Josh Gattis on Monday: “I can see the championship type vision coach Cristobal has”

When Mario Cristobal brought in Josh Gattis to serve as Miami’s new offensive coordinator, there really wasn’t a lot to fix. This was a Canes attack that averaged 34.1 points and 448.8 yards per game in 2021, and returned a QB in Tyler Van Dyke who is getting Heisman Trophy preseason mention.

But that doesn’t mean Gattis’ side of the ball will simply thrive because it did so a year ago. There are injury issues at running back, where Don Chaney is  out to start the year and highly touted freshman TreVonte’ Citizen suffered a season-ending injury. Top returning RB Jaylan Knighton also has been limited the last couple of weeks due to injury.

At wide receiver there hasn’t been that No. 1 downfield  threat that we’ve seen step up to replace Charleston Rambo and Mike Harley, who were the 1-2 passing game punch. The offensive line? It was a so-so unit last season and added two transfers (Jon Denis, Logan Sagapolu) who both might be backups come Game 1. So it’s pretty much the same personnel there, albeit coached at a higher level.

The tight ends room is strong, but the hopes that Jaleel Skinner would step up as a major weapon in Year 1 have faded a bit as he’s suffered a lot of drops in fall drills.

So you add it all up and realize things might be fairly interesting to watch when Game 1 comes around on Saturday.

Today it was Gattis’ turn to answer some questions about his group, and what he sees.

And he touched on pretty much all the areas on offense.

At QB, he said, Tyler Van Dyke “is very, very coachable.”

“You tell him one thing, you don’t have to tell him twice,” Gattis said. “He’s tried to be that ultimate leader for our offense.

“Once you played one year of football you have to be that voice in the room that becomes the leader of a unit. That’s a great attribute of Tyler, he truly has the respect of belief of players around him.”

Asked about backup Jake Garcia, Gattis said, “He takes coaching extremely well, Has a skillset on him. Jake goes out and competes every day waiting for his opportunity.” 

As for a running backs room that has three healthy backs, Gattis says “It makes next man have to prepare and be ready. What we do is what we do. We have some challenges in that running backs room, but the guys we do have healthy we feel great about them.

“Right now we’re excited about the guys. Henry Parrish will really have a chance to establish himself. We’re very fortunate to have him, really talented. Thad Franklin and Jaylan Knighton, everyone knows the big play ability (of Knighton). I think he’ll have a big season for us.

“We always do everything by committee.”

At receiver? We know what Miami has in Xavier Restrepo, who is a consistent and quick weapon that is likely to be Van Dyke’s top option. There are a bunch of others who could step up, but the key word there is “could.”

“You’ll see a number of guys out there,” Gattis said of the receivers. “It’s about focusing on all the details, playing as perfect as possible.”

Tight end is an especially interesting area to watch, as Gattis showed at his prior Michigan stop he loves to use that position in various ways. There’s an expectation he will use two tight ends sets quite a bit, and in some situations you might even see three tight ends in the game together.

“We’ve got a really good room,” Gattis said. “When you look at getting Will Mallory back, didn’t have him in the spring. He’s a bigtime player. Elijah Arroyo has had a really good camp, has developed himself the most in the room of trying to be a complete tight end. … Dom Mammarelli has had a great camp, stepped up, and Jaleel Skinner in that mix as well, Kahlil Brantley. So we’re looking at five deep that can contribute. The top of the at group: Will and Elijah. The other guys we look forward to establishing themselves in that rotation as well.”

On the offensive line, starting LT Zion Nelson has returned to practice, per Mario Cristobal. That will help this group.

And Gattis struck an upbeat note on the OL in general today.

“This is one of those weeks where we are looking on settling in on a starting five,” Gattis said. “We’ve had some really good guys have some really good training camps.”

He singled out DJ Scaife and Jakai Clark as “veteran guys, battle tested.”

“The thing I’m most excited about is getting guys like Jalen Rivers back healthy,” he said. “John Campbell. Those two guys we didn’t have in the spring.”

Something else to keep an eye on with Gattis: It also will be interesting to see how he calls his plays. Based on statistics of their past stops, former coordinator Rhett Lashlee was a more pass-happy coordinator. So might Gattis be more 50-50 run-pass?

“There’s a game book and playbook – each week we design a (strategy) to attack the opposing team,” Gattis said. “Our players are just embracing it. They want to be coached, want to be pushed. They truly believe it’s for the best of them. When you have a group of guys driven like that you’re going to be able to push them externally to the limits that you can.”

If you’re looking for Gattis on game day? He’ll be in the press box.

“That’s a transition I made the last two years,” he said. “You’ll see our staff very active throughout the game, really coaching.

“When I first started coordinating I thought I saw everything from the field, but it’s amazing what you see up top. It (also) allows you that peace and quietness to collect your thoughts, not get caught up in the emotions of the game.”

The bottom line here?

“Week 1 is week 1,” Gattis said. “One thing that’s been impactful for me is (Mario Cristobal’s) drive. I’ve been able to learn so much in a very short time under him. You see everything he wants to establish laid out in front of this team, and it’s a clear, concise process.

“I can see the championship type vision coach Cristobal has.”

*Asked about WR Key’Shawn Smith, Gattis said, “He had a really good camp. Lately he’s been able to settle in on one position (and has gotten better.”

Gattis also talked about Frank Ladson when asked about his progress. “Frank, being challenged by some of the DBs, made him better. Frank is coming in, now it’s about building and establishing that confidence.”