Monday Presser 11-24-14: Greg Mattison Comment Count

Adam Schnepp

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Greg, two-parter. First, as a defensive coordinator, preparing for JT Barrett. Secondly, as a defensive coordinator, looking at what Joey Bosa’s able to do and affect offenses.

“Barrett is an outstanding quarterback. He’s very, very talented. He can throw the football. He can run it. He runs that offense very, very well. We’ve played against some great quarterbacks so our guys will be ready and we know what we have to do and we’re looking forward to the challenge of doing it.”

Is he your biggest challenge?

“I always look at the next challenge as being the biggest challenge so this is the next one so yes, it is the biggest challenge. It’s the next one, whoever you’re playing next. That’s the way we look at it and we’re excited about it.

“Joey Bosa, I recruited him. I’ve seen him as a youngster. He’s an outstanding football player. He’s like some of our guys. He’s a good football player. He’s young. He does some really good things, and it’s fun to watch him.”

 

What’s the single best game that sticks out in your mind in the series that you’ve been involved with, and what do you like about the challenge of going into that stadium and playing?

“I’m very, very fortunate to have been in this rivalry a number of times, and there are a couple of them. Every time we play is great. I was very fortunate the five years prior that I think our record was 3-1-1, and I remember going down there in ‘96, I believe, and they were second in the country and we beat them 13-9 and I remember that very well. I also was part of another school that had a pretty good game against them, too, at one time. I remember that one too and I still felt pretty good about that one too. Going down there’s special. To me it’s the greatest rivalry in college football. There’s nothing better. It’s two great programs and we are very, very excited to be part of it and we are excited to take our guys down there and see if we take the next step, and I’m looking forward to it.”

 

Brennen Beyer seems to step up a little more each week, and you’ve had him the whole way through. Talk about how you’ve seen him develop and what he’s doing for you this year.

“Brennen Beyer’s a Michigan football player. I mean, Brennen Beyer, I said to him before the game, and I couldn’t- I told him, I said, ‘I will not look at some of you guys because if I look at you I’ll fall apart seeing as how we all came together.’ I remember Brennen Beyer as skinny little guy and we came walking in the office and he was guy that the last staff recruited and I coached him for a number of years, and just to see the man that he’s become. He’s always been a man, but he’s what you hope every young man that goes to college becomes. He’s an outstanding football player. He gives it everything he has. He’s played through injury. He’s played through ups and downs, and he comes out every day and does his best in the classroom, off the field, everything. He’s just why Michigan is Michigan, and he’s just why it’s great to have an opportunity to coach him.”

[After THE JUMP: Mattison’s Monologue]

You mentioned Joey Bosa was fun to watch. Could you elaborate a little bit more what you like about him? Secondly, you said you were fortunate to be a part of this rivalry. Given the week, Thanksgiving, Ohio State week, the seniors going out, what’s that message right now within the program for these guys?

“You first part [was] about Bosa? He just plays hard. He plays like I expect. He plays like defensive linemen that play. I think Willie Henry plays like him. I think Chris Wormley plays like him. I think guys that do a good job and do what they’re supposed to do, that’s how they play. They play hard. They do their technique. They run to the football, and that’s what he does and that’s what he’s coached to do. He plays excited and we’ve been fortunate to have some guys here and some young guys now who are starting to do that, so it’s fun to be a part of that and fun to watch them. What was your second part?”

The second part was the seniors, it’s Thanksgiving, you said you were fortunate to be a part of this. Just your message for those guys going out there for their final game.

“Well, the biggest thing is just this is one of the reasons you play at Michigan. You play at Michigan because you get the opportunity to play in this great rivalry that has had the very best football players to ever play college football play in this game, and you are part of it. You, because you chose Michigan and you are in the Big Ten and this is always the last game of the season and this is what it’s all about. This is what you dream about when you’re a kid, and these guys have the opportunity to go down there and play in this game.”

