Who: Josh Gattis, Maryland
Title: Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Previous stop: Miami offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach (2022)
Why he's important: Josh Gattis has experienced a career's worth of ups-and-downs in the past two years.
After six years coaching wideouts for James Franklin, Gattis landed the co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers job at Alabama in 2018. That team averaged 7.76 yards per play and played for a national championship.
That success earned Gattis the opportunity to be the architect of a total offensive renovation at Michigan. In three seasons spearheading the modernization of Michigan's offense, Gattis helped the Wolverines go from 5.77 yards per play to 6.39, and from a bottom-out to a break-through.
The 2021 campaign saw Michigan end its 8-game losing streak to Ohio State, win its first Big Ten championship since 2004, and reach its first College Football Playoff. Gattis won the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant coach. It was the unquestioned peak of his career... and led immediately to, perhaps, his lowest point.
Gattis left Michigan under adverse circumstances last February and took the offensive coordinator job at Miami. The Hurricanes slunk to 5-7 in Mario Cristobal's debut, while Michigan returned to the Playoff. Hard to argue Gattis was the source of Michigan's success under those circumstances.
And now Gattis finds himself at Maryland, working again under Mike Locksley, happier than he's ever been.
He joins the Terrapins at an interesting time. Coming off an 8-5 campaign and a win in the Duke's Mayo Bowl, with lots of veteran skill talent returning, Maryland could... okay, they're not going to beat No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 Ohio State, and No. 7 Penn State for the Big Ten East title. And the road won't get any easier once the Big Ten goes to a division-less, 18-team free-for-all in 2024.
But, still, it's an opportunity to establish Maryland as a consistent winner. The Terps could post back-to-back-to-back winning seasons this fall for the first time since 2001-03.
"I think the time is now for this program," Gattis said this month. "When you look at what Coach Locksley's built, you look at the skill players returning, it's a wonderful opportunity for us to accept the challenge and really not settle for having success but pushing the bar even further and further. You've got to speak it into existence."
Gattis continued coaching wideouts during his coordinator stops at Michigan and Miami, but will now coach quarterbacks at Maryland. "I've been living my happiest days of my coaching career," he said. "It's much easier coaching quarterbacks than wide receivers."
Gattis and Locksley once got into a (friendly?) back-and-forth over who planned what during their time at Alabama but, when asked what a "Josh Gattis offense" will look like at Maryland, Gattis quickly said he'll continue running the offense that Locksley brought to College Park.
"It's not a Josh Gattis offense," he said. "This will be a Maryland offense. We've got a great staff. I say this all the time: it's not about the person calling the plays, it's about people running them. Your players allow you to create the identity of your offense. A good coach with bad players is a bad coach. We will be as good as our players allow us to be."
PREVIOUS INSTALLMENTS: No. 15: Bryan Nardo, Oklahoma State; No. 14: Chad Bumphis, Mississippi State; No. 13: Buster Faulkner, Georgia Tech; No. 12 Chris Jackson, Texas; No. 11: Philip Montgomery, Auburn
"The identify of the offense is to be determined, but the system is the system. The system is one that I'm very familiar with. Coach Locksley has done a tremendous job building this system to allow our players to have success," he continued.
As for those players, Maryland returns one of the most experienced quarterbacks in college football. Taulia Tagovailoa enters this season one pass shy of 1,000 attempts across his career at Alabama and Maryland; last season, he hit 67 percent of his 391 throws for 3,008 yards with 18 touchdowns against eight interceptions.
The Terps' top three running backs return, led by Roman Hemby, who rushed for 989 yards on 5.26 a carry as a freshman. Leading receiver Jeshaun Jones and tight end Corey Dyches are also back.
In short, it could be all systems go for a big year for Maryland offensively... so long as the offensive line holds up. In a 17-minute media availability, multiple times Gattis uttered the tell-tale red-flag phrase of August when it comes to the offensive line -- We've got to stay healthy.
"It's hard to do anything if you don't have an offensive line," he said. "We've got to be smart in how we protect those guys."
If the offensive line holds up -- the most weighty 6-word phrase in college football -- Maryland could establish itself as a solid, winning Big Ten program, and Gattis could find his career equilibrium.