So I know I'm going to take some heat for this, but I'm posting it anyways. I'm still cautiously optimistic on Josh Gattis, and here is why:
Gattis has really only had one year as a coordinator that we can judge, and that was 2019. The 2020 season was a dumpster fire where his starting QB got hurt in the middle of the second game, his best offensive lineman weren't playing, he lost his #1 WR to an opt out, and they not only lost hundreds of practice reps with young players with no spring practice, but there were several weeks during the season where they barely practiced due to COVID contact tracing holdouts. The only game potentially worth looking at was Minnesota. But in general, it is tough to take much from the season given all the unexpected challenges.
So let's look at the one season he was a full coordinator, taking into consideration that he had to implement a new scheme and playbook.
The key point to me is that the team improved throughout the year. And by the end of the year the offense was largely what we had hoped to see. Here are the stats and a quick recap from the last 7 games and the bowl game:
There are certainly criticisms, including a few games where we found a lot of success in the first half but once the opponent figured out our game plan we didn't show a great counter to their counters. Especially against the more elite teams like Bama and OSU. But I do think the narrative that Gattis is in over his head or can't coordinate a successful offense isn't necessarily backed up by the data. The offense in 2019 was very productive once guys figured out what they needed to (and Shea stopped fumbling). And at times it was what I would called explosive.
So that is all a long way of saying that I'm cautiously optimistic that this offense, while not championship level, can be one of the better ones in the conference.
Gattis has really only had one year as a coordinator that we can judge, and that was 2019. The 2020 season was a dumpster fire where his starting QB got hurt in the middle of the second game, his best offensive lineman weren't playing, he lost his #1 WR to an opt out, and they not only lost hundreds of practice reps with young players with no spring practice, but there were several weeks during the season where they barely practiced due to COVID contact tracing holdouts. The only game potentially worth looking at was Minnesota. But in general, it is tough to take much from the season given all the unexpected challenges.
So let's look at the one season he was a full coordinator, taking into consideration that he had to implement a new scheme and playbook.
The key point to me is that the team improved throughout the year. And by the end of the year the offense was largely what we had hoped to see. Here are the stats and a quick recap from the last 7 games and the bowl game:
- Illinois - 489 yards of offense, 25 first downs, 30 minutes of TOP, 2 turnovers, and 42 points. We had five drives over 60 yards and 3 drives over 70 yards. We also had another 59 yard drive that ended with a fumble.
- PSU - 417 yards of offense, 27 first downs, 37 minutes of TOP, 1 turnover. We only scored 21 points, but as we all know we were one drop from 28 and maybe a win.
- Notre Dame - 437 yards of offense, 23 first downs, 34 minutes of TOP, no turnovers (in bad conditions), 45 points. The best part of this game was that everyone knew throwing wasn't an option and we still dominated offensively. We had 5 scoring drives of 60+ yards.
- Maryland - 331 yards of offense, 16 first downs, 28 minutes of TOP, no turnovers, 31 points (one TD was the kick return). We took our foot off the gas halfway through the third quarter in this one and only put up about 45 yards in the 4th quarter. Not a stellar performance but we didn't struggle either.
- MSU - 467 yards of offense, 25 first downs, 30 minutes of TOP, 1 turnover, 44 points. We had three long TD drives, including a 12 play 98 yard drive. Unlike ND where we ran all over them, this time we passed - going for 384 yards.
- Indiana - 453 yards of offense, 22 first downs, 28 minutes of TOP, 1 turnover, 39 points. We had 5 scoring drives of over 60 yards in this game and again did most of our damage through the air with 366 yards passing. We also had 4 receivers with a reception of 35+ yards.
- Ohio State - 396 yards of offense, 21 first downs, 23 minutes of TOP, 2 turnovers and 27 points. We actually had no problem moving the ball in the first half. Four of our six drives went for 60 yards or more. The only problem is that one ended in a fumble inside the 10 and the other we settled for a FG inside the 10. We easily could have had 28 points at the half and had been tied. In the second half it obviously got away from us pretty quickly. But we still saw some pretty good offense - including 7 chunk plays (gains over 20 yards).
- Alabama - 395 yards of offense, 23 first downs, 35 minutes of TOP, 2 turnovers and 16 points. Very similar to OSU where we could move the ball but had trouble finishing. Three of our first five drives were scoring drives and each went for 50+ yards. Two of them were 80+ yards. The problem here was the second half where we couldn't get anything going. Plus, we left points on the board in the first half too despite the long drives.
There are certainly criticisms, including a few games where we found a lot of success in the first half but once the opponent figured out our game plan we didn't show a great counter to their counters. Especially against the more elite teams like Bama and OSU. But I do think the narrative that Gattis is in over his head or can't coordinate a successful offense isn't necessarily backed up by the data. The offense in 2019 was very productive once guys figured out what they needed to (and Shea stopped fumbling). And at times it was what I would called explosive.
So that is all a long way of saying that I'm cautiously optimistic that this offense, while not championship level, can be one of the better ones in the conference.
