Maryland - a new rival? Gattis questions?
There seems to be a little back and forth between Maryland Head Coach Mike Locksley and our Josh Gattis concerning playcalling. Locksley apparently took umbrage to Gattis giving himself some credit for playcall selection and game planning while both were running the nation's 3rd ranked offense at Alabama last season.
Locksley took a shot at Gattis' inexperience (first time) as a playcaller. Two observations, first I think this adds a little intrigue to our annual battle with Maryland. For Gattis, it will be personal. A former colleague (friend?) who you shunned to join a team in the same conference, is questioning your competence. Does it get ugly this November? Michigan will be the better team, but does Gattis call off the dogs of war at any point during the game?
More importantly, though, is there any consternation among us regarding Gattis as a first time playcaller? We should be able to out-talent our first 2 opponents, but Wisconsin plays good defense, and he'll have to have a playcalling rhythm developed by then. Is two games enough to get a good feel? I'm confident in Gattis. When I hear him with the press, he has a grasp on things, and seems quite confident. I'll be a tad nervous during close games, but I'm optimistic. Plus, he's got 2 very experienced playcallers on staff with him in Warriner and Head Coach Jim Harbaugh.
August 11th, 2019 at 9:43 AM ^
August 11th, 2019 at 10:12 AM ^
Or sometimes, just a Rutger
August 11th, 2019 at 11:14 AM ^
Sometimes it takes years, sometimes it just takes a Chris Draper broken jaw.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:54 AM ^
No they don't. conFLiCT can happen at any moment. A rivalry is a rivalry...as long as there is a trophy to be won at the end.
August 11th, 2019 at 9:45 AM ^
It’s natural for a new coach to come in and pick a fight with a rival to build excitement. With that said, Locksley can eat shit.
August 11th, 2019 at 9:47 AM ^
All this does is make Locksley look like a petulant bitch along the lines of mork dantini
August 11th, 2019 at 9:51 AM ^
Mike Locksley?
You mean 3-31 head coaching record Mike Locksley?
Bring him on.
August 11th, 2019 at 1:50 PM ^
I still can't believe Maryland hired a guy with a 3-31 record. Do they really think he's going to replicate the success that Bama had when he was there? This is even worse than the Lions hiring Patricia and expecting good things.
August 11th, 2019 at 2:22 PM ^
I didn't think 3-31 was true. But I looked it up. And it's true. I thought only guys with great records make it to being hired as a head coach. It would with me if I was hiring someone to be head coach.
August 11th, 2019 at 2:39 PM ^
That is hard to believe you can have record that bad with over 30 games coached.. Chris Ash has a better record for crying out loud.
August 11th, 2019 at 5:07 PM ^
Gary Moeller was 6-24 as a head coach before we hired him as our HC in 1990.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:49 AM ^
Gary had a lot more to work with.
August 12th, 2019 at 3:18 PM ^
But Maryland football brings in top talent!
"straight face"
August 11th, 2019 at 9:51 AM ^
First, yes, I am mildly concerned about Gattis as a play caller. Not that I don't think he can do it and excel. But the fact he's never done it before is a thing. He could very well suck at it. We have no idea. I'm naturally more optimistic than that, but yeah.
As for Locksley, I just have to laugh. Seems like a terrible idea. We just saw Chris Ash do this. Guy, don't pick a fight with the heavyweight in your own division. The last thing you want is Michigan showing up motivated. This is how 78-0 happens. Maryland should be good enough to avoid something like that, but as I said in the Gattis presser thread, I'm taking the Over on 11/2. Definitely gonna see effort to score some unnecessary TDs either way.
August 11th, 2019 at 11:19 AM ^
Gattis really cant be any worse than Harbaugh and Pep playcalling so we should see an improvement no matter what
Literally all he has to do is not run it up the middle 50 times a game like Harbaugh loves to do
August 11th, 2019 at 11:47 AM ^
I agree. Pep wasn’t great, and the WRs weren’t well coached when they were being overseen by the GA. Coach Jim improved that group a lot in his one season here.
