#OhioState assistant coach Greg Mattison not concerned at all with lack of defensive recruits for the #Buckeyes at this point. https://t.co/R9bXcKxgar— Bill Kurelic (@Bill_Kurelic) June 5, 2019
New defensive coordinator Greg Mattison likes talent, co-workers at Ohio State https://t.co/CtHMkHW9Ok— BuckeyeXtra.com (@BuckeyeXtra) June 28, 2019
Greg Mattison On K'Vaughan Pope's performance in camp so far: "He's done a very good job." Mattison said it would not be his decision whether HBO or another network would do a behind-the-scenes show on Ohio State as they have done with several other college football teams, but he expressed concerns about that being a potential distraction. On Pete Werner: "I really believe he is the top guy at his position. I've had the opportunity to see a lot of good football players, and I'm very impressed by him." Mattison said decisions haven't been made yet on whether freshmen like Cade Stover and Craig Young will play on defense this year, but he said they are making a push for playing time on special teams, which is just as important as defense. He smiled when asked about Stover and likes what he has seen from the freshman, who lost his black stripe on Tuesday, so far. Mattison said the linebackers have done a great job buying into what he and Washington are teaching them. "Al's done a super job with them." On Tuf Borland: "I like everything about Tuf Borland's game." On how Dallas Gant is performing at weakside linebacker: "He's really doing a lot of the things we need at that position." On Jeff Hafley: "Jeff has done a tremendous job ... He's a great one now. We get along tremendous." On Larry Johnson: "Larry's just such a great person." Mattison said he is not ready to say who the starting linebackers will be yet, but wants the Buckeyes to have three starting-caliber players at each linebacker position. Baron Browning, Tuf Borland and Teradja Mitchell are all playing Mike linebacker, but the Mike and Will linebacker positions are interchangeable to where there could be situations that two of them are on the field. Malik Harrison, Browning and Werner have seen the most snaps in practice in two-linebacker nickel packages as the Buckeyes' best cover linebackers. Mattison said he had to take on coaching a position group instead of just overseeing everyone else's position groups because "it kept me from doing something harmful to myself ... it keeps me sane." Said he didn't want to just hover over other coaches' position groups. "If you see our defense not run to the football, then you ask. You come up to me and talk about it," Mattison said, because that's what the Buckeyes are preaching to their defense every day. "We are going to be an aggressive defense that runs to the football, and everybody on our defense believes in that." Mattison said he did not want to judge Ohio State's defensive performance from last year and said Greg Schiano is a "great defensive coordinator." He also said he isn't concerned about last year's stats, pointing out once again that the Buckeyes went 13-1 last year, and said the only stat he cares about is points. Mattison said Brendon White is "very intelligent" and "very athletic," which gives him the ability to handle playing both bullet and safety in various packages. "Chase Young is an outstanding person, athlete and football player." If opponents try to double- or triple-team him, "Good luck," because that will leave Ohio State's other defensive linemen with one-on-one blocks.
New Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison enjoys working with linebackers https://t.co/r5kiQZ13YH— BuckeyeXtra.com (@BuckeyeXtra) August 16, 2019
Greg Mattison asked if he saw what happened to his former program, Michigan earlier in the day.Smiles… “I don't. Nope. Don't have any idea. Next question?” pic.twitter.com/thGJNlbBWB— Eleven Warriors (@11W) September 22, 2019
It’s easy to see that Mattison and Al Washington were GREAT hires for Ohio State and really hurt TTUN.
Greg Mattison on whether he had to do any homework on Ohio State's history when he got hired: "I think I've played against Ohio State 15 times. I didn't have to study." Greg Mattison is fine with Ohio State's cornerbacks talking trash on the field. "You better be a little different out there, and you better have confidence, or you're just not gonna make it out there." Said he thinks Ohio State's cornerbacks understand the lines they cannot cross Greg Mattison said "Pete Werner's done a great job, which has therefore given us the luxury that we don't have to substitute," which is why Brendon White hasn't played as much as last year at the Sam linebacker/bullet position. But White is getting better at playing that role.
"I don't think we've ever said 'we're gonna give this up to take this away." Ohio State believes in its front to stop the run and its back end to stop the pass, and won't stack heavily against one area or the other, Mattison said.— Lantern Sports (@LanternSports) October 22, 2019
Greg Mattison: A Wisconsin native, Mattison said he was "born and raised watching the Badgers." On Jack Coan: "He gets better every week. He's a very talented quarterback, and a person that we're going to have to definitely deal with." Mattison said Day is consistent about handling things the same way every day. Asked how Day has evolved, Mattison replied, "I don't know how he's evolved. He's just good. Really good." "Baron Browning's an outstanding athlete. He's very, very strong. ... He plays extremely hard. He does what a very good linebacker is expected to do. He's a very big part of our defense." That said, Mattison said he did not think Browning's absence was the reason for some of the early struggles that Ohio State had in run defense against Northwestern. "The backbone of any great defense is stopping the run, and our kids have really done a great job of that." Mattison said Wisconsin has run the ball and executed the play-action passing game effectively all year. "Any time the team is able to run the ball with some success, that opens up the play-action game." Mattison said the Buckeyes can't just load up to stop the run on Saturday, because that will open up the passing game for the Badgers. On Chase Young: "You just see him every day get better and better, and with that comes confidence, and with that comes belief in what we're asking him to do." On the second-team defense's performance late in games: "The guys that have gone in have treated it like it's 0-0." Mattison said the Buckeyes were as proud of the way the young players performed as much as anything in Friday's game. On Josh Proctor, Amir Riep and Jahsen Wint all getting in the game as bullets over Brendon White in the first half of Friday's game, Mattison said "that's all about packages" and putting the guys on the field who they believe are the best players for specific situations. Mattison pointed out, for example, that White played more snaps than Wint even though Wint got in the game first. Mattison said there is "great excitement" inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for this week's game. Mattison said Tommy Togiai "practices extremely hard every snap." On Jonathan Taylor, Mattison pointed out that Taylor ran a 10.4-second 100-meter dash in high school and has great speed in the open field, while he is also physical and has great balance. "You don't get 2,000 yards in the league that we play in, without being an outstanding running back."
GREG MATTISON ON THE DEFENSIVE TACKLING I'm so proud of how hard they've played. "Everybody talks about missed tackles, but in today's football to tackle one of the great athletes in space is a very hard job." Mattison said team tackling is the key. ON WISCONSIN'S OFFENSIVE LINE "They'll take all of these so-called three-star players." Mattison said a lot of the players they recruit on the offensive line aren't totally developed when they're being recruited. Mattison said there are players he knew could be good in recruiting but he couldn't take them at Michigan. Their development comes later. ON DEFENSIVE ADJUSTMENTS IN-GAME Mattison praised Jeff Hafley's ability to diagnose what's happening in the booth. Mattison said he's been places where the coach in the booth didn't know what happened or what went wrong. Knowing immediately what happened helps them make adjustments on the fly.
How great has this hire been? While Harbaugh and others decided to use the benefit of having an extra coach on high school coaches to help get a few recruits, Day hired a defensive mastermind.
I find it funny so many scUM fans believed the Garbage that Mattison and Washington were going to be let go and that they were the problem last year haha
Greg Mattison said fellow Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has been professional about staying focused and finishing his job with the Buckeyes before moving on to Boston College. Said he and the Buckeyes are very happy for Hafley and the opportunity he’s getting.— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) December 24, 2019