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Jim Harbaugh on Greg Mattison leaving UM for OSU: ‘We’re not going to be sending Christmas cards to each other’
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Leaving Michigan for Ohio State isn’t something you see too often in athletics. The rivalry is too intense and the hatred too real for many guys to jump to the other side.
This offseason, though, two Michigan assistant coaches decided to leave Ann Arbor for Columbus, defensive line coach Greg Mattison and linebackers coach Al Washington. Those were two significant additions to Ryan Day’s first staff as Ohio State’s head coach.
For Washington, a Columbus native, a job with the Buckeyes serves as a bit of a homecoming. But Mattison joining forces with OSU was the head-scratcher. Even head coach Jim Harbaguh was surprised by the decision.
Harbaugh understood Mattison’s decision, adding a defensive coordinator title to his position, something he really wanted to do. He also received a pay bump and is the highest-paid assistant on Ohio State’s staff.
But Mattison’s departure was still a bit of a surprise. And now that he’s in Columbus, Harbaugh joked that the two won’t be sending any holiday cards to each other over the next few years.
“We’re not going to be sending each other Christmas cards based on where he went,” Harbaugh said, according to Nick Baumgardner of the Detroit Free Press. “We’ll be friends again some day, maybe when we’re both done coaching.”
Mattison had been with Michigan since 2011, before the Harbaugh era. He was the team’s defensive coordinator from 2011-13 under Brady Hoke, and added linebackers coach to his responsibilities in 2014.
When Harbaugh took over as head coach in 2015, Mattison lost the defensive coordinator title to Don Brown and was the defensive line coach through the 2018 season.
Mattison steps into a role that was occupied by Greg Schiano a year ago.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB