	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 6, 2019

Greg Mattison

Columbus, Ohio

Q. Your decision to leave a place, arch rival that you've been for so long, and what was it that made you decide to come here?
GREG MATTISON: Well, at first, you're right. 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.

The big thing, leaving Michigan was a very tough decision. I spent 13 years there. 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.

Q. What would your role at Michigan have been if you had stayed?
GREG MATTISON: Defensive line coach, and that's what I was for the last four years. With Coach Hoke I was the defensive coordinator, and two or three of the years with Gary Moeller and Lloyd earlier I was the coordinator.

Q. Greg, I know a lot goes into it when you're running a defense, but if you had to just kind of break down your defensive philosophy in a nutshell, how would you explain your defensive philosophy?
GREG MATTISON: I guess the first thing I'd like to say on that, on running the defense, I'm also very excited about the fact that there will be co-coordinators. The last time I was a co-coordinator, we were fortunate enough to win the National Championship at Florida. We have a guy by the name of Jeff Hafley, who will be co-coordinator, and Jeff is one of the very best secondary coaches around.

We've had the opportunity the last three weeks to meet and really not even as much football as we wanted to. The last week or so we have. But I've just been so impressed with his knowledge of the back end.

Together the two of us will try to put together what is best for the team. As far as what we're going to run, I'm not going to go into that. I know one thing, we're excited about the young men that we're having the opportunity to coach, and we'll go from there.

Q. Greg, you being co-defensive coordinator but not having a specific position group, how do you see yourself splitting time in terms of working with the different position groups?
GREG MATTISON: I'm going to be the greatest young assistant coach you've ever seen. I've already said to Larry Johnson -- Larry Johnson, we have competed for years, and I look at Larry as being one of the best if not the best defensive line coach in the country.

Now, you know, I've coached defensive line a long time, and I'm not going to say where I rank. It's not my job to say that. But I did say to him, Larry, when you Coach D-line, there's a lot of times on the practice field when there's special teams, and the D-line is not really involved in that a lot. I said, let me be your assistant. Put me wherever you want, I'll coach whatever you want right there, and it'll be two of us doing it.

You know, I'll be helping out wherever needed. I'll be with the backers a lot. Al Washington will do a tremendous job with them, but there's two inside backers, and then there's sometimes an outside linebacker, which is a different position, and that's where I can help with that.

Q. Greg, you say you wanted to come here, and Ryan Day is at the top. How familiar were you with him, what's your relationship like, what's it like now to be working under him?
GREG MATTISON: Well, I was fortunate enough at Florida to know Ryan Day. Ryan Day was a great young coach then. And I remember him -- when you coach, there's guys that you come across that are younger coaches that come in and you're not with them a long time. He's a guy that right away you knew. You said, this guy is good, now. And then you watched where he's gone and what he's done, and then from afar, you see what he did at the start of the season last year and where he's gone with that.

I just am excited. And then every day I'm around him -- that's the thing, every day you're around a guy, you say, man, this guy is good. I've been very fortunate. I've been with some great head coaches. I think Jim Harbaugh is a tremendous head coach. Brady Hoke I thought was a great head coach. Everybody that I've been fortunate enough to be with, I'm going to say it, they were great head coaches. I'm really excited about being with Ryan.

Q. What was it like to prepare for his offenses the last couple years, and what changes did he kind of make there? What challenges did he pose for you?
GREG MATTISON: Well, I'm not going to talk about that much right now. You know, I'm really -- I'm not talking about that versus that, that kind of thing. All I'm talking about is it's really exciting to be here. I'm happy to be here.

Q. Has there been any changes in your philosophy as a defensive coordinator since you were last coordinating a defense?
GREG MATTISON: No, I don't think there's been any changes. I think you grow. You know, when you're with good people -- again, I've been with some good people. Don Brown has had a great run up there at Michigan, and to be with him has been great.

The thing I really believe in, and Jeff believes the same thing, the two of us are right on the same page, put the defense, run the defense that goes with your talent. And if you have talent in the back end, make that a big part. If you have talent in the front end, turn them loose, let them do it. Don't water them down. So I think the thing that we're going to do is find out through the spring practice and that where we are that way.

Q. As a former defensive line coach, how can you evaluate what Larry Johnson has done at this university, especially continuing bringing in defensive line talent each year like he has?
GREG MATTISON: As I mentioned before, I have the utmost respect for Larry Johnson. Recruiting against him -- whenever you play in a league together, you always get a chance to see the other team's defensive line. And I would always watch their defensive line and watch his coaching. All you've got to do is look what he's done with guys and where they've gone to the next level.

Like I said, I have the utmost respect for what he's done. If anybody -- I mean, anybody that's ever watched, they know this guy is a great D-line coach.

Q. And I'm sure you've met Zach Harrison when you were recruiting him for Michigan. I'm just wondering your relationship with him, what you've seen out of him, getting him -- even when he made the decision to come to Ohio State. What have you seen out of Zach Harrison through your recruiting process and through his first couple weeks?
GREG MATTISON: Zach Harrison is, number one, great character. That's the first thing. Number two, he's an unbelievable athlete. To be that big and that strong and everything like that.

And then watching, like we had mat drills today and just watching him in the weight room, and that's what we've tried to do. The new coaches that have come in have all tried to be around the players to try to get to know them, and he's everything you thought when you recruited him. I mean, he's a special athlete.

Q. Greg, what did you think of Ohio State while you were at Michigan?
GREG MATTISON: Well, tremendous respect. I mean, you've got the two winningest programs in college football. I mean, you can't help but say, I mean, this is a great program. I go back again -- like sometimes you like to pinch yourself. I say, you've been at Michigan and you've got a chance to go to Ohio State and now you're at Ohio State. You've been at two of the greatest programs.

I had the utmost respect for them. The other thing, Urban Meyer and I were together at Notre Dame, at Florida, and the thing -- what he built and what he sustained and kept going and he's done, that speaks for itself.

Q. And I know you're far from the first person to change sides in the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, but 13 years is a long time at Michigan. I know this is a business, also, but isn't there something to that? Is there anything about this that was difficult for you to switch sides in this rivalry, or could possibly be difficult for Ohio State fans to embrace you after 13 years at Michigan?
GREG MATTISON: Well, I can't control what the Ohio State fans do. The only thing I'm going to tell you that they will see in watching me coach is they're going to see me give everything I can to this program. They're going to see that I will always try to coach the players the best they can possibly be coached, and how they perceive it and what they do, that's up to them.

As far as the rivalry and as far as that, it's always hard. When you leave people you've been with for 13 years, when you leave people that -- any job. The one thing about college football, when you leave one program and go to another, that's one of the hardest things there is because different colleges and other things, you've given everything you have to those players. You are every minute with them trying to make them the best they can be. And that's the way I've always been as a coach is I've always tried to say, I'm going to give you everything I can to make you the best you can be, now you've got to give it back, so it's always difficult.

Q. Is it different because it's Ohio State-Michigan or is it just taking another job?
GREG MATTISON: I don't know if it's different or not. I know at one time when I left at went to Notre Dame, that was a hard deal. When I left Notre Dame and went to Florida, that was a hard deal. I'm saying that everywhere I've ever left, because I've really tried to give everything to the people I'm working with -- and I never have planned -- one thing I can always say, too, is I've never been one of these guys that said, boy, I want to do a good job here so I can go there. I thought I was going to stay at every place I've been for my whole life, and nothing has changed that way.

Q. Greg, when were you approached about this job? What was Harbaugh's reaction to it? Did he try to keep you? And since it's the last question I'll ask a couple, did you get a chance to talk to the players and what was their reaction?
GREG MATTISON: You know, Coach called after -- I can't remember the date or anything like that, but approached me on the job. Then obviously I went and talked to the head football coach. Coach Harbaugh was great, okay, and he understood that I wanted to coordinate, and it was an opportunity to be a coordinator, and that was what I wanted to do, and not much you're going to do about that.

The hardest thing probably was calling the players. And again, it's been hard everywhere you're ever at because of what you give those players and what they give you. But that's part of life.

I mean, IBM, if you're working for IBM or something like that, someday you have to call somebody and say you're going somewhere else, and that's the same thing. But it's always hard.

Q. You went to West Bloomfield and they sent you some balloons and stuff, some of the former players --
GREG MATTISON: I didn't know that. I didn't see the balloons. You know me, I don't see those things.

Q. I heard they handed them to you.
GREG MATTISON: I'm not going to answer any more questions. (Laughter.)

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297