Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

Josh Gattis uses Penn State’s 2016 run as example for players after ugly Michigan loss

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Josh Gattis has been there before. Three years ago, he was in a spot quite similar to the one Michigan is currently in right now.

In 2016, Gattis was a member of a Penn State staff that dropped a 49-10 contest to Michigan in the Big House. The Nittany Lions fell to 2-2 on the year and James Franklin appeared to be on borrowed time. The next week, Penn State defeated Minnesota overtime thriller.

From that moment, Penn State ripped off nine straight wins to win the East, the B1G and make an appearance in the Rose Bowl. A team that was left for dead came back to life and found a way to win a conference championship.

After Michigan’s 35-14 loss to Wisconsin in Madison, dropping the Wolverines to 2-1 on the year, Gattis is using his 2016 experience to keep his players believing that all is not lost. All of UM’s goals can still be accomplished if things come together.

“Sometimes adversity is something that you never want to use to bond your guys together, but it’s something that forms a bond,” Gattis said. “When you go through the pressure situations, it only makes you tighter. I believe in every single on of our players. And I don’t just believe in them because I’m the offensive coordinator, I believe in them because I’ve seen them.”

Three games into the season, it’s impossible to say Michigan is completely out of the picture. With Wisconsin being a cross-division opponent, the Wolverines could win out and would still wind up in Indianapolis.

I know, easier said than done. But it’s not impossible.

Michigan will have to play much better in order to reach the level it had hoped before the season started. With five ranked opponents left on the schedule, the Wolverines can’t afford these kind of performances every week.

If they get it together, there’s still a chance for a special season in Ann Arbor. If not, it could be a very long year.

Below is the full video of Gattis speaking with the media, as posted by Angelique Chengelis of The Detroit News.

Dustin Schutte

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