Old Josh Gattis Interview Breaking Down his Offense
I'm not sure if this was ever posted, but I came across this Josh Gattis interview the other day and thought others might enjoy the content.
The interview is from after his first season (2019), but before the start of the 2020 season, so it's a little dated. Still, I think it's relevant because I imagine most of his offensive philosophy remains the same.
It's a little long (32 minutes), but I found it interesting to hear him break down his offense in detail. If nothing else, it's fun to hear a coach talk real football and not dumb it down very much.
Here's the link:
Want a bonus video? Here's Gattis breaking down a random play vs MSU in 2019:
Hope y'all are enjoying your weekend!
Go Blue!
Question: How much of what he describes in the interview actually appeared in the 2020 season?
I think we saw a lot of what he talked about, they just struggled to consistently execute.
When he talked about running advancement, progression, and coverage reads, for example, I think those were all a part of the offense last year, but who knows how good at each concept each inexperienced QB was. Or for that matter, if the QB didn't get good protection, or a receiver couldn't handle a Joe Milton fastball, is that a scheme problem? I personally don't think so.
A lot of stuff went wrong last year. I try to keep things in context. I do think it's reasonable to expect the offense to look significantly improved this coming season. I think their biggest problems were at QB and OL (on offense). Both positions appear to be in better shape at this point.
I'm cautiously optimistic this year's offense will be the best we've seen under Harbaugh.
To your point, the second link in the OP. Positive yards, but Gattis is explaining why the QB made the incorrect read out of the split zone. Had two receivers “oh they’re OPEN” open to the field side if he would have pulled. I can definitely see the potential, but at some point…
Whoops. Same thing posted below
Thanks, Dizzy. Say Hi to Daffy for me.
Is there a time stamp for where he talks about dealing with your head coach meddling in the play calling? I kid, I kid coach Harbaugh.
Despite the solid gain, that one random play vs. MSU was painful to watch because of how bad the read was. Blitheringly wide-open swing pass or reasonably open X receiver but QB not making the right decision. The plays are there to be made with the right decision-maker. I'd rather have that going for us than a cannon arm any day of the week.
I'm hopeful that a 3rd year in the offense McNamara will be able to consistently identify and make that read. The scheme gave Shea a chunk play and he missed it.
I think the “cannon arm” is one of the most overrated attributes in football, especially at the collegiate level.
Completely agree. I think QB is more about understanding your offense and being able to process a defense post snap.
If you get a guy with adequate arm strength, but knows how to get you into the right play, those guys are lethal. Payton Manning, Drew Brees, and the GOAT are easy examples of decent arms attached to brilliant football minds.
Brian Griese in '97 as further evidence
McNamara in 2021 will be further evidence. Book it.
It is absolutely overrated. Was talking to a college coach on Twitter a couple months back about this. It boils down to accuracy and intelligence. If your QB doesn't have those two attributes forget it. Anything else they may possess is a bonus.
Both Tarik and DPJ were wide open. I can definitely see why the receivers could get frustrated with consistently missed reads like this. The only problem is that Mayfield was already driving his guy 5 yards downfield. How far can they block downfield on a pass without getting a flag?
The time for big talk has passed. The offense needs to perform.
Offensive Philosophy: I noticed the team has a lot of walk-ons and young players that will either never see the field or at least not soon. Is it crazy to think that they could create an o-unit to practice and run exclusively the veer? They could sprinkle that in like 5-10% of the game. That would be hard to prepare for. I mean idk, I never played football at that level, but is that possible?
He always sounds competent and logical in his interviews. The results on the field are another story. Personally I'm done trying to decipher that which can't be deciphered...who is responsible for the play calling, lack of offensive production, lack of offensive identity, etc. Is it JH? Is it Gattis? Was it Warriner? Was it too many voices that kept them from having any cohesion? I don't know and don't care.
I want to see results or I want to move forward from this staff. This year needs a big improvement in all those areas. I don't care so much what the record is, but I want to see a cohesive identity that builds on good games and continues it to subsequent games and where guys that had good production get fed the ball again. I'm sick of seeing a good day from a RB or a great catch from a WR or a really good game plan one game only to have another RB rotate in or not go back to that WR, or a completely different game plan the next week. This needs to change IMO if this staff is going to get another year in 2022.
To your first paragraph, who knows. For me, it always falls on the HC. He's the one who should be noticing that something is not working and fix it.
To your second paragraph, I FULLY disagree with not caring about what the record is and only caring about seeing a "cohesive identity." You can be a really shitty MAC team that has a cohesive identity- they just suck. Their record OR big wins should determine the future of this coaching staff. I actually would stomach a 9-3 if they at least took down OSU. But, if they go 9-3 or 8-4 by simply beating the average teams they are supposed to and continue to get crushed by OSU- it's time to move on.
They arent going 9-3. They cant to be honest. Each position group would need a huge improvement to become just solid (right behind OSU). Our dline is a mess and our offensive coaching is a mess. We have 4 losses 4 50/50 and 4 should wins. 6-6 seems about as good as it gets. We should've cut ties instead of trying to save our way to success. Our defensive coaches and Hart may be really damn good hires but the rest is a tire fire.
To be fair, Harbaugh spent 2015 - 2018 running a Stanford like pro-style offense. After it became clear he needed to be able to win shootouts, he hired a Joe Moorhead spread disciple and started a dramatic change in roster composition to fit the new philosophy. We're entering year three of that offense, but really Gattis has only had one full year, and one weird shortened COVID year. To me, the jury is still out on what he is as an offensive coordinator, but I like his potential.
