Today’s Topic: Why Did Greg Mattison Leave Michigan?
When the rumors about Ryan Day making a play for Michigan defensive line coach Greg Mattison first began, they were pretty surprising for a number of reasons. The main one being that Day was targeting Jim Harbaugh’s staff. Not that it’s a no-no, but it’s always a story when a coach leaves for a rival school.
There were other reasons as well, like Mattison’s age, or the fact that the Buckeyes had no need for his specialty, which was defensive line coaching.
Day didn’t see these as reasons not to hire Mattison, but rather reasons why he was such a good fit for the Buckeyes.
Mattison eventually accepted the job offer and he now gives Ohio State another of the most respected assistant coaches in college football.
But why did he leave Jim Harbaugh’s staff?
For that, you have to understand what his responsibilities have been of late, and what he would like them to become again.
Had he remained at Michigan, nothing would have changed for him and he would have been in 2019 what he has been every year since 2015.
“Defensive line coach, and that’s what I was for the last four years,” Mattison said. “With Coach Hoke I was the defensive coordinator, and two or three of the years with Gary Moeller and Lloyd [Carr] earlier I was the coordinator.
“I’m very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work at two of the greatest programs in the country and in all of college football. Luckily you add Notre Dame in there, I kind of say, wow, I’ve had a pretty good run.”
Despite the resume and the comfort level and the places he has been, he still had a desire to coordinate a defense.
When Jim Harbaugh was hired, he brought DJ Durkin on as his defensive coordinator, and Mattison — who was a holdover as DC since 2011 — had his coordinator responsibilities removed, but remained as defensive line coach.
Coaching is a job where ego can get in the way, but Mattison was a good soldier and did his job as well as anybody else in the country.
But he still had a desire to coordinate again, and that was what ultimately brought him to the team down south. Ryan Day’s offer of a co-coordinator spot with Jeff Hafley was too much for Mattison to decline.
“The big thing, leaving Michigan was a very tough decision. I spent 13 years there,” Mattison said. “But I also have spent 19 out of the last 24 years coordinating, and to have the opportunity to have a co-coordinator at a great university like Ohio State was something that — an opportunity that I really wanted to pursue, and that was the biggest thing.”