 

During your long and illustrious coaching career have you ever had a year like this where resignations, suspensions, dismissals, everything seem to be happening except the talk doesn’t seem to be what Michigan’s doing on the field, it seems to center on what Michigan’s doing off the field?

“No, I haven’t, and I talked to my wife about it and talked to other people about it and I’m not so sure it’s not today’s society. I’m not so sure that that isn’t everywhere. I’m not so sure that- you know, it used to be that- people are never totally with happy with how you do. I understand that. It’s coaching. I don’t really care about that. All I know is Brady and our staff go in every day and say, ‘I’m going to make you a better player. I’m going to do everything I can to make you a better football player today’ and we do that. I always say don’t read and don’t listen and all that stuff, and I’m not saying anything about [you guys]. You guys got jobs, that’s your jobs. You guys do a great job. I wish someday I could sit and watch and read the stuff and hear the stuff and all that. Maybe I’ll do that. I don’t even listen to it when I’m driving and you hear some of these syndicate [shows] on the radio driving home late. All I know is I’m really, really proud to be here and really proud of these kids.

“You say ‘has this been a tough year?’ In a lot of ways it’s been the most fun I’ve had coaching a group of guys because I’ve seen where they’ve come [from] and there are a lot of them now, believe me, a lot of them that when you watch the tape you say, ‘Man, this kid’s becoming pretty good.’ Now, it hasn’t all come together yet. It hasn’t all- and the thing about football, when the scores are tight and games are really close and the margin of error is very, very small it makes it a little harder to be able to say, ‘Yeah, go ahead’ but it’s close. It’s very close. I mean, there are some guys out there now that, when you watch those games like I do on film and you critique yourself like I do and you critique this team, you say, ‘Man, there’s some good things here now.’

“And then you look at the graduation ceremony and I look and I go, ‘Wow. Brennen. Delonte. Jake. Ray.’ That’s three guys [Ed.(A): uhhh…]. Everybody else is back, man. They’re all back, and they’ve all played a whole bunch. I’ve been at other graduation ceremonies where you’ve looked and saw there are 15 seniors who were starters who walked across and you say, ‘Oh boy, how are we gonna stop anybody next year?’ Well, I looked at this one and there’s four [Ed. (A): aaand we’re good]. You say, ‘Has it been hard?’ It’s been great because we’ve got some really, really good young kids that are going to be really good.”

 

I just wondered,when you have a year where the offense has struggled the way that it has do you feel any more pressure to try and pitch a shutout or anything like that? Do you try and do more to compensate?

“That’s a great question. It really is. Your pressure and our pressure as a defense is to be perfect. It is! I don’t care. Bo would have said it. Bo did say it. Mo did say it. Lloyd did say it, and I remember it and I’m lucky, fortunate to have been with those coaches because that’s where you learn football and that’s where I learned football. And you know what?  I remember constantly saying, ‘No matter what, if they don’t score you can’t lose.’ Okay. Okay then. That’s what a defensive coach is supposed to do, and that’s what a defensive player is supposed to do and it doesn’t matter how many times you get the ball in the red zone. It doesn’t matter.

“That’s why this last game, I feel bad about this last game. We played so many great quarters and so many great minutes and then at the very end we just couldn’t do it, and that’s me. That’s us. We’ve got to do it. That’s where the next step [comes in]. That’s the next step. We’ve got to be able to do that.”

 

MGoQuestion: We haven’t some guys like Willie Henry very much in recent weeks. Do you anticipate any more rotation along the defensive line [this week]?

“Well, Willie, Willie’s coming back from a bruised knee or something. Willie, that had nothing to do with [him]. Willie was doing great, and I’ll be looking forward to Willie getting back in there.

“No, our thing in rotating [is] you have to earn the right to rotate, and we’ve got a lot of guys that have earned the right to rotate, and it’s really funny because sometimes I’m not with them everyday because I’m with the ‘backers and I’ll look over there and I’ll see the game and I’ll say, ‘Why is he in there?’ Well, because he’s just about as good as the other guy, and that’s kind of a good feeling. Willie’ll be back, and I think the good thing is we’ll have our whole group going into this game. Our whole group is ready to go in this one.”

