Greg Mattison Is Michigan's Defensive Coordinator
our coordinators have the exact same hair. no nonsense hair.
no one will ever say their hair is the best part of them.
This seemed like a far-fetched rumor when it started buzzing but lo, it is true:
Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Greg Mattison is expected to go the University of Michigan as their new defensive coordinator, according to a league source with knowledge of the situation.
No deal has been formally reached, though.
He would likely be replaced in Baltimore by secondary coach Chuck Pagano.
UPDATE: Mattison has taken the job and Pagano has replaced him.
I“We’re excited for our defense and for Chuck, and we’re happy for Greg Mattison,” coach John Harbaugh said. “I will talk more about it tomorrow when we formally announced Chuck as our new coordinator in a press conference.”
Mattison is the best possible hire of all rumored names, a veteran with a history of excellent defenses in both college and the NFL. He coordinated Michigan's stout '95 and '96 defenses and can probably take some credit for the national championship-winning '97 edition. After leaving Michigan, Mattison was Notre Dame's DC for a few seasons, then moved on to be co-DC at Florida with Charlie Strong. He's been with the Ravens the last three years.
This isn't exactly hiring Gus Malzahn—Chizik was a great DC himself before becoming a head coach—but it's the closest possible thing, an indication that Michigan is no longer skimping on assistant salaries. When the above-linked article finishes "Mattison has been successful with the Ravens, so this is a bit of a surprise," you know you're dropping some coin.
Hope meter: incremented.
Also, there's an official release on much of the rest of the staff:
Hoke Announces Seven Staff Appointments
ANN ARBOR – University of Michigan head coach Brady Hoke announced today (Tuesday, Jan. 18) the hiring of seven staff members to his Wolverine coaching and support staff. Hoke named six of the nine assistant coaching positions and the appointment of his strength and conditioning coach.
Six members of the San Diego State staff joined Hoke in Ann Arbor. Al Borges will coordinate the offense and work with the quarterbacks, Dan Ferrigno will coordinate the special teams and coach the tight ends, Darrell Funk will coach the offensive line, Jeff Hecklinski mentors the wide receivers and Mark Smith has been appointed linebackers coach. Aaron Wellman also joined the Wolverines’ staff as the strength and conditioning coach.
Hoke rehired long time Michigan running backs coach Fred Jackson to the same position on the staff. Jackson will begin his 20th season as a member of the Wolverine coaching staff in 2011.
All but Ferrigno were already known, and Ferrigno was suspected. Borges is listed as QB/OC so that probably means Loeffler won't return—and that's how Michigan can afford an esoteric TE/ST coach.
Michigan still has two open assistant slots and holes at DB, DL, and QB. Since Hoke and Mattison both have extensive experience as DL coaches it's not 100% that QB is the spot that goes unfilled but it's probable. Bringing in another offensive coach would mean the staff had five offensive assistants and just two on D.
BONUS: Michigan's also hiring Hoke's director of operations, so this will probably be the first and last time you think about this name: Bob Lopez. May he be a thousand times more obscure than Draper and Labadie.
January 18th, 2011 at 10:38 PM ^
for children of staff. Can some of you second estaters get on that, stat?
January 18th, 2011 at 7:04 PM ^
I daresay, if DB had a part in this, he may have restored some of the faith I lost in the head coach search.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:06 PM ^
i think those same lighting tones were used on the hit television show WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE
January 18th, 2011 at 7:28 PM ^
have a say in how much the school is willing to pay coordinators/position coaches? Because if they don't, then of course Brandon had a hand in it.
January 18th, 2011 at 10:27 PM ^
Maybe the meeting with Jim Harbaugh was like, "Hey Jim I realize you have always wanted to be in the NFL and coach at team that beats your brother's team, so how about giving him a call and helping me out with his DC?"
Also have you noticed how many former Michigan Coaches are on the Ravens staff? Talk about Cronyism!
Or maybe it's just lower risk to hire the people you know over those you don't?
