Notebook: Michigan O.C. Josh Gattis named Broyles Award winner, Wolverine named Freshman All-American, more

Michigan Wolverines football offensive coordinator Josh Gattis was announced Tuesday afternoon as the Broyles Award winner, which is presented annually to the top assistant coach in college football.

The third-year coordinator guided Michigan’s offense to a turnaround season. The Wolverines averaged 381.3 yards per game in 2020 but tallied 451.9 yards per contest in 2021. The Maize and Blue are registering 37.7 points per game for the season and 47.7 over the last three outings, which include posting 42 points on each of Ohio State and Iowa en route to the program’s first Big Ten title since 2004.

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The other finalists were Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning, Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and Wake Forest offensive coordinator Warren Ruggiero. They were honored during a ceremony at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Little Rock, with Gattis taking home the hardware.

The Broyles Award was established by former Arkansas football player David Bazzel and in 1996, with hopes to recognize coach Frank Broyles‘s legacy of selecting and developing great assistants during his time as head coach with the Razorbacks. The award has grown to become of the most respected and prestigious honors in college football.

Gattis is the second Michigan assistant to win the award, joining defensive coordinator Jim Hermann in 1997.

Gattis joins Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh in being up for a major award, with the head man being named a finalist for the Eddie Robinsin Coach of the Year Award along with 12 others.

Michigan LB Junior Colson Named Freshman All-American

Michigan freshman linebacker Junior Colson was named a Freshman All-American by On3.com following a stellar first season in Ann Arbor.

The former four-star recruit and nation’s No. 92 player in the class of 2021 per On3, Colson is third on the Michigan team with 56.0 tackles, while adding a half-tackle for loss, half-sack, two pass breakups, three quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery. Colson has played the 10th-most snaps on the defense and only started in six of the Wolverines’ 13 contests, making his stat line all the more impressive.

Aidan Hutchinson Tabbed As A Finalist for Lott IMPACT Trophy

Michigan junior defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and captain has been named a finalist for the 2021 Lott IMPACT Trophy, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation announced Tuesday. Hutchinson is the Wolverines’ second finalist for the award, with linebacker Jabrill Peppers having won the award in 2016.

The other finalists for the award are Nakobe Dean (Georgia), Devin Lloyd (Utah) and Jordan Davis (Georgia). The 2021 Lott IMPACT Trophy winner will be announced at their 18th annual event on Sunday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. ET. Hutchinson is also a finalist for the Heisman Memorial Trophy, which is presented to college football’s most outstanding player. He will be in New York Saturday, Dec. 11 for the presentation.

A first-team All-Big Ten selection by the coaches and media, Hutchinson was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and the Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year. He is a finalist for the Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Year, the Rotary Lombardi Award and the Senior CLASS Award. Hutchinson is also a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy presented by the National Football Foundation to the top scholar-athlete in college football and is a candidate for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Hutchinson is attending the National Football Foundation’s award banquet this evening in Las Vegas where he will be honored as a National Scholar-Athlete.

Hutchinson is third nationally in sacks per contest (1.08 avg.) despite being double-teamed and chipped most of the time. He leads the Michigan defensive line with 58 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, three pass breakups, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Hutchinson has collected seven sacks in the past four games, including a career-best three at Penn State (Nov. 13) and against Ohio State (Nov. 27). Overall, he has registered sacks in nine contests and posted at least one TFL in 11 games. Hutchinson has played 738 snaps for Michigan this season.

He is the highest graded defensive player according to PFF College. Hutchinson lists tied for third in total pressures with 73, and he has recorded five or more in nine games this season. He recorded 15 pressures in the Ohio State game, setting a mark for the most generated in a single game since PFF began tracking the statistic in 2014.