When Tennessee hired Mike DeBord to replaced departed offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Bajakian, among the chief concerns was DeBord’s lack of experience, on paper, as a quarterbacks coach.

The Vols, when they announced the hire, touted DeBord as one of the coaches responsible for Tom Brady’s success. DeBord, who served as offensive coordinator during Brady’s time at Michigan, was never Brady’s position coach — something that astute Vol fans pointed out on social media.

In fact, DeBord has only been employed as a quarterbacks coach once during his 30-plus year coaching career — and that was at Fort Hays State during the 1985-86 seasons (he was also the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach during those two seasons). I didn’t even know Fort Hays State existed before DeBord was hired at Tennessee. And I certainly didn’t know where it was located (Kansas, according to the internet).

So you can understand why Vol fans approached DeBord’s hire with trepidation. Tennessee was going from Bajakian, a coach who had a reputation as an extremely intelligent and innovative quarterbacks coach, to a guy that had never, officially, coached quarterbacks at a major collegiate level.

But, as all sports fans should know by now, the folks making the calls (in this case Butch Jones) always know way more than fans/writers/bloggers etc.

I think some fans, and even analysts, felt like Jones had no clue that DeBord didn’t have very much experience with quarterbacks on his resume. It was almost as if people thought he legitimately didn’t do his homework on the hire, but rather just hired an old football buddy (that’s something an athletic director would do, not a coach).

(As a sidenote, I’m not suggesting that Jones, or any coach, always makes the perfect hire, or that fans shouldn’t be skeptical of a hire. Everyone has misses and we still have no idea how DeBord’s time at Tennessee will be judged. However, the small details, such as prior coaching experience, etc, those are things we can trust that coaches have addressed.)

So while we’re still months away from knowing how DeBord will work out as a offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, we can at least take some cues from listening to him.

I’m convinced, based on the words I’ve heard fall from his lips, that he knows what he’s doing when it comes to quarterbacks.

DeBord, in a sit-down interview with Vol Network’s Bob Kesling, said a few things in regards to Vols quarterback Josh Dobbs that made my ears perk up.

DeBord: “When I came here to interview, I told him [Dobbs] that I thought his stance was too wide. I thought he needed to narrow it because he would false step at times, because of that wide stance, which any football player does. Then I talked to him about his lead foot. It was closed at times, then when [he was] throwing the ball, he would pivot on it and it would really take his hips out of line in the pass. I came back ten days later and we go out for skill development and he’s already corrected it.”

First off, it’s pretty obvious that DeBord understands quarterback mechanics to the level that a quarterbacks coach should. He has an eye for details and he presents himself to players in such a way that they immediately listen. That’s something that’s extremely important. For Dobbs to already trust DeBord, it tells you all you need to know about where their relationship already is and where it will be.

There’s no doubt that DeBord is a bright football mind. There’s also no doubt that he isn’t someone that’s just being plugged in as a quarterbacks coach. He is going to make Dobbs and the other quarterbacks on the roster better.



When Tennessee hired Mike DeBord, they hired someone that’s not only willing to adapt his philosophy to the ever-changing climate in college football, but someone that expects to adapt.

DeBord knows that football is constantly evolving. He understands that you must constantly tweak your offense based on what other offenses and defense are doing. His willingness to keep an open mind is something that will breed success on Rocky Top.

If the Vols fail to achieve their goals in 2015, it won’t be because of Mike DeBord.

In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that I think you’ll see a marked improvement in Tennessee’s offense in 2015.

Sometimes a fresh set of eyes makes all the difference. I think that will be the case in Knoxville this fall.