Mike Locksley, Josh Gattis disagree about Alabama game plans
By Keith Farner
Published:
Mike Locksley and Josh Gattis worked together last season at Alabama on the offensive staff. But if you ask them how they divided coaching duties and contributions to the game plan, they begin to differ.
Locksley, the offensive coordinator and now the head coach at Maryland, declined to go into detail about Gattis’ contributions to the development of the offensive game plans, and instead said he was “impressed with all of our assistants.”
Locksley made those comments at Big Ten Media Days, according to Inside MD Sports, and Gattis, now on the staff at Michigan, responded in his first media availability this season.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mike Locksley. He called every play … there were never any other comments about that,” Gattis said. “I’m 100 percent confident (I can call plays too). Mike Locksley can say I watched him call every play, but ask him where the game plans usually came from?
“So I’m fine with that. He did call every play, and I’ve got a notebook upstairs with all the game plans written down in them. But I’ve got tremendous respect for him, obviously.”
Gattis further explained how the game plan is developed each week, and how it goes beyond the offensive coordinator.
“One of the things that’s important when you talk about play-calling and games, your call sheet is won Monday through Friday,” he said. “What [plays are] called Saturday is about putting your kids in position to be successful. There have been coordinators that have been coordinators for 20 years that aren’t successful … it’s because they’re not putting their kids in position to be successful.”
Gattis will call plays for the first time in his career with the Wolverines this season.
Locksley and Gattis will have a reunion this season when Michigan plays at Maryland on Nov. 2.
There are plenty of people at Bama who don’t think too highly of Gattis these days. To suggest he had anywhere near the impact as Locks last year is laughable. https://t.co/XOwmg0Lyo3
— John Talty (@JTalty) August 8, 2019
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