 

Greg, you’ve talked so passionately the last few weeks about Brady. I know you said you don’t read anything, but you know there’s a lot of speculation about Brady and his future here. Why is he the right guy for this program, and what has he done the last four years that makes you believe that?

“Well, first of all, because the way he put together these players. Graduation rate I guess, they tell me, is the most important thing, yes? Yes, I think it is, isn’t it? We’re at college. We’re not in the NFL. I believe our seniors are 100%. 100% graduation rate. Now, I’m not being sarcastic. I’m being- this is what they told me when I came from the NFL back to college that this is what you’re supposed to be doing, because there’s a lot of ways- you can go out on the street and get some guys that may be a little bit better, maybe. Maybe. And I don’t think you’re going to want that.

“Second thing. I’ve been with a lot of head coaches. This guy here truly, truly takes kids from down here [/motions below podium] to here [/motions above podium]. If they’re in Ann Arbor and you live in Ann Arbor and they’re in Ann Arbor, you’re going to be really excited to see them in Ann Arbor. You’re going to be excited to know that they were Michigan football players, and you’re going to be excited to know say, ‘Yeah, that guy played at Michigan.’ You’re not going to say, ‘Yeah, he played, but wow.’ And that’s what he’s developed.

“The next thing, the thing that- I’ll tell ya, if you don’t believe anything I’ve ever said just look at what’s coming back. I mean, look at what we came in with and look at what’s coming back. My goodness. I mean, I remember Chris Wormley, sitting in his living room when he was a 280 lb. basketball player. Now he’s a 300 lb. man. Willie Henry; it was Pittsburgh or us. Willie Henry’s going to be a top draft choice. I mean, I can go on and on, and these are all the young kids that you say, ‘Why do you get excited about coaching?’ Because these are the young kids that we’ve seen as puppies. We’ve seen them as young little guys that have taken their bumps and bruises, that have taken- all of them. People say, ‘You’re not good enough. You’re not this. You’re not that’ and they come to work every day and they say, ‘We’re going to be good enough. We’re going to be good enough.’ They believe in him as much as we believe in them.

“I’m not up here trying to speak for a head coach, because I’ve been with other guys I wouldn’t say that about. I’d say that about him. I’ve said it before. If you saw what we do in recruiting…when you recruit a kid you’re really his parent, and you’re saying to them, ‘Please give him to me and I promise you, when he’s done I’m going to give him back to you as a great student. He’s going to have his degree, and he’s also going to be a great football player. And you know what? I haven’t seen too many of them that’ve come through here that are a year or two away- you wait and see. You wait and see.

“I mean, think about it. How many guys have been drafted here? When I was here five years ago, I mean, it was seven [or] eight a year. Now, somebody said, ‘Well, you don’t develop ‘em.’ [/scrunches up face] Develop them? You’ll see development. When I talk to these pro people right now and they start saying, ‘Who’s that kid? Who’s that kid?’ Well, these are the guy’s we recruited. These are the young guys. No, you can’t have them yet. We still get them for a couple years. But that’s the difference. That’s the difference.

“When it all comes down to it, the very- why should he be here, you say? Because he’s a winner. He’s won everywhere he’s been! The guy’s a winner! Now what’s the timetable? We win our first year? How’d that happen? Man. I dunno. Something right happened. Now, was it loaded that first year? What, we have two guys drafted? That wasn’t a mirage. That was Brady Hoke who did that. I mean, let’s be really, really honest. That was him who did that. Now, since then we’ve lost some close games. We’ve fought. I don’t think we’ve embarrassed anybody. I think we come out every day as a Michigan football team, and that’s the way it will always be.

“You asked and that’s all I can tell you. I mean, I just- see, I’ve been lucky. I’ve done this a long time. I’ve been with a lot of head coaches. I’ve seen a lot of them. You don’t know how lucky you are here. I’m just telling you that. But, we got to go win. We get to go play a great game. I’m excited about it. Now let’s go do it.”

