ANN ARBOR, Mich. � The ice breaker was a hit with Michigan fans.
Hashtag speed in space. That was essentially how Josh Gattis introduced himself on Twitter _ #speedinspace _ to anyone who follows the Wolverines, and they embraced the concept immediately. The first-time offensive coordinator blew into Ann Arbor with a no-huddle spread � he calls it a pro-spread and insists it's not a complete departure from the offense Jim Harbaugh has run the first four seasons � that takes advantage of, in particular, Michigan's quarterbacks and receivers.
It's all about the playmakers and getting the ball in their hands and making big plays. Gattis' offense will make its debut Saturday night in Michigan's season opener against Middle Tennessee State.
Reviews from inside the UM program have been solid since spring practice and, more recently, in fall camp.
"He's made a huge difference for us," left guard Ben Bredeson said. "His offense is obviously a new look for us. He holds us to an incredibly high standard. He knows every single day you're not going to get off easy if something's not perfect. He makes us be perfect."
The funny thing is, the architect of Michigan's new offense was an All-ACC safety in 2005 and 2006 at Wake Forest. Although he was a defensive back in college, Gattis has been, mostly, a receivers coach, which has given him an interesting perspective on how to attack a defense.
He worked with receivers during the 2011 season at Western Michigan, then joined James Franklin at Vanderbilt, where he coached the group in 2012-13 and moved to Penn State when Franklin took over and was pass-game coordinator/receivers coach from 2014-17. He spent last season at Alabama as co-offensive coordinator who also coached receivers.
At Michigan he's working with a deep, athletic receiver group that includes Donovan Peoples-Jones, Nico Collins, Tarik Black, Ronnie Bell and freshman Mike Sainristil. Last season under Gattis, Alabama had five receivers with 40 or more catches, and five had 693 receiving yards or more. Jerry Jeudy led the team with 1,315 yards and 14 touchdowns.
