Ex-Penn State football assistant to join ACC staff

A one-time Penn State football assistant coach is on the move, returning to ACC after another stint in the Big Ten.

On Wednesday, Matt Zenitz of 247Sports reported that former Nittany Lions wide receivers coach Josh Gattis is expected to join Fran Brown’s staff at Syracuse. His role with the Orange is currently undisclosed.

After following James Franklin from Vanderbilt, Gattis coached the Nittany Lion receivers from 2014 to 2017. Helping Penn State football win the Big Ten Championship in 2016, Gattis coached standout pass catchers Chris Godwin and DaeSean Hamilton while in State College.

An up-and-coming assistant at the time, Gattis left Happy Valley to take the co-offensive coordinator role at Alabama. He then took over the play-calling duties at Michigan in 2019, where he won the Broyles Award as the nation’s top assistant two years later.

Following a year stint at Miami, Gattis returned to the Big Ten, spending the last two seasons as the offensive coordinator at Maryland. The Terrapins had the No. 17-ranked passing offense and averaged 386 yards per game last fall.

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