Official: Mattison to DC for Citrus Bowl

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Harbaugh says Greg Mattison will coordinator the defense for the bowl game

— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) December 6, 2015

Harbaugh asked if Chris Partridge could earn a full-time position as linebackers coach: "It's very possible."

— Matt Pargoff (@MaizeBlueNews) December 6, 2015
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EGD

December 6th, 2015 at 10:10 PM ^

Stupid? Mattison is an awesome coach and an accomplished DC. He might not be as exciting a hire as some of the hotshot young candidates, but he knows what he's doing and can get the job done. Suggesting that it would be "stupid" to give him the job is beyond ignorant.

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Wolfman

December 6th, 2015 at 10:19 PM ^

because doing so would be well............stupid. Good enough to coodinate under Bo, good enough to coordinate under Holtz. Good enough to coordinate under Harbaugh, the other and not good enough to coordinate against the weakest offense in D1, P5? Cumoooooooon Man

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wahooverine

December 6th, 2015 at 11:45 PM ^

Yeah I'm struggling to see the logic behind that statement.  Why exactly would would it be stupid?  It's fair to prefer some new blood over him (as I do), but it's certainly not stupid to retain him.  All he did was coordinate top 10 defensive units under Hoke with less talented rosters and helped recruit many of the key players currently on the roster.  He's a widely respected defensive coordinator in both college and the NFL.  

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NorcalBlue

December 6th, 2015 at 11:04 PM ^

Didn't Mattison take our D from 107th to 30th in the nation the moment he got here?

That guy has been rock solid since the day he joined this program.  Amazes me the disrespekt he gets on this board at times.  It speaks volumes that Mattison was the only assistant JH kept when he arrived. Jim and John both know how ligit Gmat is.

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The Mad Hatter

December 6th, 2015 at 11:44 PM ^

And is in the Hall of Fame, and yet some people on this board shit all over him too. Mattison is a great, and loyal, coach. We've been lucky to have him on staff. If Harbaugh wants to make him DC again until he retires or we find the perfect replacement I'd be more than fine with it. After Durkin I think Harbaugh might be looking for coaches that will stick around for at least a few years.

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CoachBP6

December 7th, 2015 at 8:30 AM ^

Sure he fixed the defense, but his scheme sucks. Can't tell you how many times teams converted on 3rd&4 - 3rd&10 against his soft coverage schemes where he had CB's playing 8-10 yards off the LOS. Also is terrible vs spread teams, and allowed guys like Nova to throw for 400 yards bc of his "bend but don't break" bullshit.

Yes the Harbaugh's kept him on the staff initially in Baltimore, until they realized he wasn't that great. Jim also demoted Mattison, but valued him as a POSITION coach not DC. If he thought GMatt was so good he wouldn't of grabbed a guy that was looking to be a HC as soon as possible.

I just think that being a DC entails a lot of work and I don't believe that Greg Mattison is good enough anymore to be a top notch DC. This team needs a strong, young DC with great recruiting ability.



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Lovebluebuds

December 6th, 2015 at 10:24 PM ^

Mattison did an awesome job as DC, top 10 defense, he's an above average recruiter, NFL experience. The corners we have now are the same corners we had with mattison. Durkin didn't do a miraculous turn around on the DB's, that would be the rockstar coaching staff Harbaugh has put together. Then people talk like Mattison doesn't know how to run press coverage. He doesn't want to run a bend but don't brake defense. He had to accommodate for the lack of talent that RR left on D. He's been around long enough he can run any style D you want, I'm sure of it. One thing I do like about the thought of Mattison being DC is he won't be leaving for a HC gig somewhere. All that being said I'm not sure what to think about who gets the DC job. That's why I'm glad Harbaugh is the one deciding.

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NRK

December 6th, 2015 at 10:41 PM ^

Will be curious to see if Mattison brings some blitzes. My major complaint during his run under Hoke was too many 4-man pressures. Current defense brought pressure more consistently it seemed.

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micheal honcho

December 7th, 2015 at 12:00 AM ^

I think folks here are unfairly judging the coaching abilities of GMatt. He coached perhaps the most dominate D in the NFL, has a long proven record as a DC under many great coaches including Urban. I thought for the past 3 yrs under Hoke he was both under talented and inexperienced as far as personnel yet his D's never came out and shit the bed like oh say Casteel does every week. Usually it was only after our miserable offense continued to stall and put his D in bad spots with no breathers that we would crack. I'll take GMatt for the full time DC without batting an eye



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BluByYou

December 7th, 2015 at 9:42 AM ^

While he's certainly competent, it's clear he is near retirement and would have retired from the game if JH didn't keep him on-would hurt recruiting because recruits would expect a new DC after a year or two.  We need a younger guy who will provide stability to the D.

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JamieH

December 7th, 2015 at 2:56 AM ^

didn't want him as DC because he wasn't "his" guy.  He might feel differently after a full year of coaching with him.  The strength of our D was the D-line this year (until injuries really hurt us), and that was Mattison's unit. 

Mattison is a very good D-Coordinator.  Yeah, he isn't perfect, but almost no one is these days with the way offensive football is played. 

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ABOUBENADHEM

December 7th, 2015 at 4:11 AM ^

given his defensive background, particularly with linebackers, ties to the Harbaughs and UM, and the fact that things are eerily silent about what Hoke is up to next?

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befuggled

December 7th, 2015 at 10:42 AM ^

From Hoke's perspective, this is a step down and a bitter reminder of his dream job gone bad.

From Harbaugh's perspective, bringing in the previous head coach so soon is likely to lead to problems. Remember, Hoke just got fired. Why take the risk that Hoke doesn't get along with the new coaching staff? Why take the risk that Hoke is still bitter about being fired? Why take the risk that Hoke undermines his authority (consciously or not)? There's really no upside for Harbaugh to hire Hoke.

Also, Hoke hasn't been a DC at the college level (per Wikipedia he was for two years at an Indiana high school in the early eighties--link).

Mattison is a different story; he doesn't have his ego invested in the DC position the way Hoke did in the head coach position and is more interested in staying close to his family in Ann Arbor.

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