Comments

umichshea

November 25th, 2014 at 9:30 AM ^

Coach Mattison...I appreciate that you have made our defense competent during the past 4 years.  It hasn't been great...hyperbole of your accomplishments has certainly been high...but you did your job for the most part.  Not many on this staff can say that.

However, I disagree with your comment about not embarrassing anybody. 

Being 12-12 in the past 24 games...embarrassing.

Getting pummeled by Sparty the last two years...embarrassing.

Losing to a mediocre Notre Dame team 31-0...embarrassing.

Losing to two teams that are lucky to be in the B10 (Rutgers & Maryland)...embarrassing.

Barely beating UCONN and Akron...embarrassing.

Flat-out blowing games last year against PSU, Nebraska, and Iowa...embarrassing.

Please enjoy retirement and thank you for your years of service here at the University of Michigan.

 

Mannix

November 25th, 2014 at 9:44 AM ^

"Now, since then we’ve lost some close games. We’ve fought. I don’t think we’ve embarrassed anybody. I think we come out every day as a Michigan football team, and that’s the way it will always be."

No, it won't always be that way.




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dragonchild

November 25th, 2014 at 9:47 AM ^

MGoBlog has been harping that this defense hasn't been able to stop up-tempo mobile QBs, but. . . they're kinda hard to stop, period.  That's why they're all the rage in college football these days, and why MGoBlog is a spread zealot in the first place.  MSU had success stopping all manner of offenses last season but even they had trouble with Ohio State and Ludicrous Speed Indiana; they won because their offense improved dramatically over the course of the season.  And even they are getting exposed as OCs are realizing they were counting on them to not test the safeties (they also lost their best safety to the draft after last season).  Modern offenses are hard to stop yo.

Mattison's been good.  Record, late-game implosions and some head-scratching changes aside, if he kept coaching the defense I'd be OK with it.  However, I'm going to go back to my "Hoke is a technician doing an engineer's job" post and declare that Mattison, Nuss and Hoke are all limited.  We're doing IZ because it's a mature concept.  We're doing 4-3 over with press man because that's what MSU did last year (and it's already being exposed).  They're adopters, not innovators, which means they'll never be better than B+.  This year Michigan was spectacularly unlucky in numerous ways, but in my mind I still can't envison them doing better than 9-3.  And while fans would be happy with that, long-term that's not what Michigan fans accept as a hypothetical, optimistic ceiling.

The last job I quit was for a parts manufacturer that was losing market share because they stuck to mature concepts they knew inside and out. They could guarantee reliability, but for the premium they charged, they couldn't match competitors' performance.  They weren't idiots; they just wanted the world to stand still for them.  Sound familiar?

west2

November 25th, 2014 at 9:46 AM ^

this staff has been so great at recruiting.  Also you have to admire his loyalty and passion for Michigan.  Mattison has been the best part of this staff. 

IncrediblySTIFF

November 25th, 2014 at 9:58 AM ^

and say "no guys you just don't understand."  I know how little it means.

It's all just been sadness around here.  It is sad for me when Michigan loses in football.  Basketball season will be a nice breeze in a dry dessert but seriously.

I think what people want around here is a football factory, which sounds nice, yeah, but these are people here who work very hard. 

dragonchild

November 25th, 2014 at 10:28 AM ^

I don't want a football factory.  I root for Michigan partly because it's still a school.  Whenever anyone suggests we become more like Alabama, I suggest they root for Alabama because they'll give you Alabama.

No, the problem isn't that we're losing; it's that the losses were mostly preventable.  I don't know that we'd have beaten MSU in any shape or form last year, but consider the issues we had against the likes of ND or Rutgers.  Can we honestly say it's because the players were studying too hard?

