7 — Friday, April 3, 2020
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
With vision in place, Gattis’s offense ready for next step in 2020
At this time last year, Josh
Gattis fielded questions for
the first time since joining
the Michigan football team
two months earlier.
As
the
Wolverines’
newly-minted
offensive
coordinator leaned on a glass
timeline of the program’s
history
at
the
Towsley
Museum, he prepared to
speak to reporters about
modernizing
Michigan’s
traditional offense.
But
before
unveiling
his plans to revamp the
Wolverines’
system,
Gattis told of a different
assignment.
After
luring Gattis away from
his
previous
role
as
a
co-offensive
coordinator
and wide receivers coach
at
Alabama
in
January
2019, Michigan coach Jim
Harbaugh brought him on a
two-week road trip.
“That (trip) was really
valuable,” Gattis said in
March 2019. “That really
developed our relationship.
... It was just two guys in
a rental car going across
the country to see recruits.
In that time, we were just
sitting back in the car,
joking, and it really enabled
us to develop a friendship
and really gave us a chance
to get to know who we
are
from
a
personality
standpoint.”
More
importantly,
it
was during that trip when
Harbaugh handed Gattis
the
keys
to
Michigan’s
offense,
relinquishing
control
to
a
full-time
offensive play-caller for the
first time since returning to
Ann Arbor in 2015.
Even with a clear vision
in
place,
Gattis’s
first
season calling the shots
was anything but a smooth
go-around.
There
were
kinks to work through and
an identity to find, and
Gattis needed to experience
the ups and downs to figure
them out.
After it took his unit 43
minutes to score in a three-
possession blowout loss at
Wisconsin, he moved down
from the coaches box to the
sideline the next week. For
him, calling the shots from
there felt more natural than
watching through a glass
panel overhead.
But by now, that learning
curve is in the rearview
mirror. And coming off a
season in which Michigan
finished seventh in the Big
Ten in total offense, there’s
reason to believe the 2020
Wolverines can take a step
forward in that department.
With a system now firmly in
place, the roster has taken
upward of a year’s worth of
reps and the focus on the
recruiting trail has shifted
toward bringing in speedy
players that fit Michigan’s
new mold, such as incoming
freshman
receiver
A.J.
Henning.
And even while learning
new
dimensions
of
the
offense on the fly a season
ago, the Wolverines showed
flashes. In the four games
leading up to Thanksgiving,
Michigan
averaged
41.5
points and over 400 yards
of total offense in blowout
wins over Notre Dame,
Maryland, Michigan State
and Indiana.
Now that Gattis has a
feel for play-calling, he’s
more equipped to ensure
his weapons are optimized.
Proof of that lies in the
evolution of how Gattis
used pieces like sophomore
receiver
Giles
Jackson,
whose
progression
from
kick returner to downfield
threat
unlocked
a
new
dimension of the offense.
By November, Gattis had
designed jet sweeps and
wheel routes specifically
for
Jackson’s
open-field
speed.
This fall, Gattis will have
a
speedster
in
Jackson,
vertical threat in senior
wideout Nico Collins and
junior slot receiver Ronnie
Bell at his disposal to break
defenses down in different
ways. In the backfield, he’ll
look to maximize two proven
returners
in
sophomore
Zach
Charbonnet
and
redshirt sophomore Hassan
Haskins, while mixing in
senior Chris Evans’s pass-
catching ability.
The
Wolverines
have
not yet named a starting
quarterback for 2020, and
with all spring practices
canceled due to the COVID-
19 outbreak, it’ll be a long
time before they do. But
redshirt
junior
Dylan
McCaffrey
and
redshirt
sophomore
Joe
Milton
will both be duking it out
for the right to lead a unit
that’s more than capable of
breaking through.
At the center of it all lies
the man with the keys.
DANIEL DASH
Daily Sports Writer
MILES MACKLIN/Daily
Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis will be in his second year at Michigan in 2020 after an up-and-down 2019.
Breaking down Michigan football’s 2021 recruiting class
Sports are on hold for
the foreseeable future. The
NCAA has established a
recruiting
dead
period,
banning both campus visits
for recruits and in-home or
school visits for coaches until
May 31. Yet, the uncertainty
surrounding
COVID-19
hasn’t
stopped
recruits
from committing to their
preferred schools.
