Ex-Miami OC Josh Gattis could be a terrific fit at Boston College

Jan 28, 2023 - 1:00 PM

On Friday, Miami head coach Mario Cristobal announced that the football program has fired offensive coordinator Josh Gattis after just one season with the Hurricanes. This comes just one year removed from Gattis winning the Broyles Award for top assistant coach in the country as the offensive coordinator at Michigan and leading that program to its first ever College Football Playoff appearance. His previous jobs also include co-OC for 2018 Alabama, a team that made it to the national championship game, and as the passing game coordinator for Penn State from 2014-17. Miami’s rash decision could be a steal for Boston College if they manage to hire Gattis to fill their own open offensive coordinator spot.

Miami’s program is well-known for its high pressure environment and constant rotation of coaches on hot seats, so it’s no surprise that Gattis was let go after an underwhelming season as their OC. But disappointing in an environment like that is not completely representative of his abilities as a coach and he will still be a name to watch for teams with a spot to fill at OC, including BC.

Josh Gattis took over a pro-style offense at Michigan that was operating at a slow pace and turned them into a speed running machine with many elements of a spread offense combined with the base pro-style. The Wolverines jumped from a bottom-half offense all the way up to top-25 in both scoring and total offense. BC fans would be happy to hear that his play-calling was inventive and included a lot of unorthodox plays in space that can help cover up OL issues, like RPOs, jet sweeps, bubble screens, and much more.

The risks? It is possible that his lone year at Miami is indicative of his overall ability. The Hurricanes dropped from a top-20 offense in 2021 to #86 in 2022. Miami, like BC, struggled to run the ball and found itself to be a middling ACC squad rather than the powerhouse that fans were hoping for. Boston College doesn’t have a whole lot of room to regress, but it is possible that Gattis may not help. As a BC fan, though, I’m willing to take that risk on an experienced, generally well-regarded, and available talent. The only question is how many other programs are eyeing him for their own open jobs.