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Josh Gattis, Wolverine

Josh Gattis (image via 247 Sports)

Michigan announced on Thursday afternoon that Alabama co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Josh Gattis has been named the offensive coordinator. Earlier in the day, he was reported to be headed to Maryland for their OC job. Alabama quarterbacks coach Dan Enos is reportedly being elevated to offensive coordinator for the Crimson Tide.

This is a weird development, because the last we heard, Pep Hamilton (QB coach) and Ed Warinner (OL coach) were both planning to stay on Michigan’s staff, and Harbaugh was supposedly keeping offensive analyst Ben McDaniel on as wide receivers coach. Into town blows Gattis, who would seemingly make McDaniel superfluous, along with usurping some supposed responsibilities from Hamilton and Warinner. On top of all that, it was reported prior to Michigan’s announcement that Gattis was headed to Maryland. Which one of those guys is on his way out of town? I’m sure we’ll find out shortly.

I can’t help thinking this is a positive development for Michigan, because Gattis (34 years old) is a young coach, a very good recruiter, and someone who’s not averse to tempo. He also has a great track record of developing wide receivers, including All-Americans Jerry Jeudy (Alabama), Jordan Matthews (Vanderbilt), and Jordan White (Western Michigan), plus All-Big Ten guys Daesean Hamilton and Chris Godwin (Penn State). Basically, the worst he has done is coach Hamilton and Godwin at PSU, two guys who are in the midst of carving out solid NFL careers with the Broncos and Buccaneers, respectively.

Here’s what the staff looks like now:

HC: Jim Harbaugh
OC/WR: Jim McElwain Ben McDaniel Josh Gattis
QB: Pep Hamilton?
TE: Sherrone Moore
OL: Ed Warinner?
RB: Jay Harbaugh
DL: Greg Mattison
DC/LB: Don Brown
Viper/OLB: Al Washington
CB: Mike Zordich
S: Chris Partridge

Review of 2018 Season Predictions

Nico Collins (image via MGoBlue)

I always like to look back at my predictions for the previous season to see how well I judged the year beforehand. Here’s the link to my 2018 Season Predictions (and the comments): LINK.

LEADING RUSHER
Prediction: Karan Higdon, 1100 yards
Actual: Higdon, 1178 yards
Thoughts: Higdon was about as effective as I thought he would be, although he would have ended up with more yardage if he didn’t miss one regular season game (due to injury) and then the bowl game (due to selfishness). I was surprised he was named First Team All-Big Ten, but there were some other backs in the conference who were not as effective as I thought they would be.

LEADING RECEIVER
Prediction: Donovan Peoples-Jones, 750 yards
Actual: Nico Collins, 632 yards
Thoughts: Collins had a breakout season, going from 3 catches for 27 yards in 2017 to leading the team in receiving yardage (and being #2 in receptions) in 2018. Peoples-Jones was just behind Collins by a mere 20 yards and led the team in receptions (47), but Collins was the big downfield target.

LEADING TACKLER
Prediction: Devin Bush, Jr., 95 tackles
Actual: Bush, 79 tackles
Thoughts: As the middle linebacker, Bush was an obvious choice, but his instincts and sideline-to-sideline speed ensured that he would make plays all over the field. Safety Tyree Kinnel was not far behind with 74 tackles in one more game, since Bush missed the bowl game.

Hit the jump for the rest of the review.

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Nightly Roundup: January 9, 2019

Former Michigan running back Kurt Taylor is headed to a JUCO in Iowa (LINK).

MLive’s Aaron McMann grades Michigan’s 2018 season (LINK).

Bleacher Report’s Mike Tanier says Tom Brady is getting old (LINK).

Oklahoma offensive tackle Bobby Evans declared for the NFL Draft, meaning Oklahoma lost everyone on the offensive line except their center (LINK). Will former Michigan commit Erik Swenson become a starter at Oklahoma in 2019?

Zach Shaw looks at the assistant coach departures during Jim Harbaugh’s tenure (LINK).

Whom might Michigan hire to fill the defensive assistant spots?

Roy Manning

A lot of rumors have been floating around over the past couple days about potential replacements for defensive line coach Greg Mattison (now Ohio State’s co-defensive coordinator) and Viper/outside linebacker coach Al Washington (now Ohio State’s linebackers coach). Here are some of the names I’ve heard and a few thoughts on each:

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Greg Mattison and Al Washington, Ex-Wolverines

Greg Mattison

Defensive line coach Greg Mattison and linebackers coach Al Washington have both fled to Columbus, Ohio. Mattison had been Michigan’s defensive coordinator under Brady Hoke from 2011-2014, and he was demoted to defensive line since 2015, working under defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin that first year and then Don Brown the past three seasons.

Hit the jump for more.

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