Longtime Penn State wide receivers coach, Michigan assistant Josh Gattis fired at Miami

On Monday, Penn State hired Marques Hagans to be its new wide receivers coach. But when James Franklin parted ways with former receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield, there was speculation — and perhaps a bit of hope from Miami fans — that a familiar face might return to Happy Valley.

That didn’t happen. Josh Gattis didn’t return to his former post at Penn State. And days after the Hagans announcement, Gattis was let go in Coral Gables.

Gattis was fired by Miami after just one year as the Hurricanes’ offensive coordinator, the program announced on Friday morning.

Gattis joined Miami’s last offseason as a big-time hire for new head coach Mario Cristobal. The 39-year-old won the Broyles Award, given to college football’s top assistant, at Michigan in 2021. His play-calling was one reason why the Wolverines beat Ohio State, won the Big Ten and reached the College Football Playoff.

Gattis has been a rising star in the industry for a while. He got his start as a Power Five wide receivers coach at Vanderbilt as a part of Franklin’s staff in 2012. Gattis followed Franklin to Penn State, where he coached from 2014-17. All told, the former Wake Forest standout spent six seasons with Franklin.

At Penn State, Gattis recruited Jahan Dotson and KJ Hamler, mentored Chris Godwin and DaeSean Hamilton and helped the Nittany Lions capture a Big Ten championship in 2016.

Gattis left following the 2017 season when Penn State offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead became Mississippi State’s head coach and Ricky Rahne was promoted to be the Nittany Lions’ play-caller.

Gattis joined Alabama for a 2018 season in which he coached Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle and DeVonta Smith and the Crimson Tide reached the national championship game. Then Gattis moved to Michigan, where he called plays for three seasons.

Gattis’ former post at Penn State has been a revolving door since he left. David Corley, who was initially hired as a running backs coach, ran the receiver room in 2018 before being let go. Gerad Parker was the Nittany Lions’ wideouts coach in 2019 before leaving for a coordinator job at West Virginia. In 2020, Stubblefield was brought on. He lasted three years before being relieved of his duties two weeks ago.

Now, it’s Hagans’ turn after spending 11 seasons at Virginia.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.