One of my reasons for liking the Harbaugh hire was that his ability to recruit would be on par or above the Charlie Weis ability. This seems to be on the same level of connections to the NFL.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:04 PM ^
This makes me Happy! A head coach can only handle so much and it's typically the assistants that help a head coach become successful. Great hire on a down day!
January 18th, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^
It turned my frown from losing out on prospects upside down. :)
January 18th, 2011 at 7:05 PM ^
up nicely. Fill a couple more holes and grab a few more decent recruits and get ready for some fun next fall.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:06 PM ^
I will gladly feel like an idiot for doubting Hoke, if he can turn this program into a machine.
This is a major coup.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:59 PM ^
Including the King of the Dipshits.
January 18th, 2011 at 10:26 PM ^
Not so fast... he hired a proven defensive coach. I wouldn't assume anything. Mattison averages 3.5 years per stop. And he's no spring chicken. While I'm excited, someone that assumes success based on hoke's resume and player/alum support, will look like an even bigger retard upon being proven wrong, than the skeptics imo.
Like I said, I'd still rather be wrong on this one.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:06 PM ^
Great man with a great legacy. This will have an enormously positive effect on our recruiting
January 18th, 2011 at 7:06 PM ^
If things work out with Hoke he can coach here for 5 and 6 years and retire. If we had picked up someone like Shannon or Heater or Bedford they might jump to a HS position if they turned around the D. With Mattison hopefully we'll have some continuity finally around here at DC.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:08 PM ^
We are a stepping stone to a HS position now? Wow, we really have fallen.
/s
January 18th, 2011 at 7:13 PM ^
What is wrong with being a coordinator's stepping stone to a head coaching position?
January 18th, 2011 at 7:17 PM ^
Comprehension fail
January 18th, 2011 at 7:55 PM ^
LOL + for you.
January 18th, 2011 at 8:01 PM ^
The previous two posts are hysterical. Excellent
January 18th, 2011 at 7:17 PM ^
... a high school coaching position?
January 18th, 2011 at 7:57 PM ^
He should have typed HC instead of HS - IMO, it was just a typo on the poster's part.
January 18th, 2011 at 10:09 PM ^
And hopefully he will be mentoring a younger replacement so that we can avoid the dearth of internal options we had when Lloyd hung it up. For the same reason, I was/am hoping we'd be able to bring Loeffler back as QB coach/asst OC. Good news.
January 19th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^
Mattison makes a ton of sense. He's a proven winner, and a proven defensive commodity. He'll take less time than pretty much any other DC to turn this squad around, and he doesn't need any mentoring to do it. He coaches for several years, say 5 or 6. At that point, Hoke's 58, and we hire an up-and-comer to be DC, grooming to replace Hoke 8-10 years and 4 MNCs later.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:07 PM ^
not only did we hire a DC but we got a good one.I wonder if Frost,Zettel and walls might reconsider us now.GO BLUE!!!
January 18th, 2011 at 7:11 PM ^
But it can't hurt when he says "you know all those HoF defensive players on the Ravens? I coached them. And look at my rings from Florida...."
January 18th, 2011 at 8:34 PM ^
It will even better in a few years when it's, "Look at my rings from Michigan..."
January 18th, 2011 at 7:10 PM ^
my bad.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:19 PM ^
"I am slowly mollifying as the Hoke era proceeds." This sentence made me smile - for several reasons...
January 18th, 2011 at 7:26 PM ^
It reflects how I feel so well.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:43 PM ^
I had to look it up.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:40 PM ^
if 'mollify' can really be used intransitively. evidently it can be, but the usage is archaic. so, i learned two things from this post!
January 18th, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^
Wow how the tone of this site has changed in the past 8 hours. Very excited about the hire.
Now if we can swing a couple recruits there will be no more complaining........for at least an hour
January 18th, 2011 at 10:24 PM ^
January 19th, 2011 at 9:57 AM ^
Everybody needs a heavy dose of Prozac to get through this offseason.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^
OK recruits. who wants to play some DEFENSE?!!
