Miami: Head coach you can’t outwork, ‘nonstop’ recruiting and forging future of NFL picks
Spring football begins Monday, and University of Miami offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, one part of a formidable array of high-profile assistant Canes coaches, sounded almost as pumped as head coach Mario Cristobal when describing the talent around him — among coaches as well as players.
“A relentless work ethic,’’ Gattis told WQAM’s Joe Rose on Tuesday when asked what he has noticed about Cristobal and his supposed “19-, 20-hour days” and talking to recruits “until about midnight.’’
“I don’t think I’ve ever been around a head coach that has worked this hard and been this committed to a program. You won’t beat him in the office and you won’t outlast him, so just give it up there. Just a tremendous amount of attention and detail [to] everything, the alignment with the organization and making sure we’re all carrying the same message. I thought I’d been around some really good head coaches in recruiting but Coach Cristobal... is recruiting harder than most assistant coaches across the country.”
Gattis told WQAM the Canes have “a recruiting power hour that we do Tuesdays and Thursdays, which is insane. Getting kids on the phone, the energy that creates.”
Gattis refrained from giving specifics on his style of offense. He praised starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, already on some preseason Heisman lists, but indicated that the offense and defense must complement one another to be successful on both ends.
“It’s not just about throwing the ball 58 times a game if it’s going to put our defense in position to be susceptible,” Gattis said.
In the running game, among a deep roster of tailbacks, Gattis will have last year’s leading rusher Jaylan Knighton (561 yards and eight rushing touchdowns) back, as well as transfer portal addition Henry Parrish from Ole Miss — a former star at Miami Columbus — and blue-chip signee TreVonte’ Citizen out of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Unfortunately, the Canes won’t have Don Chaney Jr. fully back in spring as he continues to recuperate from major knee surgery. The position group also includes rising sophomores Thad Franklin (174 yards and two touchdowns in five games for a 7.5-yards-per-carry average) and Cody Brown (141 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games).
He said he will be “committed to running the ball successfully,’’ but “that doesn’t mean running the ball 50 times.”
“We’ll look a lot different than what I did last year. We’ve got a little bit more skill, a little bit more veteran presence at quarterback.’’
Added Gattis: “For a lot of college football programs you can build a really good football team. But at Miami what makes it different is you can build a really good NFL team if you get this thing rolling with the amount of players you can recruit and develop and go on to be first-round, high-level NFL Draft picks.
And that’s the unique opportunity here for me, to get this thing back rolling.’’
More, from Gattis, the former Michigan OC and reigning Broyles Award winner as the nation’s top assistant coach:
▪ On the so-called depth chart: “There’s no depth chart. We like to call them organizational charts. Everyone is going to have the right opportunity. Obviously, there are going to be some guys that have different experiences, maybe more previous playing time. But once that first whistle blows in spring it’s going to be about what you do now.”
▪ On assessing his overall offensive talent: “I’m excited to get to work with our guys. Obviously, it’s a long way between now and September. As the years have gone in this profession, I’ve gotten away from laying out expectations.
About our players, the only thing I can tell you really about our guys right now is they’re hungry to be coached. They want to be coached to every small little detail. And that’s what’s going to allow you to build something special.”
