100% wtf just happened

Michigan fans don't have to be told how frustrating it is when a top assistant leaves for a rival. I mean, when this much hate's involved, you'd think there'd be something like loyalty, right? But like they said when Greg Mattison and Al Washington left Ann Arbor for the formerly perennial Big Ten champs, when you can't beat 'em…

BREAKING: #Michigan to hire Ohio State RB coach Tony Alford to replace Mike Hart. #GoBlue (STORY) https://t.co/bJ6fhb6odf pic.twitter.com/bDMqtG8dGi

— Sam Webb (@SamWebb77) March 13, 2024

Doubtless this is the funniest thing that could have resulted from Mike Hart's departure. Alford was a staple at OSU for almost a decade. He was the highest paid running backs coach in the Big Ten, grew up (mostly) in Ohio as the son of a Buckeye alum, played for Urban Meyer in college, and was reportedly a long associate of Ryan Day before Day joined Alford at OSU in 2017.

So...why is he doing this (other than going from the Big Ten's #2 team to the defending national champs?) Well, everyone's speculating. Sam Webb reports the money won't be significantly different($). Day's program was two days into its 2024 spring practices, their first under new OC Chip Kelly, who presumably has different ideas about running on 3rd & 2. 11W notes Alford's last contract, like Hart's, expired after last season. While it's common for assistants to be at-will employees in college football, Sherrone Moore was likely able to offer a lot more stability on his new staff. Alejandro Zuniga adds that Alford has head coaching aspirations, and that Michigan's been a better launching pad for that sort of thing lately.

Moore also offered an opportunity to be one of two guys on the staff who are older than I am. Alford moved to Colorado in high school, played his college ball for Urban at Colorado State in the early '90s, and got his coaching start in high schools before rapidly moving up as a running backs coach for Mount Union, Kent State, Iowa State, Washington, Louisville (leaving after 2008 so no overlap with 2009-'11 GA Sherrone Moore), and Notre Dame, where Alford coached a year under Charlie Weiss. Alford was the only staff member retained by Brian Kelly, who made him a receivers coach, then the recruiting coordinator through 2014, when Urban Meyer hired Alford to replace Stan Drayton. There, Alford caught the tail end of Ezekiel Elliott, coached the entire career of JK Dobbins, was the architect of the Treyveon Henderson/Chip Trayanum/Miyan Williams/Dallan Hayden/Evan Pryor backfield, and recently recruited Ole Miss star Quinshon Judkins (and onetime Jay Harbaugh who-dat target) out of the portal.

Even without the rivalry aspect Alford would be a big hire from a recruiting standpoint. Ohio State is a good platform for this, but Alford has been one of the best recruiters in the nation. In addition to backs like TreVeyon Henderson and JK Dobbins, in his time with OSU and Notre Dame Alford served as primary (via 247) for OSU guys like George Fitzpatrick and Tyreke Smith, and ND's Louis Nix. That list shows strong connections across Texas, Florida, and especially Ohio. That last is an important consideration given Michigan lost Steve Clinkscale to the NFL this offseason. Alford also famously convinced Mike Weber to stick with OSU after Drayton left the day after Signing Day.

A week ago Michigan fans were wrapping their heads around the idea of Josh Gattis as Michigan’s next head coach (or telling lies to prevent it). While Jim Harbaugh was interviewing for NFL jobs, however, his staff couldn’t be expected to sit around waiting to see if they’d get his. Evidently, Josh Gattis connected with Mario Cristobal, and Bruce Feldman now reports that Michigan’s Broyles Award-winning offensive coordinator is leaving for Miami.

BREAKING: Michigan OC Josh Gattis is accepting the Miami’s offensive coordinator job, per source. The 38-year-old Gattis who helped the Wolverines to the Big Ten title in 2021, won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant coach. Big addition for the Canes.

— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) February 6, 2022

That’s a blow. Gattis was the blueprint for the youth takeover on Harbaugh’s staff, and a leader in the cultural turnaround toward positivity that fueled their run to a win over Ohio State, a Big Ten Championship, and the program’s first-ever playoff appearance. Gattis also built an incredible, and incredibly fast, young receiving room, with Ronnie Bell, Cornelius Johnson, Mike Sainristil, AJ Henning, Roman Wilson, and Andrel Anthony set to form one of the deepest and speediest groups in Michigan history.

On the other hand, Michigan was already preparing for life beyond Gattis, who just three years into becoming an offensive coordinator in his own right was a top candidate for several open Power 5 jobs this offseason, and almost certainly would have been again in a year. Keeping him in Ann Arbor was likely going to take an Associate Head Coach designation, perhaps with a succession plan.

His choosing to leave to be the OC of another school is what sticks, and therefore I look forward to seeing the details of his Miami contract. How much money he receives, what title he gets, and most of all whether any other assistants leave could swing perceptions of how much Gattis was drawn to Miami or repelled by Ann Arbor. Michigan was set to have a breakout offense next year, with a battle between two excellent quarterback options, that receiver room, a pair of star running backs, three parts of an excellent offensive line, and two great TEs returning. Unless the money is considerably higher, it would have seemed that Michigan was a better stepping stone than the rebuilding Canes to Gattis’s future goals, and that those goals were already very close.

It’s hard, then, not to certain elements of the fanbase and the flow of false rumors as contributing factors. Harbaugh too is rightfully going to be criticized, since by all accounts he did a terrible job keeping his assistants informed of his plans, a breach of trust that’s more relevant now that he’s going to have to get them to work for him again. It also didn’t help that Michigan fans often wondered aloud if it was Harbaugh running Gattis’s offense, or if Ed Warinner was secretly teaching them how to run the ball, claims that always had more than hint of that old “Martelli is secretly running Juwan’s program” flavor of bullshit. However Cristobal is an offensive guy as well, and the Hurricane fanbase isn’t going to be any better than Michigan’s, so it’s not like that situation, at least, is changing.

Co-offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore, another young assistant who has moved up the ranks in the program, could assume the role himself, or, since the O-Line is basically a coordinator position itself, share it with another. Most expect that to be Matt Weiss, who as of last Thursday was expected to be following Harbaugh to the Vikings. There's also speculation that they'll be moving Bellamy to receivers to open up space on the defensive staff. They also have Mike Hart. I’ve confirmed from several who would know that the report Hart was ahead of Gattis in the Harbaugh replacement sweepstakes was a complete fabrication, but Hart had nothing to do with that, and is still regarded as future head coach material inside the building. Harbaugh will probably first look around at outside options. But he should probably look to shoring up the rest of his staff first.

Formation/Nomenclature Notes: OSU would line up their TE as a deep H-back which I called “F” so this is “Pistol F Wk,” meaning the slot receiver (H), is opposite the side the TE is on.

Substitution Notes: Barrett came in for Ross on a few passing downs, probably to get a little more speed out there. Snap counts.

Lexicon Note: I also started tracking “WRDIS,” which stands for Wide Receivers Doing Insane Shit, because OSU’s three dudes were making incredible plays against coverage that would have beaten anything less. This is an acronym, pronounced like “whirr diss,” because I had to break it out so many times that it was cumbersome to read it as an initialism. Hopefully it becomes a thing in offensive UFRs as BROYLES WINNER JOSH GATTIS’s wards get to the part of their careers where they can grow full beards. For now it’s an OSU receiver thing with enough exasperation in it that you’re forgiven if you start pronouncing the ‘h’ sound with the ‘w’.

[After THE JUMP: Domination punctuated by many opportunities to practice saying “WRDIS” with an ‘h’.]