For Josh Gattis, the phone call from Jim Harbaugh came at the right time. It was the pick-me-up he needed after being reamed out by Nick Saban for leaving Alabama's coaching staff after one season.
Initially, Gattis was headed to Maryland to become its offensive coordinator -- the news he delivered to Saban last Thursday. Later that day he accepted the same position at Michigan after Harbaugh reached out at the last minute.
Maryland or Michigan, it probably wouldn't have mattered to Saban, who was floored that Gattis was resigning from his post as co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach. Gattis had come to Alabama from Penn State with intentions of staying for more than one year.
Gattis recounted the whirlwind few hours during a conversation on Harbaugh's podcast this week.
"When coach Harbaugh called, it kind of caught me off guard. I had just left a meeting with Nick Saban getting my butt chewed out for about 20 minutes telling him I was leaving and he was trying to get me to stay. It didn't go over well. So if there was any Band-Aid to the bruise it was that phone call. It was exciting to hear his voice and get a chance to talk to him personally," Gattis said.
Gattis was originally going to Maryland to work under new head coach Mike Locksley, with whom he had shared offensive coordinator duties at Alabama. Then Harbaugh called and everything changed.
That made for some tough conversations, he said, but he followed his heart to Michigan. At 35 years old, he becomes the youngest coach on Harbaugh's staff.
"When you know it's right and it hits your gut, it doesn't take long. I was convicted on this. I had to tell some people 'No' and I had to tell some people I wasn't coming," said Gattis. "It was a hard day telling those people I wasn't going to be part of their program because of the previous relationships
"But when you feel convicted inside that this is the right place you should be, the right staff, the right head coach you want to be around, it helps ease away those concerns. I'm so proud to be here, so proud to have this opportunity. Looking forward to it."
One obvious incentive for Gattis to leave Alabama for Michigan? He'll make about twice what he made last season. The three-year contract he signed with Michigan pays him $900,000 per year, plus a signing bonus of $200,000 and annual incentives up to $400,000, according to the Free Press. He made $525,000 last year at Alabama.
Another incentive? Gattis will get to run Michigan's offense as its sole offensive coordinator, a title Harbaugh is handing out for the first time. That will put him in charge of calling plays, an opportunity he didn't get in his one season at Alabama.
"I've really watched Josh long enough to know and we talked and have the same philosophy, really, offensively, which I like. I like the idea of him running it," Harbaugh said. "We have some very fine offensive coaches here, no question about that. They feel like, 'Yeah, let's go. This is the direction we're going, so let's go and make it great and make it work.'"
It's not yet clear how the rest of Michigan's offensive staff will be reshuffled. Pep Hamilton, who ran the pass game the past two seasons, figures to relinquish some duties to Gattis. The same could be said for offensive line coach Ed Warriner, who handled the run game last season. And Harbaugh, it sounds like, will no longer have the final say on play calls.
All things considered, it's quite an opportunity for Gattis. In his lone season at Alabama the Crimson Tide ranked sixth in the nation in total offense and passing offense. He'll inherit a number of weapons at Michigan, including quarterback Shea Patterson and wide receivers Donovan Peoples-Jones, Tarik Black and Nico Collins, the former two of whom Gattis said he recruited during his time at Penn State.
Michigan ranked 50th in total offense this season, its highest finish in Harbaugh's first four seasons. It will be Gattis' job to take that unit to the next level.