The lack of QB depth was preventable.  The lack of O-line and RB development was preventable.  The implosion of the secondary was preventable.  They were all very much coaching decisions that we predicted would bite them in the butt, and it DID bite them.  And it was mostly because they kept making the easy decisions when they're being paid to make hard decisions.  It was easier to play an injured Gardner than address the QB issue.  It was easier for Borges to scheme one-week gimmick offenses than develop the O-line.  It was easier to pretend Manning could coach DBs in a new scheme than find another coach.  It was easier to retain Fred Jackson in spite of the screaming evidence that he's been washed up for years.  It was easier to just do what MSU is doing when we didn't have the personnel, coaches or experience.  Hoke did eventually fire Borges but only when it was clear he had no choice.

They say they work hard.  I believe that.  I 100% believe that.  I don't question their effort.  But the most efficient way to waste effort is to avoid making tough decisions.

IncrediblySTIFF

November 25th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^

Lack of OL development, give me a break.  What offensive line are you watching?

Roy Manning convinced Jabrill Peppers to come to Michigan, and you want him fired?

 

Additionally, Brian recently made the argument that football players should be offered classes about football and minimal other requirements, similar to the way a music major takes minimal academic classes and mostly focuses on music.  That is where the football factory comes from.  If you truly root for Michigan because you care about it being a school you should be able to see how that doesn't work.

Preventable losses, yeah, whatever.  If only the execution was there, right?

Danwillhor

November 25th, 2014 at 1:25 PM ^

I won't accept cheating or lowering our moral standards to win to the point of being a football factory. You can have both! It's possible. You just need a coach that is what a school like Michigan deserves. I was once asked if I'd take Saban as our coach and I said "no". I was called a liar. I wouldn't take Saban tomorrow, ten years ago or ever. He's a factory "could give two shits about his guys on a personal level" coach. He's a win & were cool, play like shit and you're dead to me coach.

allintime23

November 25th, 2014 at 10:02 AM ^

I like mattison, he's a been good at times but I can't agree with much he says when it comes to Hoke. Every regime is always on the brink of the huge year they've been working for. These guys have had their shot and it's going backwards. They've made a lot of money and failed to exceed expectations, that's the bottom line. You can not get trounced in all of these rivalry games and look unprepared this many times without admitting, that's what you are.

991GT3

November 25th, 2014 at 11:14 AM ^

in deciding whether one is a good coach (graduation rates), does this mean Beilein is a lousy coach and in trouble?

To those that say his defense are excellent, how many times have we lost games when a defensive stop was needed? Maryland ran the ball down our throats the last four minutes of the game. NW scored in the final seconds and would have tied the game but opted for two points which has a high rate of failure. There have been many other instances of defensive collapses when the game is in doubt.

TennBlue

November 25th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^

"Serviceable" at their worst. They have not been dominant, though. LSU under Miles was able to win for many years with a suffocating defense and minimal offense. Greg's defenses have not been at that level, however, and cannot carry the team by themselves. 

 

As you point out, the number of 3rd and long conversions has been heartbreaking, the inabilty to handle man coverage, not enough pass rush, etc., etc. Those are failures that we could shrug at if we didn't have to stop every single drive to stay competitive in a game, though. They happen to everybody all the time. We only notice them because every one of them matters so much.

 

Coupled with an above-average offense, we would not be discussing a coaching change at the moment.  While the defensive let-downs have been frustrating, it's been good enough that we should have been able to win a lot of games with them.

 

The collapse of the offense has been the real issue, and I can't blame Mattison for being a bit salty about it. If the other side of the ball could have gotten its act together, he'd still have a job after this season.

MI Expat NY

November 25th, 2014 at 10:12 AM ^

Mattison: "All I know is Brady and our staff go in every day and say, ‘I’m going to make you a better player. I’m going to do everything I can to make you a better football player today’ and we do that."

Respectfully disagree, good sir.  