In the past two weeks,
Michigan has secured four
commits in the class of
2021 — defensive lineman
Dominick Guidice, offensive
lineman Greg Crippen, tight
end Louis Hansen and punter
Tommy Doman — giving the
Wolverines a total of six in
the class. The Daily breaks
down Guidice, Crippen and
Hansen and how they could
add to the team.
Defensive
lineman
Dominick Guidice
Guidice,
a
three-star
defensive end from New
Jersey, was a bit of a surprise.
Most of his previous offers
were from service academies,
the Ivy League and MAC
schools.
Competing
for
Mater Dei Prep, a small
school in Monmouth County,
Guidice is the current New
Jersey sack leader. However,
Guidice
told
Rivals
that
Michigan sees him as a likely
three-technique at the next
level.
According
to
Rivals,
Guidice grew up a Michigan
fan but has not yet taken an
official visit. Last Tuesday, he
was offered a scholarship on
a group FaceTime call with
head coach Jim Harbaugh,
defensive coordinator Don
Brown and defensive line
coach Shaun Nua. After a
brief discussion with his
parents, Guidice committed
that same night.
“I
was
really
happy
because Michigan was my
dream school,” he told Rivals.
It is unclear how much
playing time Guidice will
get with the Wolverines
given the presence of better
defensive line prospects on
the roster, but Michigan has
a good history of finding
underrated
East
Coast
players, and presumably its
coaches think Guidice is
next.
Offensive lineman Greg
Crippen
Crippen
is a four-star
offensive
lineman from
IMG Academy
in Florida. He
was previously
committed
to
Notre
Dame
before
re-opening his recruitment
on Mar. 4.
Crippen is a big get for
the
Wolverines,
having
held offers from Alabama,
Auburn, Ohio State and USC
among others. He is likely
a guard or center in college
and is ranked as the No. 11
guard in the
country
by
247Sports.
According
to 247Sports,
Crippen has
already been
on
campus,
visiting
for
last
year’s
Middle
Tennessee game while still
committed to the Fighting
Irish. He appears to have
been swayed by offensive line
coach Ed Warinner’s recent
work in developing his unit.
“You can see from this
year’s (NFL) combine for
Michigan, he will get you
there with hard work and
dedication,”
Crippen
told
247Sports.
Crippen is the Wolverines’
second offensive line commit
for 2021, joining four-star
tackle
Giovanni
El-Hadi
of Sterling Heights. Both
could be big contributors at
a position group that appears
to be stacked for the near
future.
Tight end Louis Hansen
Hansen is a four-star tight
end from Needham, Mass.,
a suburb of Boston. He is
ranked as the No. 8 tight
end overall and the No. 2
prospect in Massachusetts
by
247Sports.
He
chose
Michigan over offers from
Florida, Georgia, LSU and a
host of Big Ten foes.
“Something I like about
the offense is the way they
utilize
the
tight
ends,”
Hansen
told
247Sports.
“They often have multiple
(tight ends) on the field at
once, which provides an
opportunity for early playing
time. And they do a good
job getting them the ball in
space and allowing them the
chance to make plays. … They
have a great chance at being a
very dynamic offense.”
Both Hansen and Crippen
cited wanting to study in
the Ross School of Business
as playing a role in their
decisions.
Hansen is just the latest
big New England pickup by
Brown, who is well known
for his prowess at recruiting
the area. Additionally, tight
ends coach Sherrone Moore
assisted
with
Hansen’s
recruitment.
With the graduation of
fifth-year senior tight end
Nick Eubanks after the 2020
season, the Wolverines will
need new contributors at
the position. Hansen likely
won’t get immediate playing
time given the presence of
sophomore Erick All and
redshirt
sophomore
Luke
Schoonmaker, but he has
all the tools to step into a
starting role later on.
ALLISON ENGKVIST/Daily
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has five commits in his 2021 recruiting class, with three committing this week. By contrast, Ohio State has 15.
ARIA GERSON
Daily Sports Editor
I was really
happy because
Michigan was
my dream.