When Michigan hired offensive coordinator Josh Gattis last month, the role of passing game coordinator and assistant head coach Pep Hamilton was thrown into doubt.
To little surprise, Hamilton is leaving Michigan to pursue other opportunities, according to the The Michigan Insider.
The 44-year-old Hamilton, who also served as quarterbacks coach last season, was two years into the four-year $4.25 million deal he signed in 2017. Michigan finished 111th in the nation in passing offense in 2017, then 80th in 2018.
As poorly as this reflects on Hamilton, it's also the product of a run-heavy offense that took a conservative approach in the passing game. Harbaugh wanted to play smash mouth football, and it was the job of Hamilton and others to facilitate that. Harbaugh always had the final say on play calls.
Hamilton, who first worked under Harbaugh at Stanford in 2010, painted a pretty clear picture of Michigan's offensive hierarchy last year.
"Everything goes through Coach Harbaugh," he said. "Ultimately, he decides on what play we run. He's the pitcher and we're the catchers. We can signal, 'Hey, we want the high fastball,' and he may want a curveball. That's always been, in the years that I've worked for him, his preferred method of calling plays.
"If he wants a run play or pass play or whatever play he wants, he'll just call it. That's where it starts and ends."
With Gattis now on board, Harbaugh is ready to relinquish play-calling duties in his fifth season. Gattis, in turn, has said to prepare for a "completely brand-new offense."
To replace Hamilton as quarterbacks coach, Michigan will turn to offensive analyst and interim wide receivers coach Ben McDaniels, according to The Michigan Insider. The younger brother of Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, he came to Michigan last year from the Bears, where he was also an offensive analyst.
Gattis will also serve as wide receivers coach, a role he held at each of his stops prior to Michigan. He was most recently co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at Alabama.