Promote RichRod

November 25th, 2014 at 10:27 AM ^

at the previous coaching staff:

"We win our first year? How’d that happen? Man. I dunno. Something right happened. Now, was it loaded that first year? What, we have two guys drafted? That wasn’t a mirage. That was Brady Hoke who did that. I mean, let’s be really, really honest. That was him who did that."

The mental gymnastics it takes to attribute 2011 solely to Hoke and to completely discount everything since then is completely hilarious.

MI Expat NY

November 25th, 2014 at 11:52 AM ^

Considering how often the offense devolved into "Denard do something" from 2010-12, I think it's pretty clear, even objectively, that Denard was the best player on that team.  And that's not to take anything away from Mike Martin.  But Denard was 2010 Big Ten offensive MVP, two time first-team all Big Ten, 2010 all-american.  He's making it as a professional at a position where he would have been less valuable as a college player.  

Mike Martin was a very good defensive lineman.  He was the best player on the defense.  But he was no Denard Robinson.  

MI Expat NY

November 25th, 2014 at 12:39 PM ^

Rich Rodriguez also had him for all of 2 seasons, only 1 as the starter.  Who is to say Denard wouldn't have gotten there with the zone read in year 3 under the master?  

But even accepting one limitation in his game, doesn't that make everything else he did all the more impressive?  This is a guy who ran for 100 yards against a very stout South Carolina Defense in his first game ever at Running Back.  You're really questioning how good he was?

You seem like you're one of those sad, sad people that were always against the spread because it wasn't "Michigan Football" so much so that your hatred for Rich Rod runs so deep that you can't accept anything good coming out of him or his teams.  

harmon40

November 25th, 2014 at 11:38 AM ^

I just remember what a rush it was in 2011 to see the D take that leap from worst in the country to top 10. Could they be poised to make a leap from "pretty good" to "suffocating" next year? DL & LB quality/depth, plus Peppers et al, all points toward "maybe," right?

Then Isaac at RB, upperclassmen from TE to TE (at last!), Drake Harris hitting the field...optimism for 2015 is defensible.

Maybe Hoke will turn out to be Bump to Harbaugh's Bo, a good guy who assembled a solid roster that only his abrasive, butt-kicking successor could ultimately lead over the top.

It's not wrong to feel a little badly for Bump and his staff, is it? 

The '69 epic win over OSU is rightly attributed mostly to Bo, but he couldn't have done it with a roster full of stiffs. Bump played his own part in that historic victory by having brought the talent to AA which, under Bo, would ultimately slay the monster and take back the kingdom.

Perhaps a year from now we will be able to say that Hoke & Co. played a similar part in an equally historic win, for which Harbaugh will rightly take the lion's share of the credit. In such a happy event Harbaugh would deserve every flower and every word of praise thrown his way. And yet, a grateful tip of the cap to Brady and his guys for having laid the foundation for that moment would not be at all inappropriate.

 

 

 

 

GoBLUinTX

November 25th, 2014 at 8:23 PM ^

Both Canham and Elliot have been very clear on that issue, Elliot resigned.  He just got done beating MSU, then a huge thing, and had an 8-2 season after going 4-6 the previous year.  

After 20 years of coaching, 10 as the HC of Michigan, Elliot told Canham he was tired of coaching.  And he was, evidenced by his never haven taken another coaching job.  Iowa evidently thought he had more to contribute, as an AD, for he served them as AD for 20 years after leaving Michigan.

Amutnal

November 25th, 2014 at 12:40 PM ^

Then why is he payed 800K per year? If the goal is to be a guidance counselor and graduate players, they both should be payed 50 K per year. They are payed 6-7 figures to graduate players AND win. Sorry GMatt, you sound like a complete moron. And if this product is satisfactory to you, please leave along with Hoke.

BlueMan80

November 25th, 2014 at 1:18 PM ^

as a way to set the table for the game.  I've fallen into the pit of not really caring at this point.  I'd like to get back to reading these with great interest and anticipation for The Game.  I'm sorry GMATT is going to be leaving in circumstances other than what he wanted, but the house needs to be cleaned and a fresh start made.