Gattis will make sure the WRs continue to be coached up on how to get separation and we have two good QBs. Even if Gattis isn’t immediately great, things will improve pretty dramatically.
August 11th, 2019 at 9:53 AM ^
Locksley has a pretty long record of being an asshole.
August 11th, 2019 at 9:59 AM ^
I think Michigan will always 'run up the score' when they have the chance as long as Jim Harbaugh is here. IU is more of a rival than Maryland will ever be.
August 11th, 2019 at 12:53 PM ^
I think this is very wrong - as long as Maryland stays in the B1G. They are in a very good position for recruiting if they can keep the local talent. They are the only major recruiting school in a state that turns out decent talent (I don't count Navy here since their recruiting model isn't typical). They can also be considered the local school for DC.Then there is Virginia where they compete directly with just UVA and VA Tech. I expect MSU to decline severely in the near future and Maryland to rise. If a divisional opponent becomes a national powerhouse they will become a rival.
August 11th, 2019 at 12:59 PM ^
Yes, Maryland is in a recruiting hotbed and could become a very good program in the East, I don't see them getting there anytime soon (like the next decade). But to say they're a potential rival because Locksley and Gattis worked together and took a shot at Gattis (as the OP is implying and what I was responding to) is ridiculous.
No, MSU isn't as good as they once were but they're still and always will be a rival. PSU has been pretty good lately, but I don't see them as a rival. So not sure why Maryland would become a rival because they became (and that's a big IF) another power team in the B1G East.
Rivalries are special, longstanding things. And, for me anyway, they lose a lot of meaning if you have too many of them. OSU, MSU and Minny in conference and ND out of it is plenty of rivals.
Maybe if Maryland can sustain and level of success and battle Michigan year in/out for for more than a couple years, sure they could be potentially considered a rival. But we're a long way off before I am willing to entertain the idea of another school becoming our rival.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:01 AM ^
It's funny that Locksley is already showing his ass because Gattis turned him down in favor of Michigan. His problem was apparent in his first HC gig - anger, and the inability to control it. And we're already seeing it, again. He is who he's been - a blowhard who's not very good at being the guy.
Gattis, I'm sure, had plenty of input into play calling at PSU and Alabama. And that would include setting the game plan, play setups, tempo decisions, all of it... With him being backstopped by Warriner and Harbaugh, I'm not concerned at all. There is zero percent chance Gattis will be worried about getting hung out to dry, so he doesn't have that hanging over his head. I suspect that was a concern with Saban, because Saban is a Mack Dintanio level asshole.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:17 AM ^
Actually, Saban is not an AHole. He is all business and demands much from his assistants who are paid well. Saban also does a ton of work and donates lots of money for folks around Tuscaloosa. I personally like Saban much more than Myer who just allowed stuff to go on over and over in his program.
August 11th, 2019 at 11:38 AM ^
Of course satan ran a very clean program at 'bama no doubt, right???
August 11th, 2019 at 7:58 PM ^
Probably as clean as any of the major SEC powers, and, now, probably cleaner than any of them. He doesn't need to cheat any more, so why would he?
August 11th, 2019 at 12:56 PM ^
Tons of assholes are all business. And just as many donate money to lots of causes. Helps to cover their assholery.
August 11th, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^
What evidence do you have about Locksley having an anger problem? I'm not saying he doesn't, but it's hard to read into comments that would be lauded if he was your snubbed head coach. Also, 3-31 mostly at New Mexico. Hope it continues, but not reading too much into that yet.