To dig a little deeper, Gattis spent the first part of his first full year trying to run his offense, but all the RPOs and post-snap reads were too much for Shea (see the MSU film above, and Brian's constant "pull the damn ball" takes in the UFRs). On top of that, if I recall correctly, the line wasn't great at run blocking his base running plays, which typicality work in tandem with his RPO concepts. So by the end of 2019 we were back to running a lot of Ed Warinner/Harbaugh staples and less RPO concepts, because we were better at them.
In my opinion, I think last year was another step towards "Speed in Space" but there were still some quality Manball players that they wanted to keep involved. For example, when you have Ben Mason, you find ways to use fullbacks.
In his interview above, Gattis describes his offense as a "pro-spread" a couple times. I think this year we start to feel a little more spread and a little less pro. I'm hopeful that leads to more points.
Everyone wants to win, but transition takes time and even if things start to improve rapidly, the reality is Ohio State is really, really, good and beating them is the key to taking the next step as a program. It's going to take a deep and experienced team and I believe Michigan's best bet is program continuity and development. Firing Harbaugh or Gattis will only set everything back 3 to 5 years while players learn new schemes and try to master a new system. The defense has just started that journey. Hopefully the offense can carry them this year while they learn.
We've got some quality coaches and talented players. I'm excited to support them and see what they can achieve.
Cheers and Go Blue!
So look, I appreciate all the insight, I really do.
But the transition does not take 7 years, sorry. Especially at a program like Michigan AND a coach who is supposedly elite.
This is it. Either you beat OSU or get to the BTCG this season, or its time to go.
Im in agreement on Gattis needing time to transition his O scheme. I would expect him to show a good progress this year as the QB situation won't be a dumpster fire.
Also, Warinner's personality was abrasive and cohesion was an issue with the offense. The OL will be the first big question we need answered. Hopefully, by mid season we can watch some fun football.
"Needing time?" He is about to pass Rich Rod in time?? You know the guy that was handed a dead roster.
I dont know who has a bigger delusional take on Gattis our fanbase or Harbaugh. What gives with the 3 mulligans for Gattis? Oh well come November Im guessing nobody will be left on the train. Im guessing 28 points per game? Giving up about 34?
A new offensive install followed by no spring ball in a pandemic year with fewer games gives him a years extension IMO. Lets see how a good healthy QB with good vision, instincts and an accurate arm runs the RPOs.
New offensive install in year 2?
Mid April practices really?
Say we had another 6 games then what? Were we on an uptrend? The things we excuse I just can understand.
We had two good healthy QBs last year and pissed them away along with our best freshman RB we have had since Hart. Gattis is horrible but lets kick it down the road another year maybe his second six games of this year will be where the magic lies. Because if we go 2-4 to start that is understandable.
Gattis talks good. We already knew that. But honestly, I found that interview terrifying and illuminating in a really bad way. I hope I just got the wrong idea.
Everything is ridiculously complicated. Nothing is simplified. By his own admission he "doesn't like to run a couple base plays and get really good at them." He wants to run a million plays. With a million concepts. And a millions reads. From all the fronts. All the options. AND he wants to change it up every week based on the opponent.
No wonder why they struggle to be consistent and everything seems so disjointed from week to week and play to play. How about that part about the game plan versus the playbook? They practice the plays in the game plan all week but he might call something else from the "playbook" and expect them to remember it from a previous week or maybe spring practice. That runs contrary to every thing I've heard from other coaches. The players are expected to be able to run all of the plays from all of the formations with all of the options at any given time?
What the hell was the list of how he classifies places on the field and down and distances? Just totally insane levels of totally unnecessary complexity.
When he started talking about how he's an OL guy and he likes to get involved in the OL. I was like. How about you get good at your job before you start doing other jobs. My main observation from week to week is that Gattis is in over head and learning on the job. Stick to your job buddy. Probably also explains why Warinner is gone.
Just listening to him list all the kinds of plays and concepts was exhausting and bewildering. Yeah. Maybe veteran Tom Brady can do that but not even college Tom Brady could handle that. Gattis is on his third starting QB. The previous QBs have looked pretty bad a lot of the time. You can't keep saying about every QB that he missed a read or a throw. If you meet one asshole. They're an asshole. If everyone you meet is an asshole. You're the asshole.
Gattis is failing to meet his own stated priorities. He listed three things that were important--avoiding negative plays, protecting the ball, and getting explosive plays. I guess he's doing fine with the first two but the third is a total failure. He talks about not wanting to "walk the ball into the endzone." But he's not doing such a good job at that either.
Clearly, I am reading too much into one interview. But this guy hasn't even really put together 2 good halves against a good team and already has a pretty good list of WTF games. No more videos of missed reads. If they can't make the reads then maybe it is his fault.
Give him more time.
Covid year.
Lingering QB injuries.
Harbaugh is in the way.
Your asshole statement is perfectly on the nose. Superb coordinators dont need 36 months to get to where they need to be.
This. All the excuses have run dry (and our fan base can generate like pro’s). End game is beating osu and and we’re no closer to doing so. None. 7 years, mass exodus of players and coaches, on and on. It’s fucking exhausting. Dear God please let this be his last season
Imafreak1,
Spot on take. A young coach who wants to do it all, all the time, at max speed, without showing enough competence at the basics.
Now Harbaugh is taking that approach and putting it on defense as well. A young, first time coordinator to run about as complex a defense as exists, relative to the transition from Brown and the players available to run it. MacDonald seems to be everything Gattis is, except on defense and even less experienced in his role.
on the other hand you have Ohio St. mastering Duo and a few passing concepts on offense and playing a defense that’s pretty straight forward. Wisconsin and PSU and probably others have enjoyed relative success with stable fundamentals of a consistent approach.
And this ALL starts at the top. This starts with the guy that runs the program that SHOULD be recognizing that this offense is a mess. It has no identity. It's some weird amalgamation of modern and old school that seems to be stuck in reverse.