in rushing defense four consecutive seasons, holding opponents to 78.6 rushing yards per game in 1992, 87.9 in 1994, and 88.1 in 1995. Mattison's charges also led the conference in total defense twice and scoring defense once. He also coached with Coach Davie at Texas A&M University from 1988 to 1991 while Davie was defensive coordinator. Under head coach R. C. Slocum, the Aggies featured the "Wrecking Crew", a nickname for one of the nation's top-ranked defenses.
Mattison was a finalist for the head coaching job at Western Michigan University following the 2004 season, a job that eventually went to Bill Cubit. Mattison had served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under Jack Harbaugh at Western Michigan from 1981 to 1986.
November 9th, 2014 at 8:00 PM ^
Anyone else remember this?
http://www.mlive.com/wolverines/index.ssf/2013/10/twenty_years_later_mi…
http://onwardstate.com/2014/10/10/the-best-games-in-the-history-of-penn…
1993. Great defensive line.
“They are awfully good on the goal line,” Paterno told reporters after the game. “I guessed they would loop out, expecting something like a bootleg pass, and I thought we could run right at them. So we went with the two sneaks and we just didn’t make it go.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvMcGQXaFOs
Those were the days...
November 9th, 2014 at 7:11 PM ^
Our defense might look great against Indiana, Penn State, and Northwestern but they look lost against anyone with an actual pulse. For example Notre Dame and MSU.
November 9th, 2014 at 7:54 PM ^
Also MSU has put 30 plus on OSU defense and I would say OSU and FSU have more talent on there defense of side so we are in the same boat with those teams. Unfortunately our offense is probably the second or third worst in the big ten. I would our defense is actually better than thoses teams D since our defense always has to defend a short field half the time. Our offense has commited so many Turnovers it is almost impossible to not give up points to other teams. If our defense was bad we would be 3-9 this year. Luckily we have a good D to keep us in some games.
November 9th, 2014 at 8:20 PM ^
How many times can we give up a 3rd and long? How long will we have CBs play 10 yards off? I'm sick of Mattison's bend don't break crap. We don't have anyone that can consistetly get home on blitzes. Frank Clark was stiff armed by Gary Nova.
No MSU's defense this year is not what it was last year. But their style has killed us for years and it sure seems to work more often than not.
November 9th, 2014 at 8:38 PM ^
corners are 5'10" 175. Which puts them in a physical disadvantage position that is even more risky than giving them a ten yard cushion but your right it should only be a five yard cushion and I don't like it but whatever. Also I know Lewis does well at press and is only 175lbs, but most of the corners seem to not be able to do it and maybe it is techinque or maybe just developement I really don't know. I think Mattison was trying to fix the size issue problem by bringing in a tall lengthy guy into each class (Peppers last year and G. Taylor was going to be this years). I will agree that Mattison should have brought in more bigger physical guys instead of the 5'9" guys like Countess, Hollowell, Taylor, Richardson, and Lewis -which has seemed to be the exception to being able to play physical. Go look at our roster and there is three more walk-ons at DB that are 5'9". Here is MSU's roster only three DBs that are 5'9ish. Most are 6ft. And secondly players are occansily making mistakes yes Clark messed up. But I watched Sheldon Day this week get slip in the open feild shit happens.
www.msuspartans.com/sports/m-footbl-mtt.html.
November 9th, 2014 at 7:59 PM ^
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November 9th, 2014 at 8:13 PM ^
received no help that day. I think we even held them to like 60 yards of rushing against a real good ground game. A lot of people have been hurt on our D and we seem to find a player that can step in and hold their own on defense. I know it seems that our defense is not that good, but many of our players are smaller in the secondary which seems to one of our biggest problems that arises in our defense is our secondary. Which is more of a recruiting and developement issue. I know why people dog on our defense, but I feel like we our secondary just has trouble matching up with people because our corners aren't phusically gifted like Peppers or physical like Lewis.