January 18th, 2011 at 7:19 PM ^
I admit I was skeptical of the Hoke hire, but he seems to be able to recruit and close key people. First he closes Denard, now Mattison. This says a lot about his ability to lead and recruit. I am much more bullish that a guy with the reputation of Mattison would want to work for Brady. Mattison knows him and wants to uproot his family and come here. This speaks to Hoke's leadership skills and the confidence that people who know him have in his ability is remarkeable.
Brian, I am surprised you did not point out that apparently the "Michigan coach hating God" has left town, hopefully for the next 6 years.
God Bless American and Michigan Football!!
January 18th, 2011 at 8:21 PM ^
Michigan football is American football.
January 18th, 2011 at 8:33 PM ^
And for all the complaining about losing recruits around here, Hoke prioritized things correctly:
1. Secure the loyalty of current players
2. Assemble staff
3. Recruit
January 18th, 2011 at 7:33 PM ^
now I'm not pissed
Great friggin' hire
EDIT: linkypoo
http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/011811aab.html
January 18th, 2011 at 7:23 PM ^
On reading the Ron English rumor. Tonight I can gleefully relax and rest assured of Michigan's future as a football program. Great hire, Hoke!
January 18th, 2011 at 7:24 PM ^
...Mattison and Marylanders Blake Countess (commit) and Darian Cooper (U-M formerly in his top tier of schools).
January 18th, 2011 at 7:46 PM ^
Great point about Cooper! I'm sure he loves the Ravens D!
January 18th, 2011 at 7:25 PM ^
This is a serious move - sending a strong message to all concerned that they mean business and plan to win now rather than later. One thing the Ravens have on defense is attitude and I expect Mattison to bring some of that.
Things are looking up.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:55 PM ^
One of the things I remember about the teams in the 90s, being between the age 6 and 16 throughout, was the attitude. Some may call it cocky or arrogant, but as a kid, I saw a bunch of bad-ass crazy people ready to knock the ball out of the hands of anyone on the opposing team that touched it - and they were having a great time doing it. Every hard tackle and physical play ended up with a group of Wolverines bumping chests and jumping around, even those subbing on and off.
It was Michigan's ball. The other team didn't deserve it; not against Michigan. Even now, watching replays on BTN and ESPN Classic, the thing that stands out most to me is that those guys had an attitude that it was their field and there wasn't anything the other team could do about it.
Maybe it's youthful memories or I'm just romanticizing. Maybe it's something that builds due to success or maybe it's the personalities, I don't know, but I am cautiously optimistic about getting some of our 'tude back with some of our old 90's defensive personell. Now let's go get some bad-ass crazy people to play for them.
January 18th, 2011 at 8:19 PM ^
It was Michigan's ball. The other team didn't deserve it; not against Michigan.
God, I love this. Well done sir.
January 18th, 2011 at 8:30 PM ^
What JBE said. PERFECT.
January 19th, 2011 at 12:01 PM ^
That attitude was what reinforced my love of the Wolverines from a young age. (I have been a fan since before I can remember...Thanks, Dad!) Hopefully my kids are able to reinforce MY brainwashing with some positive memories of big wins and brutal defense as well.
January 18th, 2011 at 10:45 PM ^
Your post made me smile. You perfectly described the attitude of the 1990s M defenses - it's our ball and you don't deserve to have it.
I know that some are still down on the Hoke hire, but I do believe that he will instill this attitude in our team.
January 18th, 2011 at 7:25 PM ^
Still freaked out, and off the ledge, but still leaning out the window...
January 18th, 2011 at 7:27 PM ^
I, too, was ticked off that anyone would have the audacity to leave Michigan (arguable at it's prime) to make a lateral move to Notre Dame. I remember sending Lloyd and Jim Herman a note to "kick his traitor ass" prior to the ND game the following season. Lloyd responded with a note of "thanks for the encouraging words" which is still tacked to my wall in my office.
Alas, I am over it and grateful for Coach Mattison's return.
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