August 13th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
New Mexico plays a lot of New Mexico-ish teams. Certainly more that 3 out of 34 games. Sure they had no chance in 1/3 of those games but the other 20? I think a 10% winning percentage is a big indicator of what he will generally be like as a coach.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:12 AM ^
Michigan by 40
August 11th, 2019 at 10:12 AM ^
Michigan by 40
August 11th, 2019 at 10:13 AM ^
Gattis will be fine calling plays. He played defense in the secondary and the better OC’s are the ones who played and understand defense. Also, he was around Nick Saban as much as Locksley and Saban wanted to retain him. Locksley is a loose cannon and even punched an assistant coach at New Mexico. I doubt they are rivals and I doubt Maryland becomes a rival.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:39 AM ^
Hey man, I just moved to Greenville SC. Is that the area of SC you live in? I am looking for any Michigan presence in Greenville- watch parties etc, but can’t find anything online. Thanks
August 11th, 2019 at 11:25 AM ^
I live in Asheville.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:31 AM ^
User name checks out
August 11th, 2019 at 10:34 AM ^
Would that replace our rivalry with Illinois?
August 11th, 2019 at 10:34 AM ^
We can have a little feud.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
You're an obnoxious troll. A persistent one as well. Downvote this troll - he's point whoring in old threads posing as umbig11.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:57 AM ^
How does this guy have 134 pts? I assume that won't last long.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:57 AM ^
He has an alt account and posts in old threads c.2008 and upvotes himself. Check for yourself.
https://mgoblog.com/users/umbigi1
August 11th, 2019 at 10:37 AM ^
The Maryland game will be a blowout. Coaching aside, the talent gap is way too wide and this team is primed for this year.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:46 AM ^
I think Gattis will be fine, although I do hope he just shuts up about it and lets his work do that talking for him. But, it really just seems like sour grapes Locksley...either that or he's just a prick.
August 11th, 2019 at 11:02 AM ^
Shuts up about it? Why? He was asked a question. Did you watch the interview?
He didn't go out of his way nor did he say anything disparaging.
Shuts up about it makes it sound like he brought it up and won't stop talking about it. He laughed it off and was a totally pretty polite in his response. But you would've had to watch it rather than reading the transcript.
Gattis and Brown are both interviews that have to be watched...especially Brown. Otherwise you only get 60% of what he's actually saying.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:53 AM ^
No, I only read the article. Maybe I'll have to go back and watch the interview, but I feel like he can always just say something like "Mike is a great play caller and I learned a lot from him. I'm excited about the opportunity to show what I can do and am confident in my ability." That leaves nothing to scrutinize. People don't need to know specifics on how Bama game planned and called plays in game nor does Gattis have to prove himself to reporters.
August 11th, 2019 at 1:47 PM ^
This begins and ends with Locksley imo. He got pissed at B1G media days at the multiple questions re: Gattis - much like Harbaugh with all the Urban Meyer questions.
Unlike Harbaugh, he lost his cool and spat out the original jab about Locksley watching him call the offense. Gattis responds/rebuts the comments a bit (when he was asked about them) and Locksley cannot just let this lie.
Seems to say more about Locksley as a leader and coach than anything else.
PS - To others in the thread...All signs point to the fact that Saban did want Gattis to stay BUT no as OC. == I am pretty sure I read somewhere (somewhere reputable) that he wanted to bring in someone new to actual call plays for this season.
August 12th, 2019 at 10:57 AM ^
Seems to say more about Locksley as a leader and coach than anything else.
I agree, which is why I said it really just seems like sour grapes Locksley...either that or he's just a prick. My hope however is that Gattis just takes the high road and lets it go.
August 11th, 2019 at 11:12 AM ^
Why a spoon, cousin? Why not an axe?
August 11th, 2019 at 1:00 PM ^
Because it will HURT MORE...!
August 11th, 2019 at 1:07 PM ^
Because it's dull, you twit, it'll hurt more.
August 12th, 2019 at 7:18 AM ^
If he really wanted to use something dull to increase the pain, he could have just used Kevin Costner's performance in that movie...any movie, actually.
August 11th, 2019 at 10:55 AM ^
Nick Saban wanted to keep Gattis enough said.